Ocean State Media is the community-owned public media organization for Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, formed by the merger of Rhode Island PBS and The Public's Radio. From Providence it runs PBS station WPVD-TV and NPR station WPVD-FM 103.7.
Ocean State Media is the locally owned, nonprofit public media organization serving Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. It operates the region's PBS member station, WPVD-TV (channel 36, formerly WSBE-TV), and its NPR member station, WPVD-FM 103.7, and publishes local news and video at oceanstatemedia.org. Its studios and offices are at 50 Park Lane in Providence.
The organization brings together two long-running services. Rhode Island PBS began broadcasting as WSBE-TV in 1967 from the Rhode Island College campus and was later run by the nonprofit Rhode Island PBS Foundation. The Public's Radio grew out of a coalition of community leaders who brought NPR programming to Rhode Island in 1998 as WRNI; it became an independent, community-owned station as Rhode Island Public Radio in 2007 and took the name The Public's Radio in 2018. The two boards voted to merge in November 2023, the merger was completed in 2024, and the combined organization adopted the Ocean State Media name in 2025. In 2026 it bought 103.7 FM so its radio service could reach most of the state on a single signal, replacing its earlier five-station network.
Ocean State Media describes its work as deeply local journalism, community-centered storytelling and multi-platform service. Its newsroom covers politics, health, education, climate and the environment, housing, transportation, and arts and culture, and the organization produces local television and radio programs, podcasts, the Daily Catch and TGIF newsletters, community events, and PBS Passport streaming. It takes part in the New England News Collaborative.
The organization hires across news and storytelling, production, engineering and master control, education services, public, educational and governmental (PEG) access television, membership, fundraising and underwriting, and administration. It also runs a paid, year-round internship program in broadcast engineering and audio and video production at its Providence headquarters. Benefits include health, dental and vision insurance, a 403(b) retirement plan and paid time off.
