Misplaced Pages

Northwest Public Broadcasting

Type	Public radio network
Country	United States
Programming
Affiliations	National Public Radio PBS
Ownership
Owner	Washington State University
History
Founded	May 15, 1922 (1922-05-15)
Launch date	December 10, 1922 (1922-12-10)
Former names	Northwest Public Radio Northwest Public Television
Coverage
Availability	24 hours a day
Links
Webcast	NPR News NPR & Classical Jazz
Website	nwpb.org

Northwest Public Broadcasting is the public radio and public television service of Washington State University. It is an affiliate of National Public Radio, Public Radio Exchange and American Public Media. It operates 19 radio stations and 13 translators across Washington state, Oregon, and Idaho, and provides coverage to parts of British Columbia. The network broadcasts public radio news, talk, entertainment, classical music, jazz, and folk music. Station programming is separated into two main program streams, "NPR News" and "NPR & Classical Music", with simulcast periods during Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and Weekend All Things Considered. Since November 2013, Northwest Public Broadcasting also operates a 24-hour jazz station, KJEM 89.9, broadcasting in the Pullman and Moscow area.

NWPB headquarters are in the Murrow College of Communications on the WSU campus, with satellite studios at WSU Tri-Cities' campus in Richland, the University of Idaho campus in Moscow, Idaho and studio offices in Tacoma and Wenatchee.

History

WSU, which originated in 1908 as Washington State College, has a long history in broadcasting. NWPB'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 on March 1, 1969, ten years 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.

Expansion

In 1982, KFAE-FM 89.1 at Richland signed on, bringing public radio to the Tri-Cities for the first time. The next year, WSU activated a series of low-powered translators at Ellensburg, Goldendale/The Dalles, Yakima, Lewiston/Clarkston, Ephrata/Soap Lake, Wenatchee, Cashmere/Dryden, and Chelan/Waterville. In 1984, after budget cuts in Idaho, WSU assumed operation of KUID-FM 91.7 at the University of Idaho and renamed it KRFA-FM; this gave it its first FM service in the Pullman area and resulted in the new outlet assuming many of the classical programs on KWSU.

The launch of KNWR, a full-power transmitter at Ellensburg, in 1992 heralded the beginning of two decades of expansion. KNWY in the Yakima Valley went on air in 1993. In 1994, KNWO in Cottonwood, Idaho, was added; additionally, three new translators were commissioned and KRFA increased its power tenfold. KNWV went on air in Lewiston and Clarkston in 1995. 1997 brought KWWS in Walla Walla, and after a $500,000 donation from the estate of Ephrata rancher Paul Lauzier, KLWS at Moses Lake. Port Angeles—and Victoria, British Columbia—were added with the signing on of KNWP in 1998. KQWS at Omak began broadcasting in January 1999; the next year, a translator of KWSU was added in Pullman, giving the station its first FM presence. A translator at Forks was added in 2006. KSWS at Chehalis was built in 2010.

In several cases, the university acquired or began broadcasting over preexisting public radio stations. On January 6, 1997, Northern Sound Public Radio's KZAZ-FM in Bellingham, was merged into the network as its first station west of the Cascades. The license for KMWS at Mount Vernon was acquired from Skagit Valley College, which moved its KSVR to a new license; the university chose the call letters to honor Murrow, a Skagit County native.

In 2010, KVTI in Tacoma, owned by Clover Park Technical College, began broadcasting Northwest Public Broadcasting full-time after budget cuts prompted the closure of its radio broadcasting program. In 2012, the Yakima School District's KYVT began broadcasting NWPB's NPR News programming under an agreement in which the network provided the district's skills center and an HD2 subchannel for its student programming in exchange for studio space and a primary frequency for the news service, which had not been previously available in Yakima.

On November 1, 2013, WSU launched a third station in Pullman: KJEM (89.9 FM), broadcasting jazz music 24 hours a day to the Pullman and Moscow area and named for J. Elroy McCaw.

In 2018, Northwest Public Radio merged with Northwest Public Television to become Northwest Public Broadcasting. NWPB broadcasts KWSU-TV from Kamiak Butte to serve the eastern Washington and western Idaho covering Pullman to Spokane. KTNW broadcasts from Richland and covers the Tri-cities area. KWSU-Broadcasts on channel 10. KTNW broadcasts on channel 31.

On April 19, 2022, the Sleeping Lady Foundation's KOHO-FM began broadcasting NWPB's Jazz programming based at KJEM under a programming and services agreement, bringing NWPB's Jazz network to Central Washington for the first time.

Stations

Download coordinates as:

• KML
• GPX (all coordinates)
• GPX (primary coordinates)
• GPX (secondary coordinates)

With one exception, NWPB's transmitters are structured into two services: an NPR news/talk service based on KWSU, and a combined NPR and classical music service based on KRFA.

NPR News

NPR and Classical Music

KFAE-FM also broadcast the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library's Evergreen Radio Reading Service to blind and handicapped listeners on its 67kHz subcarrier until the service's closure on August 15, 2014. KFAE-FM was one of three major FM stations in Washington to do so; KPBX-FM in Spokane and KUOW-FM in Seattle were the others. However, this required a special FM radio capable of receiving such broadcasts; it could not be received on a standard FM radio.

