Grant from Gebbie Foundation Supports Project to Improve, Expand WBFO Repeater Station in Jamestown

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- WBFO 88.7 FM, a National Public Radio affiliate and a major public service of the University at Buffalo, has received a $75,000 grant from the Gebbie Foundation, Inc., to support the expansion and improvement of the signal of WUBJ 88.1 FM, its repeater station serving the people of Jamestown and Chautauqua County.

The Gebbie Foundation grant is the largest of four -- totaling $130,000 -- received in support of the $133,000 project.

The station previously received a $25,000 grant from the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, a $20,000 grant from the Hultquist Foundation and a $10,000 grant from the Johnson Foundation.

"I guess you could say that our Jamestown repeater station is bursting at the seams -- more people want to listen to WUBJ than the signal currently can accommodate. But that's about to change," said Jennifer Roth, WBFO's general manager.

"Thanks to the very generous support of the Gebbie, Sheldon, Hultquist and Johnson foundations, we'll be constructing a new facility in Ellery Center this fall that will stretch our coverage area to place another 40,000 potential listeners under our wing. We're thrilled at the prospect of expanded public-radio service in Chautauqua County."

Carole Smith Petro, UB associate vice president for university services, said: "Expanding and improving the repeater station underscores WBFO's commitment to bring quality radio to a much larger segment of the people of Jamestown and Chautauqua County."

Thanking the foundations for their support of the project, Petro noted the need for continuing community support of WBFO as it works to develop specific programming for listeners in the region.

The project to expand its signal will involve moving the WUBJ transmitter to a more central location -- from Gerry to a tower at Ellery Center owned by the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office -- and increasing its power approximately seven-fold.

The signal will be extended to reach a potential audience of 90,000 in Mayville, Chautauqua, Cassadaga, Sinclairville, Brocton and Panama in New York and Sugar Grove and other areas in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The signal strength will improve throughout the present service area in and around Jamestown, with improvements particularly noticeable around Chautauqua Lake. There will be a greatly improved signal in the area along Lake Erie from Westfield to Fredonia, which will receive a secondary area signal for the first time.

WUBJ signed on the air in 1994 with the assistance of several Jamestown-area foundations, bringing National Public Radio into the region for the first time.

WBFO 88.7 FM reaches nearly 100,000 listeners weekly in Western New York and southern Ontario with its 50,000-watt signal. It has a second repeater station, WOLN 91.3 FM, in Olean.