Red River Radio is the regional public radio station for northwest

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, southern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, eastern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and the southeasternmost corner of Oklahoma. The network is headquartered on the campus of

Louisiana State University in Shreveport Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSU Shreveport or LSUS) is a public university in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is part of the Louisiana State University System. Initially, a two-year college, LSUS has expanded into a university with 21 ...

. The Red River Radio listening region is one of the largest coverage areas for public radio in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Stations

Red River Radio consists of five stations and one translator:

Programming

Red River Radio (RRR) is affiliated with

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 ...

and broadcasts many popular NPR programs including ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...

'', ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'', ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'', ''World Cafe'', ''

Car Talk ''Car Talk'' is a radio talk show that was broadcast weekly on National Public Radio (NPR) stations and elsewhere. Its subjects were automobiles and automotive repair, often discussed humorously. It was hosted by brothers Tom and Ray Maglioz ...

'', '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me'', and ''

From the Top From the Top is an independent nonprofit organization known best for its longstanding NPR radio and PBS television programs with the same name. Co-founded by Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales in 1995, the organization showcases and develo ...

''. The network also broadcasts many

Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...

programs including ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

'' and ''

To the Point ''To the Point'' was an hour-long public affairs radio program co-produced by KCRW in Santa Monica, California and Public Radio International. The program originated at KCRW at 1 pm Pacific Time each weekday. Award-winning journalist Warren Oln ...

'' and many programs 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 o ...

, including ''Marketplace Money'', ''

Performance Today ''Performance Today'' is a Peabody Award-winning classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and hosted since 2000 by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listen ...

'', '' A Prairie Home Companion'', and ''

The Splendid Table ''The Splendid Table'' is a weekly radio program about food hosted by Francis Lam. The program began in 1997 on Minnesota Public Radio, and was originally hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper until her retirement in 2017. It is produced and distribu ...

''. Red River Radio broadcasts many independently produced programs such as ''Art of the Song'', ''Beale Street Caravan'', ''Blues Before Sunrise'', ''Bluegrass Breakdown'', ''Classical Guitar Alive'', '' Hearts of Space'', ''intelligence² Dates'', ''New Orleans All the Way Live'', ''

Radiolab ''Radiolab'' is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first off ...

'', ''Snap Judgment'', ''With Heart and Voice'', and ''Women in Music''. Red River Radio provides local news weekday mornings during Morning Edition. In 2005, news producer Kate Archer pioneered a community news-gathering effort called the Community Correspondent program in which residents of the community borrow equipment from the network to produce local stories for broadcast during the local newscasts. Some of the programs aired on RRR are produced locally, at the KDAQ studio. For instance, Wally Derleth hosts ''Evening Jazz'', featuring nights dedicated to big band, contemporary and other subgenres of jazz music. Other locally produced programs include ''Blues After Hours'', hosted by John Ellis and ''Regional Symphony Broadcasts'', hosted by Kermit Poling.Red River Radio Program Guide
/ref> A previously-aired local program, ''Soul Review'', dedicated to classic soul and R&B from the 1960s to the 1980s, was hosted by Eric Jenkins from 2008 to 2011. Numerous local and national contributors provide educational and often compelling commentary at different times during the week. Currently, these short radio segments include ''A Moment of Science'', ''Get It Growing'', ''Earth and Sky'', ''History Matters'', ''Eco Tech Minute'', ''What Was I Thinking?'', ''Dr. Archie McDonald's Commentary'', ''The Big Picture With Alexandyr Kent'', ''Stardate'', and ''Spotlights''.

Station operation and development

Like most public radio stations, RRR is funded primarily by its members. Twice each year, the network conducts a membership campaign pledge drive to pay for programming and ongoing operational costs. For the past several pledge drives, RRR has met or exceeded its membership goals, and at the halfway point through fiscal year 2009 had recorded its best support ever, despite the uncertain economy. For over two decades, Red River Radio operated out of cramped quarters in a temporary building at the LSUS campus. However, a separate funding campaign was launched in 2007 to construct a new building on campus, that would house production and on-air studios, as well as a small concert hall. Keeping in step with technological advances in broadcasting, RRR was already sending out two of its signals via the new technology called HD Radio, by mid-2007. Currently there are three HD streams for KDAQ. The ''HD1'' stream is a digital version of the regular programming, ''HD2'' is Classical Music, and ''HD3'' has News/Talk with additional programs not found in the regular lineup, allowing for more choices throughout the day and night. The long-awaited move of the radio station into new facilities, located in a renovated building on the edge of the LSUS campus, was completed on December 5, 2012. The new facilities and studio space of KDAQ were redesigned out of the former Baptist Student Union Building, which also served as a church sanctuary.KDAQ Public Radio Studio
Retrieved 22 June 2014.

Notes

External links

Red River Radio Online
{{American broadcast radio Louisiana State University System Mass media in Shreveport, Louisiana NPR member networks