Northern Public Radio is the

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 ...

service of

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

. It consists of two full-powered FM stations and three lower-powered satellites, all 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 ...

. The group is headquartered at NIU's campus in

DeKalb, Illinois DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 according to the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian-French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died d ...

, with additional studios in Rockford. Although DeKalb is part of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

radio market, Northern Public Radio serves as the NPR member for the Rockford market.

Stations

WNIJ (89.5 FM) in DeKalb primarily airs news and talk programming from NPR, with World Cafe,

Echoes Echoes may refer to: * Echo (phenomenon) Film and television * ''Echoes'' (2014 film), an American supernatural horror film * ''Echoes'' (miniseries), a 2022 Netflix original drama series * "Echoes" (''Fear Itself''), an episode of ''Fear Itse ...

and locally produced

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

music programming at night and Saturday afternoons.

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

airs overnight. The station's programming is also simulcast on repeaters WNIE in Freeport (89.1 FM), WNIQ in Sterling (91.5 FM) and WNIW in La Salle (91.3 FM). WNIU (90.5 FM) in Rockford airs

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 ...

24 hours a day using the syndicated classical music service

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 ...

, and operates a low-powered translator at 105.7 in Rockford (W289AB) to improve its coverage in the northern part of the city.

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 DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Mis ...

. At the same time, it began emphasizing news programming. WNIU was a charter member of

in 1971, and was one of the 90 stations that carried 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 ...

''. 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 Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the ''Ideas Network'' and the ''NPR News & Music Network,'' as well as the ''All Classic ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

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. 90.5 must conform its signal to protect the low-powered translator of Madison's WHA at 90.9, resulting in a weaker signal in the northern part of Rockford itself and some of the city's northern suburbs. 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.

External links

northernpublicradio.orgwnij.orgwniu.org
{{Northern Illinois University NPR member networks Northern Illinois University College radio stations in Illinois 1954 establishments in Illinois