affiliate, WABE, had long aired classical music during the day between the morning and afternoon "drive time" periods. A number of NPR programs popular elsewhere in the U.S. were not heard in the Atlanta market until WABE launched an all-news stream on its third HD subcarrier; still others were heard on Clark Atlanta University's WCLK, an otherwise jazz-formatted station with a weaker signal than WABE. But with WABE's move to replace daytime music with informational programs (made in response to the new WRAS programming as perceived competition), much of GPB's shows on WRAS began, inadvertently or not, duplicating programming already airing on WABE. This is the second time that GPB has made use of a student station from a state university. In 2004, WUWG in Carrollton was acquired from the University of West Georgia, its entire broadcast license transferred from UWG to GPB. During the 2000s, the Radio Communications Board of Georgia Tech declined similar overtures made by GPB to its long-running WREK. Album 88 supporters also raised concerns about the appearance of a conflict of interest by Douglass Covey, Vice President for Student Affairs at GSU. Until April 2014, he served on the board of Public Broadcasting Atlanta, the arm of the Atlanta Public Schools that operates WABE and WABE-TV, during the same time GSU was negotiating the deal to bring GPB into competition for listener donations and corporate underwritings that would otherwise go to support WABE. Reactions As one of the most influential college radio stations in the nation, support for keeping the Album 88 format on WRAS full-time, with no outside programming, came in from across the country. Efforts to save full-time programming on Album 88 were organized. Some called for a boycott of Georgia Public Broadcasting and its underwriters. In late June, 55 stations in 25 states broadcast a live program in support of Album 88. These efforts, however, were unsuccessful in persuading either GSU or GPB to annul the arrangement. Album 88 alumni proposed the use of a low-power FM translator for GPB programming in the Atlanta area. Another solution would have been the purchase of a different, presumably commercial, FM station in the Atlanta radio market. But those ideas were rejected. Ultimately, the plan was allowed to go forward, and student programming was relegated to off-time hours on the analog waves. References External links WRAS / Album 88 official site GPB Atlanta official site