Wisconsin Public Radio

Wisconsin Public Radio is a network of 32 radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the Ideas Network and the NPR News and Classical Network, as well as the "HD2 Classical Service," a digital-only, full-time classical music service.

History

In 1932, WHA in Madison and WLBL in Stevens Point started limited simulcasting of certain programs. However, the first real steps toward the building of what would become Wisconsin Public Radio began in 1947, with the sign-on of WHA-FM (now WERN) as a sister station to WHA. Between 1948 and 1965, seven more FM stations signed on as part of what was initially dubbed Wisconsin Educational Radio.^[1] The network became Wisconsin Public Radio in 1971, when it became a charter member of NPR. Shortly afterward, the merger of the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin State University systems greatly increased WPR's reach.

Ideas Network

The Ideas Network ("Talk about issues that matter to you") is devoted mostly to discussion and call-in shows, focusing on the state of Wisconsin and issues involving the state. The name of the network comes from the Wisconsin Idea concept associated with the UW System.

During the week, the Ideas Network airs locally-produced talk programming and National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation/Science Friday, throughout the daytime hours, while at night broadcasting repeats of the daytime talkshows, as well as WBUR's On Point, the CBC's As It Happens, and, overnight, the BBC World Service. On the weekend, it airs WPR-produced shows, such as Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? and To the Best of Our Knowledge. Weekends also include NPR/PRI/APM entertainment programming such as Car Talk, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and A Prairie Home Companion.

The flagship station of the Ideas Network is WHA 970 AM in Madison, the oldest radio station in Wisconsin, with programming also originating from the Milwaukee studios of Delafield licensed WHAD, an FM station based between Milwaukee and Madison. All Ideas Network stations broadcast in analog monaural sound to provide those signals the largest coverage areas possible, while the HD Radio and Internet streaming feeds broadcast in stereo.

Personalities hosting call-in talk shows on the Ideas Network (as of June 2010) include Joy Cardin (early morning weekdays), Kathleen Dunn (mid-morning Monday through Thursday), Veronica Rueckert (mid-morning Fridays), Larry Meiller (late morning and early afternoon weekdays), Jean Feraca (who host the mid-afternoon weekday show Here on Earth - Radio Without Borders), and Ben Merens (late afternoon/early evening weekdays). On the typical weekday, the Ideas Network broadcasts over nine hours of live, Wisconsin-produced call-in talk shows.

NPR News and Classical Network

The NPR News and Classical Network primarily broadcasts classical music but carries news and information programs, including NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition as well as APM's Marketplace.

The flagship station of the NPR News and Classical Network is WERN in Madison.

The HD2 Classical Network service is available through the HD Radio subchannel of at least one of the WPR stations serving each market and features music in HD Radio's CD-quality audio. Stations with HD-2 service include WERN, WHAD, WHWC, WHBM, WHRM, KUWS, WPNE, WHHI, WHLA, WHDI, and WHAA.

All three services are broadcast in real-time on the Internet through the Windows Media, Real, and streaming MP3 formats, with streaming WPR program archives available in Real to all visitors. Downloadable versions of WPR shows in MP3 are available only to WPR members who have contributed to the network annually..

The only HD-3 service in the WPR Network is on WHRM, with a full-time feed of the Ideas Network to serve the Wausau area.

Network stations

WPR's stations are licensed to several different organizations; most stations belong to either the University of Wisconsin System and are administered by the University of Wisconsin–Extension, or to the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, a state agency. Other stations are affiliates, owned by local schools or colleges.

The network's headquarters are located on the Madison campus, but a substantial amount of Ideas Network programming originates from studios in Milwaukee, and all of the regional studios produce some local programming, such as the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay facilities producing programming in the Hmong language for weekend broadcast over Green Bay Ideas Network flagship WHID. Not all UW-owned stations are part of the network; some are student-run, and others, like WUWM, are independently-operated public stations. Two high school radio stations (one, WEPS, is located in the northwest Chicago suburb of Elgin, and its signal does not reach the Wisconsin state line) carry the network outside of school hours, while WLBL-FM in Wausau shares time on its frequency with WXPW, a repeater of independently-owned NPR member WXPR in Rhinelander.

Wisconsin Public Radio shows with national distribution

• Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?
• To the Best of Our Knowledge
• Zorba Paster On Your Health
• Tent Show Radio
• Chapter a Day

See also

• National Public Radio
• Public Radio International
• Wisconsin Public Television
• Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
• Wisconsin Idea

References

1. ^ WPR's Tradition of Innovation

External links

• Wisconsin Public Radio
• Wisconsin Public Radio Association
• Webcast