New Hampshire Public Radio

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New Hampshire Public Radio

Broadcast area	New Hampshire and bordering areas of Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and Quebec
Slogan	"News and information for the Granite State"
First air date	1981
Frequency	88.3, Nashua, WEVS 89.1, Concord, WEVO 90.3, Nashua, WEVO 90.7, Keene, WEVN 91.3, Littleton, WEVO 91.3, Hanover, WEVH 97.3, Plymouth 99.5, Jackson, WEVJ 103.9, Portsmouth 104.3, Dover, WEVO 107.1, Gorham, WEVC
Format	Public Radio
Owner	New Hampshire Public Radio
Website	http://www.nhpr.org

New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) is a public radio network serving the state of New Hampshire. NHPR is based in Concord and operates six transmitters and four translators covering nearly the whole state. All signals carry the same programming, which is comprised of news and talk shows on week days and a mix of cultural and music programs on weekends. NHPR is the primary carrier of National Public Radio (NPR) programming in New Hampshire.

NHPR's news staff of 21 is one of the largest in the state and is the only statewide source of radio news.

1 History and listenership
2 Programming
3 Writers on a New England Stage
4 Trivia
5 External link

[edit] History and listenership

NHPR began in 1981 as one station, WEVO, broadcasting from Concord and known as "Granite State Public Radio," after New Hampshire's state nickname. WEVO had 500 members at its start.

Over several years the station grew in size. In 1991 NHPR began broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It gradually broadened its signal area as it increased its number of transmitters. In 1995 NHPR launched "The Exchange", hosted by former NPR reporter Laura Knoy.

In 2004 NHPR had a weekly audience of 160,000 listeners and about 15,000 contributing members. It had an annual budget of $4.1 million, with funding from members, local businesses, grants and funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Contributions from listeners and businesses in New Hampshire make up more than 90 percent NHPR's revenue. NHPR does not receive funding from the state of New Hampshire.

[edit] Programming

Local staff produces three hours each day of newscasts and feature reports on local New Hampshire news and two daily interview programs. The Exchange, hosted by Laura Knoy, is a one-hour morning call-in show while The Front Porch, hosted by Liz Bulkley, is a more highly produced half-hour evening show.

NHPR broadcasts the major daily news programs produced by NPR, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as programs from Public Radio International like This American Life and A Prairie Home Companion. NHPR also airs programming from international broadcasters, such as As It Happens, a production of Canada's CBC Radio One; news from Deutsche Welle, the German international broadcaster; and the BBC World Service from Britain.

NHPR locally produces The Folk Show, a live show featuring performances by local musicians, on Sunday evenings.

[edit] Writers on a New England Stage

As of late 2005 NHPR, in conjunction with the Portsmouth Music Hall, has produced a series on New England writers and authors. So far the series has had such authors as John Updike (Terrorist), Doris Kearns Goodwin, Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), Alan Alda, and Mitch Albom. It will soon host Cokie Roberts. Laura Knoy of The Exchange is the interviewer, and the award-winning trio Dreadnaught is the featured house band. The River Run Bookstore in Portsmouth is also affiliated.

[edit] Trivia

NHPR was featured in Part 1, Season 6 of the television series The Sopranos. Recently uncloseted mobster Vito Spatafore is hiding out at an inn in New Hampshire while reading a magazine and listening to the news on the radio. A newscaster says "you're listening to New Hampshire Public Radio, news and information for the Granite State."

Mark Handley, NHPR's General Manager from 1990 to 2005, was chairman of NPR's Board of Directors for two terms.

Eric Westervelt, now a foreign correspondent for NPR who often reports on the Arab-Israeli conflict, was a reporter and news director at NHPR for several years.