WBOI 89.1 FM is the NPR member station for Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana, with local news, arts coverage and diverse music. It is owned by Northeast Indiana Public Radio, a community nonprofit.
WBOI 89.1 FM is the NPR member station for Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana. It is owned and operated by Northeast Indiana Public Radio (NIPR), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Fort Wayne. The station's 50,000 watt signal, sent from a tower in Fort Wayne's Centennial Park, reaches northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio and the southern edge of Michigan. WBOI is also on HD Radio at 89.1-1, streams at WBOI.org, and is available in the WBOI mobile app for iPhone and Android.
The station went on the air on June 5, 1978, as WIPU on the campus of Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. When Purdue University said in 1981 that it might have to close the station, its volunteer support group incorporated as Public Broadcasting of Northeast Indiana, now Northeast Indiana Public Radio, and took over the license in 1982. For many years NIPR also ran a classical music service, WBNI; it sold the last WBNI FM signal in 2021 and today operates WBOI and WBOI.org.
WBOI's mission is to strengthen the cultural, civic, and social fabric of the communities it serves and to engage audiences with content that enriches the human experience. The station carries NPR programs such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered, along with programming from PRX, WNYC and Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations, and produces about 30 hours of local programming each week. Its newsroom covers local, state and regional news and arts and culture, and its evening schedule features locally hosted jazz, soul, folk and classical music shows, many of them produced by more than 20 community volunteers.
WBOI is supported by its community. More than 3,000 member households contribute over half of the annual budget, and local businesses underwrite programming. All federal and state funding for the station ended in 2025.
The staff is small and covers the full range of public radio work: news reporting and editing, on-air hosting and production, operations and programming, individual and major giving, business support and underwriting, and finance and administration. Full-time employees receive health, dental, vision, disability and life insurance, paid time off and holidays, and all employees can contribute to a 403(b) retirement plan. WBOI is an equal opportunity employer.
