Boston - Sep 21, 2009 - Public service broadcaster WGBH has announced plans to acquire New England all-classical music station WCRB from Nassau Broadcasting Partners of New Jersey.

WCRB is a 27kW station. WGBH already operates 89.7 FM in Boston, and WCAI and WNCK on the Cape and Islands.

WGBH will finance the purchase with a special capital campaign, Keep Classical Alive, inviting major donors and grassroots supporters to participate and become founding members of its all-classical service. Although WCRB is licensed as a commercial frequency, WGBH plans to operate the station as a non-commercial service in keeping with its mission to provide public media service for audiences in the greater Boston area. Over the coming months WGBH will fine-tune the formats of both WGBH 89.7 and WCRB 99.5 to create lineups that are complementary.