Interlochen Public Radio (IPR), established in 1963, is the

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

member network for

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...

. It broadcasts classical music and news on five stations in the northwestern

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. It is operated by the

Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. In ...

, with studios on the center's campus in

Interlochen, Michigan Interlochen ( ') is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

; just outside

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

. It carries programming from NPR and

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programm ...

. At one point early in the 2000s, IPR led the nation in annual listener support. This was all the more remarkable because it is the second-smallest NPR member in Michigan, and one of the smallest in the entire NPR system.

History

Joseph E. Maddy Joseph Edgar Maddy (October 14, 1892 – April 18, 1966) was a pioneering American music educator and conductor. He was born in Wellington, Kansas where both of his parents were teachers. He attended Wichita College of Music in Wichita, Kansas wh ...

, founder of the National Music Camp (now the Interlochen Center for the Arts), had long wanted to bring a fine arts radio station to Northern Michigan. In 1963, WIAA signed on for the first time. Originally broadcasting eight hours per day, it grew enough within a decade to become a charter member of NPR. Interlochen Public Radio became a network in 1989 with the addition of WICV. Interlochen bought contemporary Christian station WDQV in 2005 and converted it into a third satellite for the eastern portion of the market, WIAB. In 2000, Interlochen signed on WICA at 91.5, and by 2001 all NPR news and talk programming moved there from WIAA/WICV. However, WICA does not have nearly the signal strength of WIAA. As a result,

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

, the second-largest city in IPR's service area, does not have a clear signal for NPR talk programming; WICA's signal in Cadillac is marginal at best. This is true even after the addition of two repeaters for WICA since the turn of the millennium. In 2018, Interlochen sold WICV to Northern Christian Radio for $150,000, and the station adopted a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

format as an affiliate of

The Promise FM Northern Christian Radio, Inc is a not-for-profit organization that operates non-commercial FM radio stations in Northern Michigan. Northern Christian Radio is based in Gaylord, Michigan. Northern Christian Radio's studios are located on highw ...

.Michigan Noncommercial FM Sold
, ''All Access Music Group''. January 10, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2019.

Stations

Since 2000, IPR has operated a two-service network. "Classical IPR" (formerly known as "IPR Music Radio") provides

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and hourly NPR news updates for three stations. News and talk programming from NPR and other sources is heard on three stations, branded as "''IPR News Radio''".

References

Sources

Michiguide.com - WIAA History

External links

* {{Coord, 44, 38, 06.9, N, 85, 45, 53.5, W, type:landmark_region:US-MI, display=title * Classical music radio stations in the United States NPR member networks