WHRB-FM, 95.3, has secured the contract of a historic and recently controversial opera program, which will become the Harvard station's top priority.

Beginning Dec. 4, Harvard will air the New York Metropolitan Opera's live radio broadcast, a tradition on the airwaves since 1931.

The decision to air the Met Opera comes just a few months after Boston's premier classical music station, WCRB-FM, 102.5, ended its 60-year broadcast of the program because of increasing financial difficulties and creative differences with the Met.

But Alexandra J. McCormack '00, president of WHRB, is enthusiastic about the move, saying the high-profile show is bringing some improvements to the independent station, located in the basement of Pennypacker Hall.

WHRB is installing an ISDN line to receive the digital transmission directly from the Met, for which the opera house will foot the bill. The station must learn the intricacies of the new satellite system before the first broadcast in two months.

"We're doing everything we can to make this as good as it deserves to be," McCormack said.

The opera broadcast, McCormack believes, is also responsible for an influx of 100 compers at the semester's first meeting--about double the size of last year's turnout and almost the size of the current WHRB membership.

Donations from Boston residents are also up, as enthusiastic listeners try to ensure that the station has the financial means to continue its broadcast.