Jazz

KJEM (89.9 FM), is NWPB's flagship jazz service. It broadcasts jazz music 24 hours a day to the Pullman and Moscow area and named for J. Elroy McCaw. Unlike the rest of the network, KJEM is largely student-run. In 2022, NWPB acquired KOHO-FM and began broadcasting NWPB's jazz programing to the Wenatchee Valley area.

See also

• KWSU-TV and KTNW, associated television stations in Pullman and Richland

References

1. "NWPR Announces Second Expansion in a Month". Washington State University. July 13, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
2. "NWPR to manage college radio station in Lakewood". Washington State University. April 6, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
3. "Yakima School District and NWPR partner to offer NPR News". Washington State University. July 30, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
4. ^ "WSU's Murrow College Launches New Jazz Station 89.9 KJEM". November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
5. "100". Northwest Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
6. "KOHO-FM To Join NWPB's Jazz Network". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
7. "Evergreen Radio Reading Service Ending". www.wtbbl.org. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2018.

External links

• Northwest Public Broadcasting website

v t e Washington State University
Located in: Pullman, Washington Founded: 1890
Academics	College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences Carson College of Business Edward R. Murrow College of Communication Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture College of Nursing College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Athletics	Teams Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Venues Bailey–Brayton Field Beasley Coliseum Bohler Gymnasium Martin Stadium Palouse Ridge Golf Club Rivalries Apple Cup Battle of the Palouse Bowl games Lore Butch T. Cougar
Campuses	Pullman (main campus) Everett Spokane (health sciences campus) Tri-Cities Vancouver Global Campus
Media	The Daily Evergreen Northwest Public Broadcasting KWSU KTNW Radio Washington State Magazine Washington State University Press
Student life	Residence halls Honors Regents Scott/Coman ASWSU Marching band Fight song
People	Faculty & alumni Elson Floyd
Miscellaneous	Bryan Hall Jewett Observatory Cougar Gold cheese Reactor Extension Energy Program North–South Ski Bowl Red Brick Roads Gee Creek Center to Bridge the Digital Divide Edward R. Murrow Award State Route 270 Bill Chipman Palouse Trail Palouse Global Washington
Category

v t e Broadcast radio networks in the United States
National	ABC Audio Compass Premiere Salem United Stations Westwood One Uforia Audio Network Spanish
State	Georgia News Network Louisiana Radio Network Michigan Farm Radio Network Michigan Radio Network Michigan Talk Network North Carolina News Network Ohio News Network The Point Supertalk Mississippi Texas State Network WV Metro News
Specialty	AURN Bloomberg Radio CRN Digital Evolution Metropolitan Opera Music of Your Life Pride Radio Radio America Radio One Republic Broadcasting Network USA Radio Network WestStar TalkRadio Network WFMT Radio Network World Classical Network
Religious	3ABN Air1 AFR BBN BRN Calvary Covenant CSN International Effect ESNE EWTN Radio Family Life Network Family Life Radio Family Radio Fundamental Go Mix! GNN Gospel Opportunities Guadalupe K-Love King of Kings Radio The Life FM LifeTalk Mars Hill Moody Northwestern Pilgrim Radio 74 Radio Nueva Vida Real Presence Radio Rejoice Broadcast Network Relevant Radio RenewFM RevFM Salem Radio Network Smile FM Sounds of the Spirit Spirit FM VCY America WAY-FM Network Word FM Your Network of Praise
Sports	BetQL ESPN Fox Futbol de Primera Infinity Sports Byline USA Sports USA TUDN
News	ABC BIN CBS Fox NBC
Public radio	National APM NPR Pacifica PRX State Colorado Connecticut Georgia Hawaii Iowa Kentucky Maine Minnesota Mississippi Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire North Dakota Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Utah Vermont West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Regional Alabama Boise State CMU High Plains Indiana Interlochen Jefferson Michigan Public Montana New England New Jersey North Carolina North Country Northeast Northern Northwest Radio IQ Radio Kansas Red River Yellowstone
Defunct or moribund	ABC (original) Air America Amalgamated Broadcasting System America's Radio News American Network Arkansas Radio Network Biz Radio Network NBC Blue/Blue Network Children's radio networks Cumulus Media Networks Dial Global (Local/Waitt) Radio Disney Enterprise ESPN Deportes GCN God's Country I.E. America Jones K-Love Classics Liberty Broadcasting System Michigan Regional Mutual Mutual Reports Network/Mutual Black Network Mutual Progressive Network/Mutual Lifestyle Radio Mutual Spanish Network (Mutual Cadena Hispánica) NBC Red/NBC NBC Sports Radio NBC Talknet NBG Radio Network National Black Network National Negro Network Nova M National Radio Network PRI Progressive Broadcasting System Radio AAHS RKO Satellite Music Network Sports Fan Radio Network SportsMap Talk Radio Network The Source Transtar UPI Univision America Washington News Desk Westinghouse Westwood One (original) Westwood One News WOR WSJ Radio Yankee Network
Radio portal

• Northwest Public Broadcasting
• NPR member networks
• Washington State University