History
Early years
The station signed on the air on September 12, 1960. [3] The original call sign was KEBS-FM. It was owned by what was then San Diego State College. KEBS-FM was a college radio station, used for students to train for careers in broadcasting. In its first decade, the station was powered at 2,000 watts, a fraction of its current output.
It changed its call letters to the current KPBS-FM in 1970. When National Public Radio was launched in 1971, KPBS-FM became one of the network's three charter members in California, along with KCRW in Los Angeles and KQED-FM in San Francisco. KPBS-FM was one of the 90 stations that aired the initial broadcast of All Things Considered when it premiered on May 3, 1971.
Adding KQVO
In 2005, San Diego State University bought a commercial FM radio station in an underserved part of Southern California. It paid $1.1 million for 97.7 KQVO, a Class A station in Calexico. [4] KQVO first signed on the air in March 1984. Over the years, it aired a variety of formats.
KPBS-FM wanted to give Imperial County its first public radio station. KQVO began simulcasting KPBS-FM, airing news, talk and NPR programming. The station switched to non-commercial status.
From Classical to News/Talk
KPBS-FM primarily played classical music until mid-1990s, when it started adding more NPR programs and news to its format. The wake-up broadcast Morning Edition was put on the schedule along with midday talk shows including Fresh Air. Beginning May 23, 2011, the station discontinued its classical music programming in the evening hours and moved all music to an online stream. [5] When it began broadcasting using HD Radio technology, KPBS-FM added a full time classical music subchannel.
In 2009, the radio, TV and digital news operations were merged into a single content-producing division. This allowed KPBS to produce television and radio news simultaneously. [6]
HD subchannels and streaming
Presently, KPBS has three HD Radio channels. KPBS-HD1 is a digital simulcast of the main analog channel that airs NPR news and talk shows. KPBS-HD2 airs "Classical San Diego", featuring music from the syndicated Classical 24 service. KPBS-HD3 offers SomaFM's syndicated "Groove Salad" format.
The KPBS Radio Reading Service broadcasts the readings of newspapers, books, and magazines to those with low vision, blindness, and other impairments. The Reading Service is available 24 hours a day over a private audio channel, and online via audio webstream.
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