History
Northern Public Radio began in 1954, when WNIU signed on as a 10-watt station on 89.5 FM that barely covered the immediate area around the campus of what was then Northern Illinois State College (which became NIU in 1957). It aired classical music along with lectures and announcements of campus events. In 1964, it expanded its transmitter power to 2,500 watts, boosting its coverage area to all of DeKalb County. At the same time, it began emphasizing news programming.
WNIU was a charter member of National Public Radio in 1971, and was one of the 90 stations that carried the initial broadcast of All Things Considered . In 1979, WNIU got permission to boost its power to 50,000 watts. This more than doubled the coverage area of the station, and brought its signal to Rockford for the first time, albeit with only grade B coverage.
In 1988, WNIU moved its transmitter from De Kalb to Lindenwood, which gave it a city-grade signal to Rockford. Previously, Rockford had been the only major city in Illinois without city-grade coverage from an NPR station; the only sources of NPR programming in the area were grade B signals from WNIU and Wisconsin Public Radio's Madison outlets.
NIU had wanted a second frequency for some time, and finally got it in 1991 when WNIJ signed on at 90.5 FM in Rockford. WNIU became a full-time classical music station, while WNIJ was a more traditional full-service NPR station.
In 1998, the two stations swapped frequencies, with WNIJ moving to the stronger 89.5 frequency while WNIU moved to 90.5. This move was made so more people could hear WNIJ's news and talk programming. WNIJ also scaled back its jazz programming to nights only. That same year, WNIW and WNIQ signed on. WNIE followed in 1999. Listeners in the latter three stations' coverage areas had only gotten spotty coverage from WNIU or WNIJ, depending on the location. Originally, the three repeaters simulcast WNIJ during the day and WNIU at night, but problems with switching equipment forced them to simulcast WNIJ 24 hours a day.
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest.
WCVE-FM is a public radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving the Greater Richmond Region. WCVE-FM is owned and operated by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation. CPBC also owns Channel 23 WCVE-TV, the PBS member station in Richmond, as well as other TV and FM stations in Virginia.
KNOW-FM is the flagship radio station of Minnesota Public Radio's news and information network. It is licensed to St. Paul and serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. The station is non-commercial and listener-supported. The studios are in the MPR Broadcast Center on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul.
WCQS is a non-commercial public radio station in Asheville, North Carolina, serving Western North Carolina. It airs a news and talk radio format and is owned by Western North Carolina Public Radio, Inc. It airs programming from NPR, American Public Media and the Public Radio Exchange and is the flagship station of Blue Ridge Public Radio. It carries locally produced news and music shows, under the BPR News branding. The BBC World Service is heard overnight.
WETA is a non-commercial, public FM radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C., broadcasting a classical music format. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia and its broadcast tower is located near Arlington at.
WILL-FM is a public, listener-supported radio station owned by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States. It is operated by Illinois Public Media, with studios located at Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication on the university campus. Most of WILL-FM's schedule is classical music with NPR news programs heard in weekday morning and afternoon drive times. Weekends feature classical and other genres of music, including jazz and opera.
WCMU-FM is a public radio station in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The station, owned by Central Michigan University, is a National Public Radio member station, airing a news/talk format along with a variety of other programming. It is the flagship station of a network called WCMU Public Radio made up of six other affiliate stations in Northern Michigan.
WUFT-FM is an NPR member radio station owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting news and public media programming from NPR along with other distributors including APM, PRX, WNYC Studios and the BBC. The station also operates a full-time satellite, WJUF in Inverness at 90.1 FM.
KUAR is a public radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a network affiliate of National Public Radio (NPR) and is licensed to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During the day, KUAR airs NPR news, talk and information programming as well as Arkansas news and culture. At night, the station airs jazz music. Programming is simulcast on a translator station, 94.5 K233AD in Monticello. KUAR's transmitter shares the tower of Channel 7 KATV, on Two Towers Road in Little Rock.
WVIK is the flagship National Public Radio station for the Quad Cities region of eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. It is based in Rock Island, Illinois, and licensed to and owned by Augustana College. The studios are located on Augustana's campus in Rock Island. The station also operates two low-powered translators – K240DZ at 95.9 FM in Dubuque, Iowa, relays its main programming, and W252EM at 98.3 in Davenport, Iowa, carries WVIK's second HD Radio channel.
WLRN-FM and WKWM are non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio stations for South Florida and the Keys. WLRN-FM is licensed to Miami and WKWM is licensed to Marathon. They are owned by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The offices and studios are on NE 15th Street in Miami.
KCNV is a listener-supported public radio station broadcasting a Classical music format. Licensed to Las Vegas, Nevada, the station is owned by Nevada Public Radio and features programming from American Public Media, National Public Radio and Public Radio International. KCNV airs nationally syndicated shows in the evening and on weekends, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. The NPR program From the Top, showcases young classical musicians. Pipedreams features organ music. And Sunday Baroque, which originates from WSHU-FM in Connecticut, features music composed in and around the Baroque Era.
Rhode Island Public Radio, doing business as The Public's Radio, is the NPR member radio network for the state of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Its studios are in the historic Union Station in downtown Providence. The network airs a format of news and talk from NPR, APM, PRX and other sources, such as Morning Edition, On Point, KERA's Think and All Things Considered, as well as extensive local news coverage.
WVTF is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Roanoke, Virginia, featuring a public radio format branded "Radio IQ". Owned by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University through its fundraising arm, the Virginia Tech Foundation, the station carries programming from NPR, the Public Radio Exchange, American Public Media and the BBC World Service. WVTF is a listener-supported station, holding periodic fundraisers on the air. The studios and offices are on Kingsbury Lane in Roanoke.
KCBX is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to San Luis Obispo, California. The public radio station is a member station of NPR and airs a wide variety of programming, including All Things Considered, Democracy Now!, and jazz and classical music.
KPBS-FM is a non-commercial public radio station broadcasting in San Diego, California, affiliated with National Public Radio (NPR). It is owned by San Diego State University as part of KPBS Public Media, and is a sister station to PBS member KPBS-TV. The two outlets share studios located on the SDSU campus at The Conrad Prebys Media Complex at Copley Center on Campanile Drive in San Diego. KPBS-FM's transmitter is located on San Miguel Mountain in southwestern San Diego County.
WERN is a non-commercial public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin. It is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and is the flagship of WPR's News Network along with AM sister station WHA. The studios are at 821 University Avenue in Madison.
WNIJ is a radio station licensed to DeKalb, Illinois. The station is owned by Northern Illinois University, and is the flagship of Northern Public Radio's news/talk network, airing NPR news and adult album alternative music programming.
KDFC is a non-commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that broadcasts classical music 24 hours daily. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera. The station's live stream is available on the Internet and through the station's mobile app.
CapRadio is the public radio service of California State University, Sacramento. It consists of two full-power stations and five repeaters, all members of National Public Radio. It is the NPR member for Sacramento and much of the surrounding area, including Stockton and Modesto.
