WFPL (89.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a 24-hour listener-supported,

noncommercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of profit. The opposite is commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on business. For example, advertis ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. The station focuses on news and information, and is the primary

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

for the Louisville radio market. WFPL is now owned by

Louisville Public Media Kentucky Public Radio, doing business as Louisville Public Media, is a non-profit organization that operates the three National Public Radio member stations in Louisville, Kentucky—news and talk WFPL, classical music, classical WUOL-FM, and adu ...

and was originally owned by the Louisville Free Public Library. When the station came on the air in 1950, it was the first library-owned radio station in the country. WFPL's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off Moser Knob Road in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

, amid the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s for other Louisville-area FM and TV stations. The 21,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

signal covers parts of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

History

On February 20, 1950, WFPL first signed on the air. It began operating as a

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

station under the ownership of the Louisville Free Public Library, giving the station the distinction of being the first library-owned radio station in the country. Founded years before the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and

's creation in 1970, the station was made possible by the donation of equipment by the

Bingham family Bingham may refer to: Places Australia * Bingham, Queensland, former name of the town of River Heads United Kingdom * Bingham, Nottinghamshire, a town in England * Bingham (wapentake), a historic district of Nottinghamshire, England * Bingham, Ed ...

, who owned ''

The Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'' and WHAS (840 AM) radio at the time. Originally airing a mix of school lessons and classical music, it ceded classical music to WFPK when it signed on in 1954. Gradually, the station began airing news, drama, and old radio shows–something approximating the format of what would eventually become full-service public radio. By the 1980s, WFPL had evolved into a typical full-service NPR member station, airing a mix of news, talk, jazz, bluegrass, and blues. However, with the expansion of NPR programming in the 1990s, WFPL found it difficult to shoehorn the new programming onto its schedule. A solution came when the Free Public Library partnered with the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

to create the Public Radio Partnership, now Louisville Public Media. Starting on January 8, 1996; WFPL ceded almost all of its remaining music programming to WFPK, becoming an NPR news talk station. Like its sister stations, WFPL broadcasts an

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

signal.

Awards

In 1951 WFPL won a George Foster Peabody award for public service.

References

External links

WFPL website
* FPL NPR member stations Radio stations established in 1950 1950 establishments in Kentucky {{Kentucky-radio-station-stub

History

Awards

See also

References

External links