General Information
We are a community-supported, non-profit 501(c)3, commercially-licensed station broadcasting from 103.3 FM in Princeton, NJ. Online, listen.wprb.com connects our programming to listeners all around the globe.
Founded as WPRU by Princeton University undergraduate H. Grant Theis ‘42, WPRB has always been an anomaly. Our studios are located on and around Princeton University’s campus, and many of our staff and DJs are Princeton students, though we are financially and editorially independent from Princeton University. We are the oldest commercial college station in the country, with a powerful coverage area that includes central New Jersey and the Philadelphia metro area (and even extends into Delaware!). You can learn more about our history and explore archival audio and photographs here.
We are an intentionally cross-generational community dedicated to finding deep, unexpected connections beyond algorithms and AI-slop. Our singular goal is to provide great broadcast content unavailable elsewhere on the dial. We specialize in the uncategorizable, the weird, the engaging, the quirky, the offbeat, the unlistenable, and, sometimes, the lovely. We are freeform, meaning each DJ has free reign to play whatever they want on air. There is no rotation schedule or Top 40 quotas for us, and we pride ourselves on the variety of our programming. What you hear show-to-show and week-to-week represents every far-flung corner of the auditory universe.
Mission
WPRB inspires and informs the culturally curious through freeform programming in order to amplify independent artistic expression and foster authentic human connection, so that creativity shall not perish from this Earth. We welcome all who support our mission, regardless of identity, such as race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, or other protected characteristics.
Vision
WPRB rides and dies with free creative expression. Our financial and editorial independence allows us to act as a haven for the creative impulse, while our proximity to Princeton University allows us to provide transformative educational experiences for students. We envision a world in which our broadcast community can find belonging and inspiration from a sonic experience untethered from profit-driven motives and the spectre of popular taste.
Values
- Independence: We proudly control our own means of production, support like-minded artists from beyond the mainstream, and tell stories that aren’t being told elsewhere.
- Creativity: We seek to push the limits of what freeform radio can be, reveling in the power of an unexpected segue and the ability of the human mind to create things that are strange and new and wonderful.
- Boldness: We champion in big sounds, unconventional ideas, and the farthest reaches of sonic rabbit holes. We want to challenge our DJs and listeners to seek meaningful expression beyond flaccid algorithms and AI slop.
- Connection: We believe that music and radio can be the connective tissue that can help bind us together in a world that seems so determined to split us apart.
- Education: We believe that nonprofit, freeform radio can create transformative experiences for everyone involved in our community. And we remain committed to providing those kinds of experiences to Princeton students now and into the future.