Hawaii Public Radio

Hawaii Public Radio

Type	Public Radio Network
Country	United States
First air date	1981
Broadcast area	Hawaii
Owner	Hawaii Public Radio
Affiliation	National Public Radio Public Radio International American Public Media
Official website	Official website

Hawaii Public Radio (HPR), is a network of six non-commercial, listener-supported stations serving the state of Hawaii. It is the statewide member of National Public Radio (NPR). The stations originate from the studios of The Hawaii Public Radio Plaza on Kaheka Street, near the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu.

History/programming

The network's original station, KHPR, signed on the air in Honolulu on November 13, 1981. It originally operated with a staff of two people—general manager Cliff Eblen and music director Bob Miller. Originally operating from rented space at the University of Hawaii, it moved to its current studios in 1987. A year later, HPR became a true statewide network with the sign-on of a station in Maui.

HPR's programming choice increased in 1989, when KIPO signed on with a news and information format.

Keeping with the focus on HPR-1 (KHPR), most of the programming, including the programming produced in-house (Morning Cafe / Morning Concert, Evening Concert, Howard’s Day Off, Sunday Brunch, The Early Muse ) feature selections of classical music. The station also airs some non-classical programing such as Hearts of Space, The Thistle & Shamrock and Fascinatin' Rhythm.

National programming from NPR, such as All Things Considered and Morning Edition are broadcast Monday through Friday (as well as the weekend editions of the programs on Saturday and Sundays), as well as PRI’s A Prairie Home Companion and Studio 360 on Sundays.

HPR-2 (KIPO) features a news and talk format during the day. National shows from NPR and PRI, such as All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Marketplace and The World are broadcast Monday through Friday (Morning Edition is only aired on HPR-1.) The Conversation, produced in-house, airs at 8 a.m. with other locally produced talk and news shows broadcast at 5 p.m. (The Body Show, Bytemarks Café, Town Square) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Jazz programming, including Evening Jazz and The Real Deal (also produced at HPR-2) take to the air in the evening, followed by syndicated jazz programming. The station also broadcasts the BBC World Service overnight after midnight.

On the weekends, HPR-2 features national programming such as This American Life, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and Radiolab as well as Brazilian Experience, showcasing Brazilian music, and Bridging the Gap, an eclectic music program; both music shows produced in-house. Sundays feature a mix of spirituality programming (On Being and New Dimensions) ideas (TED Talks) as well A Prairie Home Companion and musical standards show Fascinatin' Rhythm, roots music show American Routes and Bluegrass Breakdown. Music shows produced at HPR-2 that also air include Kanakapila Sunday, which showcases Hawaiian music, Sinatra, which features recordings, radio shows and the audio from television programming featuring Frank Sinatra, and Full Nelson, which features country music (Willie Nelson, in particular).

Stations

HPR operates as two distinct services. "HPR-1," based on KHPR, originally focused on classical music and fine arts programming. "HPR-2," based on KIPO, originally aired NPR news and talk, along with jazz and blues music at night. On February 14, 2017 Hawaii Public Radio realigned its two program services — HPR-1 now carries news and talk and jazz, while HPR-2 switched to classical music. From the very beginning, HPR intended to offer two distinct programming services when it acquired the resources and transmitters to do so.^[1] Both services have been streamed live on the Internet since 2001.

There are also four low-power translator stations that fill in gaps in coverage:^[2]

• K203EL at 88.5 MHz, serving Haleiwa and Schofield Barracks
• K235CN at 94.9 MHz, serving Waimea on the Big Island
• K269GD at 101.7 MHz, serving Moloaa on Kauai
• K239BV at 95.7 MHz, serving Kawaihae to Captain Cook on the Big Island

In addition, HPR also transmits on Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital channels 864 and 865 for the entire state of Hawaii.^[3]

Until September 2008, the signal of KIPO was limited to 3,000 watts to avoid interference with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) monitoring stations in Pearl City. This effectively limited its coverage to the south shore of Oahu. A new 26,000 watt transmitter for KIPO went on the air on September 20, 2008, enabling the signal of KIPO to reach all areas of Oahu. Plans are in the works to expand the HPR-2 stream to the other islands as well. In April 2011 KIPM in Wailuku signed as KIPO's satellite outlet.^[4] Two more HPR-2 satellites signed on over the next three years, enabling Hawaii Public Radio to realign its services into a true two-channel network.

References

External links

• HPR's website
• "You've Come A Long Way, Baby", HONOLULU Magazine ~ November 2006