Public Radio East (PRE) is a nonprofit,
noncommercial broadcast service licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to the Board of Trustees of Craven Community College in
New Bern, North Carolina.
Established in 1984 as WTEB, 89.3 FM, PRE now broadcasts 24
hours a day on five frequencies comprising two radio networks, PRE News & Ideas and PRE Classical. Studios are
located in Barker Hall, on the campus of Craven Community College.
Public Radio East's news department has received numerous awards,
including "Outstanding News Operation in North Carolina" in 2004 and
2005 from the Associated Press. In 2006, the AP recognized PRE with seven
awards, including Best General News, Best Sports Programming, Best Consumer
Reporting, Best Health Report, and Best Series. PRE received seven AP awards in
2011 as well, sweeping its division.
PRE is a regional broadcast
network, the primary public radio service for 17 counties in central Eastern
North Carolina, with the mission of enriching people's lives in the region we
serve. Cities and communities within this approximately 3,000-square-mile
terrestrial service area include New Bern, Greenville, Jacksonville,
Washington, Atlantic Beach, Beaufort, Morehead City, Newport, Kinston, and
Goldsboro.
PRE's 89.3 FM frequency is one
of only six 100,000-watt public radio transmitters in the United States
licensed to a community college. Soon after its founding, WTEB had about 9,000
weekly listeners. Today, over 60,000 Eastern North Carolinians listen to PRE's
networks each week, thanks largely to award-winning National Public Radio (NPR)
programs such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and music shows
featuring a full range of genres, from classical and jazz to Americana. PRE
serves still more listeners, across the nation and around the globe, through
its live streams on this website, and through third-party Internet carriers.
Recognized as a full-service
professional public radio service by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
PRE is an affiliate of both NPR and Public Radio International (PRI).
