Northwest Public Radio - History

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 2012, 15 more stations joined the network. Combined with fourteen translators, NWPR serves large parts of Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia. Most of the stations are located east of the Cascades, though five 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, University of Idaho in Moscow, and studio offices in Tacoma and Wenatchee.