Northwest Public Radio

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

History

WSU has a long history in broadcasting, dating to 1908 when it was known as Washington State College. NWPR's flagship station, KWSU 1250 in Pullman 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 was a charter member of NPR, and was one of the 90 stations that carried the inaugural broadcast of All Things Considered in 1971.

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 91.7 FM due to budget cuts in Idaho. The station was renamed KRFA. From 1992 to 2010, 11 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 three 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.

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.

NPR News

• KWSU 1250 AM Pullman, Washington/Moscow, Idaho
• KWWS 89.7 FM Walla Walla/Richland/Pasco/Kennewick, Washington
• KLWS 91.5 FM Moses Lake/Ephrata, Washington
• KQWS 90.1 FM Omak, Washington (also serves Kelowna, British Columbia)
• KMWS 89.7 FM Mount Vernon, Washington
• KSWS 88.9 FM Chehalis and Centralia

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

• KRFA-FM 91.7 FM Moscow, Idaho/Pullman, Washington
• KFAE-FM 89.1 FM Richland/Pasco/Kennewick, Washington
• KNWR 90.7 FM Ellensburg/Wenatchee/Moses Lake, Washington
• KNWY 90.3 FM Yakima, Washington
• KNWO 90.1 FM Cottonwood/Grangeville, Idaho
• KNWV 90.5 FM Clarkston, Washington/Lewiston, Idaho
• KNWU 91.5 FM Forks, Washington
• KZAZ 91.7 FM Bellingham, Washington
• KNWP 90.1 FM Port Angeles, Washington/Victoria, British Columbia
• KVTI 90.9 FM Tacoma, Washington
• KMWS 89.7 FM Mount Vernon/Burlington

Translators at Goldendale, Cashmere, Chelan, Ephrata, Wallowa Valley, Clarkston in Washington, Orofino and Kamiah in Idaho.

KFAE also broadcasts the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library's Evergreen Radio Reading Service to blind and handicapped listeners on its 67kHz subcarrier. KFAE is one of three major FM stations in Washington to do so; KPBX-FM in Spokane and KUOW-FM in Seattle are the others. However, this requires a special FM radio capable of receiving such broadcasts; it cannot be received on a standard FM radio.

See also

• KWSU-TV

External links

• Listen Live
• Northwest Public Radio Website
• Evergreen Radio Reading Service
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KWSU
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KWWS
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KLWS
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KQWS
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KMWS
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KRFA
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KFAE
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KNWR
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KNWY
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KNWO
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KNWV
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KZAZ
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KNWP