KPBS-FM is a non-commercial

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

station broadcasting in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

on 89.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, affiliated with

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 ...

(NPR). It is owned by

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

as part of KPBS Public Media, and is a sister station to

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

member

KPBS-TV KPBS (channel 15) is a PBS member television station in San Diego, California, United States. Owned by San Diego State University as part of KPBS Public Media, it is a sister station to NPR member KPBS-FM (89.5). The two outlets share studios ...

(channel 15). The two outlets share studios located on the SDSU campus at the Copley Communications Center on Campanile Drive in San Diego. KPBS-FM's transmitter is located on San Miguel Mountain in southwestern

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

. In addition, KPBS-FM operates on the following transmitters: 89.1 MHz K206AC in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, and on 97.7 MHz KQVO in

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

, Imperial County. The station airs programming consisting of news and public affairs. Beginning May 23, 2011, the station discontinued its

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" al ...

programming in the evening hours and moved music programming to an online

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

. The station first went on the air in 1960 as KEBS, owned by what was then San Diego State College. It changed its call letters to the current KPBS-FM in 1970. It is one of three charter members of NPR in California, the others being

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both of which are PBS member outlets: KQED (channel 9) and KQEH (channel 54). Stu ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. As such, it was one of the 90 stations that aired the initial broadcast of ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' when it premiered in 1971. KPBS aired predominantly classical music until mid-1990s, when it started adding more news to its format. In 2006 classical music migrated to an HD Radio multicast channel, and KPBS-FM switched to an all-news format. In 2009 the radio, TV and digital news operations of KPBS were merged into a single content-producing division. This allowed to produce television and radio news simultaneously. Presently, KPBS has three

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

channels. KPBS-HD1 is a digital simulcast of the main analog channel that airs

NPR 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 ...

news and talk shows; KPBS-HD2 air
"Classical San Diego"
featuring music from the syndicated

Classical 24 Classical 24 is a syndicated, satellite-delivered public radio service providing classical music to its carrying stations. It generally airs overnights on many non-commercial and a handful of commercial classical music stations. However, the se ...

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. On October 1, 2012, KPBS boosted its

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

from 2,700 watts to 26,000 watts by moving its tower from San Miguel Mountain to Mount Soledad.

San Diego wildfires

During the October 2007 wildfires in the San Diego area, power was lost to the KPBS-FM/ TV transmitter on

Mount San Miguel San Miguel Mountain is a mountain located in Chula Vista, California. It is 2,567' high, and is the 84th highest peak in San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the ...

. Within three hours,

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

station

KBZT KBZT (94.9 FM, "Alt 94-9") is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station broadcasts an alternative rock format. Its studios are located in San Diego's Stonecrest area, and the transmitter ...

agreed to air KPBS' wildfire coverage until the station could return to a backup operation from its studios on the

campus, which occurred the next day. KPBS later restored full coverage from Mount San Miguel using a

backup generator An emergency power system is an independent source of electrical power that supports important electrical systems on loss of normal power supply. A standby power system may include a standby generator, batteries and other apparatus. Emergency p ...

References

External links

KPBS-FM WebsiteNPR: KPBS Radio Covers Wildfires Using Many Sources
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kpbs-Fm PBS-FM NPR member stations San Diego State University PBS-FM HD Radio stations