WTBU was the first radio station to hire host Howard Stern, and last month, Stern (CGS’74, COM’76) reciprocated by welcoming the station’s current e-board to his New York City studios for a visit. The group met the host of the eponymousHoward Stern Show and toured his studios and the entire SiriusXM complex, looking for ideas about how best to rebuild their station, which was destroyed in a fire last March.
The fire, believed to have been started by an equipment malfunction, caused major water and smoke damage and rendered the studios uninhabitable. Station faculty advisor Anne Donohue (COM’89), a College of Communication associate professor of journalism, says the space is now gutted, and rebuilding should begin this fall. There is a temporary studio in the COM basement, so the station “will be on the air,” come September, Donohue says.
In the weeks following the fire, alums and supporters of the station from across the country donated more than $40,000 to support the rebuild. Many listeners tweeted at Stern, hoping that the shock jock would see the pleas and help the station. When word did finally get through to him, he invited the students to his studios at satellite radio broadcaster SiriusXM.
Read more about the visit on BU Today