Jefferson Public Radio

Jefferson Public Radio is a regional public radio broadcasting network serving a 60,000 square mile (150,000 km²) mostly rural area of Southern Oregon and Northern California. As of 2004, it reaches over 700,000 potential listeners via the largest translator network in public radio. The network is headquartered on the Southern Oregon University campus in Ashland (near Medford) and named after the once-proposed State of Jefferson, an area which roughly corresponds to the parts of the two states it serves.

KSOR signed on in April 1969. In the early 1980s, it began building what would become the largest network of translators of any public radio station in the country. At first, it was not familiar with the history of Jefferson. However, by the time KSOR began to build full-power stations later in the decade, it realized that its service area was virtually coextensive with the State of Jefferson. It began calling itself "Jefferson Public Radio" in 1989.

Programming

It broadcasts local programming as well as programs from National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and the BBC World Service.

Its programming is organized into three broadcasting services:

Classics and news

Seven FM stations and 28 translators
*Oregon: KSOR 90.1 FM (Ashland/Medford), KSRG 88.3 FM (Ashland), KSRS 91.5 FM (Roseburg), KOOZ 94.1 FM (Myrtle Point), KLMF 88.5 FM (Klamath Falls)
*California: KNYR 91.3 FM (Yreka), KNHT 107.3 FM (Rio Dell / Eureka)

Classics and News is JPR's original radio service and can be heard throughout the JPR broadcast area. The service has the most translators and the most powerful signals. C&N can be clearly heard in Redding, California, the largest town which it serves, and as far south as Red Bluff, California. On weekdays the station plays NPR's news program "Morning Edition", followed by local classical music programming from 7 AM to 4 PM, NPR's news and culture program "All Things Considered" from 4 PM to 7 PM, and classical music from "Classical 24", branded as the "State Farm Music Hall", from 7 PM to 2 AM. The station is off the air from 2 AM to 5 AM. Weekend programming is generally similar, with Weekend Edition replacing Morning Edition and with the shorter version of All Things Considered, but there are several additional programs including "From The Top" (Saturdays at 3 PM), Car Talk (Sundays at 3 PM) and "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" (Sundays from 5 PM to 7 PM). The station also broadcasts opera on Saturdays, usually starting at 10:30 AM, and broadcasts the worldwide Metropolitan Opera performances during the December-April season.

Outside the JPR area, C & N broadcasts in Mendocino on a translator.

Rhythm and news

Five FM stations and six translators
*Oregon: KSMF 89.1 FM (Ashland/Medford), KSBA 88.5 FM (Coos Bay), KSKF 90.9 FM (Klamath Falls)
*California: KNCA 89.7 FM (Burney / Redding), KNSQ 88.1 FM (Mt. Shasta)

Rhythm and News is JPR's second oldest service, designed to complement C&N while running "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" for a longer period. Rhythm and News runs the NPR news magazine "Morning Edition" from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., "Fresh Air" from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., and "All Things Considered" from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. During the middle of the day, local hosts program eclectic music, while the evening features the adult album alternative program "World Cafe" and jazz programming through the overnight.

News and information

Eight AM stations and one FM station
*Oregon: KSJK 1230 AM (Talent), KAGI 930 AM (Grants Pass), KTBR 950 AM (Roseburg), KRVM 1280 AM (Eugene)
*California: KSYC 1490 AM (Yreka), KMJC 620 AM (Mt. Shasta), KPMO 1300 AM (Mendocino), KJPR 1330 AM (Shasta Lake City/Redding), KNHM 91.5 FM Eureka

News and Information is JPR's extended news service offering JPR's only local talk show, "The Jefferson Exchange", as well as the NPR talk shows "The Diane Rehm Show" and "Talk of the Nation". Overnights, the BBC World Service airs.

All three streams are available on the Internet.

In 2004, as a response to a perceived lack of public radio programming in other cities, Jefferson Public Radio began expanding its service outside of the traditional State of Jefferson. Stations in Eugene and Mendocino were purchased for the news and information format, and the news and information station in Eureka was purchased by JPR from an owner who had programmed it with the BBC World Service 24 hours a day. The purchase of the station in Eureka was particularly controversial as it was thought that it would compete directly with KHSU, a service of Humboldt State University.

Fund drives

A longstanding tradition for Jefferson Public Radio (JPR) is its fund drives which occur twice a year, usually during April and October, coinciding with the fund drives of many other NPR stations. During these periods programming is often interrupted by on-air staff attempting to encourage listeners to call the station and pledge as much money as possible. For a long period of time the fund drives would last at least 2 weeks, but during the late 1990s the station experimented with having the fund drives last only 1 week. This experiment was successful, as people felt more motivated to call in their pledges earlier, and the fund drives still last only 1 week as of 2006. Pledges can now be contributed through the station's website, www.ijpr.org.

See also

* List of radio stations in Oregon
* List of radio stations in California
* Oregon Public Broadcasting

External links

* [http://www.ijpr.org/ Official website]
* [http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=2884 April 2003 article] about JPR from the "American Journalism Review"

FCC and statistical data

*FM station data|KSOR
*FM station data|KSRG
*FM station data|KSRS
*FM station data|KOOZ
*FM station data|KLMF
*FM station data|KNYR
*FM station data|KNHT
*FM station data|KSMF
*FM station data|KSBA
*FM station data|KSKF
*FM station data|KNCA
*FM station data|KNSQ
*AM station data|KSJK
*AM station data|KAGI
*AM station data|KTBR
*AM station data|KRVM
*AM station data|KSYC
*AM station data|KMJC
*AM station data|KPMO
*AM station data|KJPR
*AM station data|KNHM