WBUR Puts Rhode Island AM Up For Sale

The Associated Press is calling this story “All Bids Considered.”
WBUR has put its Rhode Island AM station on the block and donors are not happy about it, according to accounts by AP and the Boston Herald.
Boston University’s WBUR paid about $2.4 million for the licenses of WRCP(AM) in Providence and WERI(AM) in Westerly with the intention of bringing public radio to Rhode Island. The new station, WRNI, went on the air in 1998.
In a meeting with donors Friday, WBUR General Manager Jane Christo said by working with the community, WRNI has grown into a viable facility and WBUR feels it’s time for the community to decide the future of the station, according to the accounts.
Broker Stephen Sloan of Media Services Corp. told the Boston Herald that finances were not the driving force for the sale, and that WBUR never intended to hold the station long-term.
He said WBUR prefers the buyer would keep the station non-commercial, though a commercial buyer would be eligible also.