KWMU (90.7 FM) are the call letters for St. Louis Public Radio's stations, KWMU-1, Jazz KWMU-2, and Classical KWMU-3, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, United States. St. Louis Public Radio broadcasts in

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

utilizing extra subchannels. KWMU-1, 90.7 FM, is the flagship

NPR 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 ...

station in the region. KWMU HD1

St. Louis Public Radio (STLPR) also broadcasts on KMST in Rolla, MO, and WQUB in Quincy, IL, and produces regional news coverage, local arts and news programs, and original podcasts. It is licensed to the Curators of the

University of Missouri System The University of Missouri System is an American state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, and ten research and technology parks. Nearly 70,000 students are cu ...

and operates as part of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Its studios are located in

Grand Center The Grand Center Arts District is located in the Midtown St. Louis Historic District (on the National Register of Historic Places) north of the Saint Louis University campus. Referred to colloquially as Grand Center, the neighborhood's formal na ...

in midtown St. Louis.

About St. Louis Public Radio (STLPR)

St. Louis Public Radio's website states that its mission is "To inform and provide a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures for a more inspired and engaged public." First signing on the air on June 2, 1972, STLPR has more than 500,000 readers and listeners in the St. Louis area. The station employs more than 30 journalists and has a total staff of over 70, with hundreds of volunteers helping for special events. In 1983, it was the first radio station in St. Louis to play music from

compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octobe ...

. A year later, it became the first radio station in the United States to broadcast Ambisonic programs. In 1992, the station increased its

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

to 100,000 watts. In 1995, the station moved to an all-news format. STLPR started broadcasting in

in 2006. In the fall of 2008, the station added a second digital stream, KWMU-2 The Gateway (Now Jazz KWMU-2), on its second digital subcarrier. It airs mostly alternative and world music. In the spring of 2010, the station added a third digital stream, Classical 90.7 KWMU-3, a 24-hour classical music service. Both stream live on the Internet. On September 10, 2009, the station rebranded as St. Louis Public Radio and its website t
stlpublicradio.org
In September 2010, STLPR became the radio outlet for live broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcasting its Saturday night concerts from

Powell Symphony Hall Powell Hall (formerly known as the St. Louis Theater and Powell Symphony Hall) is the home of the St. Louis Symphony. It was named after Walter S. Powell, a local St. Louis businessman, whose widow donated $1 million towards the purchase and us ...

. In April 2011, STLPR broke ground on a state-of-the-art studio facility at Grand Center. The facility also houses academic space for UMSL. On June 18, 2012, STLPR moved from its longtime home on the first floor of Lucas Hall on the UMSL North campus in Bellerive, to the new facility. On July 26, 2012, UMSL officially acquired

WQUB WQUB (90.3 FM) is a 28,000 watt effective radiated power radio station in Quincy, Illinois, in western Illinois along the Mississippi River. This station provides primary coverage for nine counties in the western Illinois and northeastern Missour ...

from

Quincy University Quincy University (formerly known as St. Francis Solanus College, and today abbreviated as QU) is a private Franciscan university in Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1860 and enrolls about 1,100 students. History A small group of Franciscan ...

. The station now serves as a semi-satellite of KWMU in the Tri-State Area. Beginning July 1, 2017, UMSL adopted Rolla station KMST as a satellite of KWMU for south-central Missouri.

Finances

The station receives its funding from private donations, corporate sponsors, local, regional and national grants, as well as the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In Fiscal Year 2019, STLPR's revenue totaled $8,856,000. Its sources were from: *92% Community Support *6%

Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...

& Missouri Public Broadcasting *2% Other Grants Revenue from Community Support totaled $8,130,000. Its sources were from: *74% Individual & Foundation Support *22% Corporate Support *4% Events and Other Support

References

St. Louis Public Radio's 2009 Annual Report

External links

St. Louis Public Radio official website
* {{Authority control WMU NPR member stations Radio stations established in 1972 University of Missouri–St. Louis