In late 2023, the boards of directors of Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio (formerly Rhode Island Public Radio) officially voted to merge their operations. In July 2025 the unified organization changed its name to Ocean State Media.
Radio covers the state with five FM signals — in Newport, Providence, Narragansett Pier, Portsmouth and Westerly — and an AM in Providence. (That arrangement is expected to change soon. In late January, after this story was prepared, Ocean State Media announced plans to acquire WVEI(FM) from Audacy to cover the entire state.)
As part of the merger, the radio operation moved from historic Union Station in downtown Providence, where it leased space, and relocated to the Rhode Island PBS studios about four miles away.
The work entailed construction of a new main studio and a multipurpose room for backup, editing and talk. It would involve turning two purpose-built 1990s TV audio production suites into effective radio studios.
The project also involved the installation of TOC and air chain equipment in the active RIPBS Master Control as well as new paths for the STLs, integration of ENCO software, hardware upgrades and the construction of new networks.
Karl Voelker, recently retired CTO of WBUR in Boston, was retained by RIPBS on contract as the project manager. He was instrumental in organizing the construction, the network building and STL reconfiguration and hiring contractors to complete the project.
Inrush Broadcast Services was chosen for the studio integration.
“Aesthetics were not a major consideration in this rebuild,” said Rob Bertrand, partner at Inrush.
“The heart of this story is not about a fancy new facility or exceptional new features. It is a modern AoIP facility that, within a compact pair of studios, provides the flexibility to support a well-respected regional radio news and talk service. It used existing real estate not only for the studios, but also for the TOC.”
He said time, cost and available space were key drivers. The studio integration work was done on a tight three-week turnaround, preceded by a period of planning and light renovations.
“Many organizations wait for the stars to align perfectly before committing to a merger like Ocean State Media accomplished. However, even before the pressures of 2025 with the CPB funding rescission were known, the folks at OSM were focused on getting the Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio teams all under the same roof as soon as reasonably possible.”
He said Ocean State Media worked to balance form and functionality as well as the aggressive timetable.
The specifics
The radio network is built on a Telos Livewire system and includes Axia StudioCore engines, IQ consoles, xNodes, Pathfinder controller and iPort multi-codec gateways. The compact studio build benefits from virtualized technologies such as switching mechanisms that exist within Axia Pathfinder and an airchain facilitated by full management by AoIP architecture. The project included the introduction of an easy-to-use graphical studio switching mechanism to meet the needs of less-technical users.
Its equipment complement includes EV RE20 mics, Yellowtec Mika arms and lights, OC White arms, Comrex codecs, APT WorldCast STL gear and Inovonics tuners. Studio Technology provided the cabinetry.
Project Manager Karl Voelker oversaw some upgrades to the walls, doors, floors and windows of these spaces. However, the physical footprint of the rooms did not change.
Because automation audio can be easily routed away from the local consoles, freeing up both studios, either room can be used for any purpose during pre-recorded or network programming.
“This approach is becoming much more common where the budget or the space doesn’t allow for separate voice tracking booths, edit rooms and talk/podcast studios,” said Cameron Boswell, the Inrush SVP of Integration and Systems Engineering.
“This requires intentional furniture design choices and special attention to tabletop layout. You need to have visible screens for your automation or editing software while maintaining open sightlines and comfort for interviews etc,” said Boswell.
There is also accommodation for future video installations.
Behind the scenes, Bertrand said OSM was able to reuse surplus rack space in its TOC, space left vacant after the HD transition years ago. This also meant that there was ample HVAC capacity and an appropriate environment for the air chains, network and IT equipment, as well as backup power from an existing generator.
They were also able to utilize the existing TV STL tower onsite. A small, cost-effective second master UPS was added.
Up the hill
To reach the transmitter of flagship station WNPN in Newport, the radio studio’s output is hopped first to the Omni Providence Hotel downtown via 5 GHz Ubiquiti Litebeams and then to the transmitter site via a licensed 11 GHz shot utilizing SAF Tehnika radios.
Engineering consultant Aaron Read of L&R Broadcast Services erected the initial link during his tenure with Rhode Island Public Radio and assisted the project team with a new first hop from the Rhode Island PBS studios in place of the link from the former downtown location.
Audio traverses these IP links via WorldCast APT codecs, while backup is provided via Comrex Bric-Links and terrestrial ISP connections.
Station WNPE(FM) in Narragansett Pier is fed via ISP with WorldCast APT codecs. The transmitter for WPVD(AM) in Providence is fed via the Telos iPort. The latter site also provides a backup satellite downlink, which had been the primary satellite downlink until last summer.
OSM’s FM translator sites are fed via Inovonics Aaron FM rebroadcast receivers.
Extra benefit
As part of the overall merger, an abandoned TV satellite downlink dish at the studios was repurposed to become the new main downlink for NPR content.
Prior to that, the downlink was at the AM site and the station used a pair of Telos iPorts to traverse the public internet to deliver the content to the studios. While this was workable, it made sense to move the downlink to provide walk-away simplicity without the need to consider the impact of firewall updates or other network changes.
Bertrand added that given the short remaining lifespan for satellite delivery by the public radio satellite system, no one was advocating a substantial investment in a new dish and related hardware.
“Being able to repurpose an existing dish that hadn’t been used in over 20 years was a big win, an unexpected bonus of the radio station moving in with the TV station.”
OSM’s new Director of Engineering RZ Mall hails from a TV background and is responsible for the overall operation of the combined TV and radio stations. To assist RZ with this broad set of responsibilities, Inrush is providing 24/7 remote support of radio technical operations.
“As public media grapples more and more with its future post-CPB, it is likely that more PBS and NPR member stations will choose to merge or at least move in together,” Bertrand believes.
“The folks at Ocean State Media were among the first to prove that with some creativity and flexibility, it’s possible to achieve substantial savings in ongoing operating costs without compromising quality of content, which means more budget can be put toward the mission of audience service. We’re proud to have played a small part in helping them to achieve their vision.”
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