The Pleasures of Pittsburgh: : Radio Stations

We have so many. SO so many. And lots of other large cities do not. Hokey as it sounds we are really lucky.

WRCT 88.3 (my personal favorite)

You never know what you will hear. CMU's student radio station shows what can happen when you turn loose a bunch of cerebral, adventurous students and let them play music on the radio. From the ridiculous (put on intentionally, ofcourse) and the sublime, it's all here.

By the way, it seems that their signal is stronger in the past couple of years? All I know is I can now hear it in the North Hills while driving home from work as well as at home in Shadyside.

http://wrct.org/

WPTS 91.2
Again, take a bunch of students...who probably have more time than they have ever had, or likely ever will have , to search out great,new, obscure and/or downright odd music, and you get a great listening opportunity.
http://www.wpts.pitt.edu/

WQED 89.3

We have a classical radio station! So many cities do not, or have lost their stations. Always a pleasure to hear what is on WQED.

http://www.wqed.org/fm/

WDUQ 90.5

As they say in their ads, "news, jazz and NPR", a great combo. While Tony Mowad's show doesn't wow me, the rest of the jazz programming is great. And there is always Music from India. This the longest running Indian music program in the country having debuted in 1972 . Generally half of the program is devoted to Indian popular music, and the other half showcases Indian classical music.

http://www.wduq.org/

WYEP 91.3
A great source for new, if often mainstream (ie less risk taking than the university stations) contemporary music. Always something you can listen to. Tremendous community involvement, and instrumental in getting artists to perform here.

Started 35 years ago in a basement in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh by a group of volunteers.
I had a hard time finding names, but I know Tony Navarro was one!

http://www.wyep.org/

So in closing, do you really need that Sirius radio subscription?