Northwest Public Radio

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Northwest Public Radio (NWPR) is the public radio service of Washington State University. It is an affiliate of National Public Radio.

1 History
2 Stations
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

WSU has a long history in broadcasting, dating to 1908 when it was known as Washington State College. NWPR's flagship station, KWSU-AM 1250 in Pullman, is one of the oldest radio stations in the world. It signed on December 10, 1922 as KFAE and became KWSC (for Washington State College) in 1925. For many years, it served a large portion of the Pacific Northwest. It became KWSU sometime in the 1960s, after Washington State attained university status. Edward R. Murrow began his career at the station, as did Keith Jackson and Barry Serafin.

KWSU became a network in 1982, when KFAE-FM 89.1 Richland signed on, bringing public radio to the Tri-Cities for the first time. Two years later, WSU assumed operation of the University of Idaho's KUID-FM 89.7 FM due to budget cuts in Idaho. The station was renamed KRFA. From 1992 to 2002, ten more stations joined the network. Combined with ten translators, NWPR serves large parts of Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia. Most of the stations are located east of the Cascades, though two stations are located west of the Cascades.

NWPR headquarters are in the Murrow Communications Center on the WSU campus, with satellite studios at WSU Tri-Cities' campus in Richland and the University of Idaho in Moscow.

[edit] Stations

For the most part, NWPR behaves like two large networks. Five stations, based on KWSU, broadcast NPR news and talk. The other eight, based on KRFA, broadcast a mix of NPR programming and classical music.

"Your NPR News Station"
(1) KWSU 1250 AM Pullman, Washington/Moscow, Idaho
(2) KWWS 89.7 FM Walla Walla/Richland/Pasco/Kennewick, Washington
(3) KLWS 91.5 FM Moses Lake/Ephrata, Washington
(4) KQWS 90.1 FM Omak, Washington (also serves Kelowna, British Columbia)
(5) KMWS 90.1 FM Mount Vernon, Washington
Translators at Pullman (which broadcasts 24 hours a day while KWSU must sign off from 12 am-6 am) and Ellensburg

NPR and Classical Music
(1) KRFA 91.7 FM Moscow, Idaho/Pullman, Washington
(2) KFAE 89.1 FM Richland/Pasco/Kennewick, Washington
(3) KNWR 90.7 FM Ellensburg/Wenatchee/Moses Lake, Washington
(4) KNWY 90.3 FM Yakima, Washington
(5) KNWO 90.1 FM Cottonwood/Grangeville, Idaho
(6) KNWV 90.5 FM Clarkston, Washington/Lewiston, Idaho
(7) KZAZ 91.7 FM Bellingham, Washington (also serves Vancouver, British Columbia)
(8) KNWP 90.1 FM Port Angeles, Washington/Victoria, British Columbia
Translators at Goldendale, Cashmere, Chelan, Ephrata, Wallowa Valley, Clarkston in Washington; Orofino and Kamiah in Idaho