History
In 1975, Richard Mays, Von Johnson and Randall (Jan) van Oosten formed White Ash Broadcasting in order to bring a public radio station to the Central Valley.
Initial operating funds for White Ash Broadcasting came from a 'seed' grant of $25,000 provided through a competitive grant award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In 1976, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare awarded White Ash Broadcasting a "matching grant" of $125,000 to cover the cost of studio and transmission equipment. To earn the full grant award, the program required White Ash to raise $40,000 from local sources.
White Ash Broadcasting successfully petitioned the FCC for a construction permit in the fall of 1976, and received a full license two years later. KVPR's first broadcast plant was located at 1515 Van Ness Avenue at the site of the former KMJ-AM/FM studios. KVPR began regular broadcast services on October 15, 1978 and re-located to its current site on Shaw Avenue in the mid 1980s. The original site has been demolished.
Valley Public Radio's initial programming mix was music, news and public affairs. Nearly 75% of KVPR's original program schedule was locally produced, and included portions of jazz, folk and classical music in addition to select programming from National Public Radio. Over time, KVPR would opt to focus on a combination of mostly NPR programming and classical music.
KPRX signed on in February 1987 as a full satellite of KVPR. Bakersfield had previously been one of the largest cities in the country with no NPR stations.
Read more about this topic: Valley Public Radio
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