Pittsburgh finally has an FM radio jazz ‘station’

PPM’s tower located on city’s North Side

The next time you can, turn your radio dial to 101.1 FM and you can hear for yourself: Pittsburgh once again has a 24/7 jazz FM signal.

Pittsburgh Public Media — formed after the former WDUQFM, now WESA-FM, changed owners and dropped its daily jazz programs to add more news and NPR — recently started broadcasting its Pittsburgh Jazz Channel on that FM frequency, which makes the music more accessible, clearer and more consistent to jazz-loving radio listeners in the city.

“At this point, our listenership is exploding,” said PPM president, chief engineer and onair personality Chuck Leavens. He said the signal started broadcasting at full-strength at 5:02 p.m. on Dec. 11 from a strobe-lit tower in the City View neighborhood, just north of WPXI-TV’s landmark tower in Fineview on the North Side.

“We broadcast from a higher height than any station in Pittsburgh,” or 1,020 feet above average terrain, which gives the signal great reach in the metro area, he says, noting, “In FM coverage, height beats power every time.”

The FM broadcast represents a win for the little guys — PPM is all volunteers — and the everyday people who supported them in their quest to return this historically important form of music to the FM airways here.

The nonprofit started streaming the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel online and via satellite network in 2011. Then in 2013, it began broadcasting on FM again by