Program Policies

Click on a link below to learn about our program policies:

General
Calendars
Music Interviews
Giveaways
Public Service Announcements

General Programming Philosophy

WUMB radio's primary business is public service radio programming. Public service programming demands that a significant audience be served by significant programming. Programs and songs will be selected and will be maintained on WUMB' broadcast stations because they attract listeners. A consistent criterion is applied in the selection of all programming and program elements in order to gain a significant audience. While this criterion can’t be measured like the number of CD's on a shelf or counted like listeners, it most certainly can be assessed through the judgements of individuals. If we know what we’re listening for, we’ll know when we hear it, and we’ll know it when one show, or song has it and another doesn’t. There are four major elements to our criteria: high production quality, respect for the subject and the listener, intelligence of presentation and depth of treatment.

Calendar

• All music calendar listings for weekdays programs must be for musicians performing within 30 miles of any of WUMB's broadcast transmitter sites (until further notice, this also includes the Amherst area) who you can hear on WUMB during our Monday through Friday, 6am-7pm music shows. The listings can only be approved through the WUMB staff person(s) designated to approve calendar submissions. Weekday announcers or other WUMB staff are not allowed to add or make changes to the music calendar listings. Submit you calendar listings here. The link to submit your listing is on the bottom left column of the page. All weekday calendar announcements must be submitted at least one week in advance of the performance date.
• Each weekend announcer coordinates his/her own music calendar listings if one is scheduled. The following weekend shows run weekly music calendars: Celtic Twilight, Traditional Folk, Downeast Ceilidh, Folk Odyssey.
• All weekend music calendar announcements must be in writing, and sent to the attention of the appropriate weekend announcer two weeks in advance of the performance date. Please fax your listing to: (617) 287-6916 or mail to WUMB Radio, UMass Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125.
• The event must be located within 30 miles of any of WUMB's broadcast transmitter sites (until further notice, this also includes the Amherst area)
• Listings must be by artists that are currently being programmed on the designated WUMB show that the calendar announcement will air.
• A Web-only Community Calendar is available here for listings that do not meet the criteria of the weekday On-Air Calendar or for other events located within 30 miles of any WUMB broadcast transmitter sites.
• An exception to our Calendar policies is if the Local Program Manager deems that the listing might of interest to a significant portion of the targeted audience. The decision of the Local Program Manager is final.

Music Interviews

All music interviews requests must be coordinated and scheduled through the In-Studio-Interview coordinator (currently the WUMB Music Director). Announcers are not allowed to schedule his/her own interviews. There is no exception to this policy.

All interviews must conform to the following, unless otherwise approved by the Local Program Manager:

• Times: Weekdays, between 9am-7pm; Weekends, if the artist fits the genre
• Length: 20-25 minutes
• Format: All performers must play live. The interview will consist of approximately 5 minutes of talk/5 minutes music, up to a maximum of a 20 minute interview.
• Performer(s) must have at least three songs being played in the designated show music data base in order to request an interview.
• Performers must wait at least three months after an on-air appearance before requesting an additional interview on any WUMB show.
• Performers of interest to the most significant portion of our audience will be approved ahead of others.
• Performers who have not appeared on the WUMB airwaves before, or who appear less frequently will be approved ahead of others.
• Performers may request, or be directed to be interviewed on a weekend show when more appropriate.
• Live music must be performed by the artist(s) during the interview unless otherwise approved by the Local Program Manager in advance. Music can not be played from a CD or other recording device. There will be no telephone interviews.
• Only one interview will be approved in support of any particular event.
• All non-musician interviews (poets, storytellers, festival organizers, etc) must be cleared by the Local Program Manager and will only be approved for the 6pm time slot or on a weekend show.

Giveaways

All tickets, CD or other Giveaways must be accepted and coordinated only by the WUMB staff person(s) designated with this responsibility. WUMB announcers are not allowed to do their own giveaways.

For weekday programs, concert tickets must be for musicians performing within 30 miles of any of WUMB's broadcast transmitter sites who you can hear on WUMB during our Monday through Friday, 6am-7pm music shows. For weekend programs, concert tickets must be by artists that are currently being programmed on the designated WUMB show during which the artist is broadcast.

Unless otherwise approved by WUMB senior staff, giveaways are limited to one pair of tickets or one item per airshift. Exception to this policy, or decisions for other giveaways are made based on anticipated audience interest and will be determined by WUMB senior staff. The designated ticket giveaway staff person will also be responsible for coordinating any tickets for WUMB Member Web giveaways.

Public Service Announcements

WUMB has approximately 70 spots/week for public service announcements. Each week, up to eight new public service announcements will be selected, and placed into a rotation of PSA's to be aired that week. Most PSA's will run for two weeks, randomly throughout our schedule.

• All public service announcements must be in writing, and sent to the attention of the Public Service Announcement (PSA) Coordinator. Please do not contact other WUMB staff about PSA's.
• You should always be sure to include a one sentence description of your organization, as well as the name and contact number of someone we can call in the event we need additional information - this number will not be given to listeners. Also, if it's an event, you should include the day, date, time of the event, if there is an admission charge, and please be sure to include a phone number we can use in the announcement if our listeners want to call you themselves for more information.
• You can e-mail PSA's to: wumb@umb.edu or fax them to: (617) 287-6916. If you use e-mail, please do not send along an attached file. Just include the information in the body of the e-mail. We will not open an attached file. Our mailing address is: WUMB Radio, UMass Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA, 02125-3393.
• PSA's should be submitted no less than two weeks prior to an event
• PSA's which appear to be of interest to the largest number of targeted listeners will be selected from those submitted
• The organization or event being promoted must be non-profit
• If the PSA is about an event, the event promoted must be open to our entire audience, which includes listeners in Boston, Worcester, Cape Cod and Newburyport, as well as those who listen world-wide through the internet.
• UMass Boston events will receive first preference

The following is not allowed:

• Fundraising messages for any organization
• PSA's for any political organizations, or in support for or against any ballot questions

All PSA’s must be approved by the Local Program Manager before airing. The decision of the Local Program Manager regarding the selection of all public service announcements is final.

As a result of the large volume of PSA's we receive each week, we are not able to answer inquiries about whether or not we received your announcement, or if we intend to air a particular announcement. Please do not call to follow up on your mailing.