Because it: - is the only station that plays classical music in the wasteland crossed by I-83 (which I traverse at least twice a week) - does not have regular commercials (it is the tone of the pitch not the contents of the message that drives me nuts in commercials, so I do not mind commercial messages on NPR) - does not have disc jocks and incessant barrage of Anglophone music both of which make me nauseous (I admit, however, that WXPN, a U Penn station, scorese far better on this point) - features Garrison Keillor (I like his dry sense of humor) - is much less boring and parochial than Pacifica - features some interesting local talk shows (cf. Mark Steiner on WYPR) - the ratio of high culture to pop culture features is higher than on most other stations - has little (c)rap and hip-hop "music" - the WBAI signal does not reach beyond exit 7 on New Jersey Turnpike, which is about 2 hours drive from most places I travel
Wojtek