radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radio ...
broadcasting a
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 ...
format. Licensed to
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...
, United States, it is currently owned by the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...
and features programming from
American Public Media
American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
,
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 ...
and
Public Radio International
Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States.
PRI was one of the main providers of programm ...
.
Programming covers various types of
music of Louisiana
The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French (now known as cajun music), New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique ...
such as
Cajun music
Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem w ...
,
zydeco
Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...
,
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 Afr ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
swamp pop
Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western ...
,
swamp rock
Swamp rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the mid-1960s as a fusion of rockabilly and soul music with swamp blues, country music and funk. The genre originated in Louisiana by artists such as Tony Joe White, but was subsequently po ...
and other Louisiana singer/songwriter music. KRVS also broadcasts the annual
Festival International de Louisiane
The Festival International de Louisiane is an annual music and arts festival held in Lafayette, Louisiana celebrating the French heritage of the region and its connection to the Francophone world. The festival was first held in 1987 and has beco ...
. The station also carries news and music programming in
Louisiana French
Louisiana French ( frc, français de la Louisiane; lou, françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisia ...
.
History
The station began broadcasting in May 1963 and was officially licensed on August 8, 1963, to operate a power of 10 watts and a coverage area of about six city blocks. The station initially operated on FM at with an AM carrier current simulcast on . In 1979, the station increased its FM transmission power to 3 kilowatts and shifted to . In November 1982, the station again increased its transmission power to 100 kW and switched to its current frequency of .
KRVS's call letters stand for Radio Voice of Southwestern (The university's name at the time the station signed on was the University of Southwestern Louisiana). Originally a college radio station, it joined NPR in the mid-1970s.
Today the station serves roles as regional public radio and an international online resource. KRVS broadcasts at 100,000 watts, providing service to 651,000 residents in 12
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
across southern Louisiana, an area referred to as
Acadiana
Acadiana ( French and Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane''), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: ''Le Pays Cadjin'', es, País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained mu ...
RVS
A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...
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