WHRB Takes Shows to the Internet

Starting tomorrow, WHRB 95.3 FM, Harvard's student-run radio station, will move into the Internet age-- broadcasting live 24 hours a day via the World Wide Web.

The Web site, www.whrb.org, will offer live Internet streaming of WHRB's broadcast of classical music, jazz, underground rock and campus activities.

WHRB President Alexandra J. McCormack '00 said the station's managers think they can greatly expand its listener base by broadcasting over the Internet.

"We feel we offer a unique program, and that people around the world will come to us when they know we're available," she said.

Live Internet broadcasting has been in the organization's long-term plans for awhile, McCormack said. It was just a matter of finding a company to provide audio streaming at a low cost.

WarpRadio, a Colorado-based start-up company, was just what WHRB needed. In exchange for four 60-second advertisements per day on the station, which equals about $6,000 a month, the company is providing the audio streaming free of cost, she said.

The new format will not change the station's content, McCormack said. WHRB will continue to broadcast the same music and selected campus speakers, including the weekly Memorial Church service.

The station cannot, however, announce Harvard sports, or the New York Metropolitan Opera, becayse it doesn't have the rights to broadcast either on the Internet.

The new medium will give the station's unusual programming a wider audience, McCormack said.

"We appeal to listeners who want to find adventurous music," she said. "People are tired of loud, commercial stations. Our classical, jazz and underground rock departments are stretching the boundaries by playing music that is often ignored by major commercial stations."

She said WHRB's goal is to do what it already does on a global scale. In doing that, the organization will rely on national media, alumni and current listeners to publicize the new Internet broadcasting.

Currently, WHRB serves the entire Boston area. The station's offices are located in the basement of Greenough Hall, and the signal is broadcast from downtown Boston.

WHRB dates back to 1940, when Harvard students first began producing a radio show on a regular basis, under the auspices of The Harvard Crimson.

Three years later, in 1943, the radio station split from the Crimson, changing its name to the Harvard Radio Voice, and in 1951 changed again to its current name, Harvard Radio Broadcasting Company. Still, it broadcast only on campus.

WHRB expanded to serve the Cambridge community in 1967, and moved to its current location in 1995.

In the future, WHRB hopes to offer separate Internet channels for different departments, to satisfy all different types of listeners, and to enable people to listen to whatever type of music they prefer 24 hours a day, McCormick said.