Hawaii Public Radio

The network's original station, KHPR 88.1 FM, 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 July 1987. A year later, HPR became a true statewide network with the sign-on of a station in Maui, reaching listeners on Maui and Hawaii Island.

HPR's programming choice increased in October 1989, the second program stream, KIPO 89.3 FM, began broadcasting jazz and folk music. In August 2000, expansion continued with the addition of KANO 91.1 (Hilo), broadcasting KHPR classical music and news program stream to East Hawaiʻi Island. In 2010, two new boosters are installed on Mt. Kaʻala on Oʻahu's North Shore, and beam both KHPR 88.1 and KIPO 89.3 at the terrain-shielded North Shore, as well as at the south and east shores of Kauaʻi (June). The following year, expansion of the KIPO signal to Maui was implemented and KIPM 89.7 went on the air in the spring; KIPH 88.3 serving Hāna, Maui began service shortly after.[1]

With these infrastructure additions, statewide coverage of two streams became possible, and in the spring of 2012, the two HPR program streams were rebranded as HPR-1 and HPR-2.[1]

On February 13, 2013, KHPH 88.7 (Kailua-Kona) brought HPR programs to the many terrain-shielded pockets along West Hawaiʻi, including Waimea. That same year, KIPL 89.9 (Līhuʻe) went on the air, making available HPR-2ʻs news, talk, and international music available to the majority the remaining areas of Kauaʻi island.[1]

HPR-1 offers news, talk, entertainment, and a variety of music programming, including NPR's weekday news shows Morning Edition, All Things Considered, as well as HPR's own weekday news and current affairs program The Conversation. Weeknights feature Evening Jazz and Bridging the Gap, an eclectic music program; both music shows produced in-house. Saturday programming includes This American Life, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and Radiolab, as well as locally produced Brazilian Experience, showcasing Brazilian music. Sundays feature a mix of spirituality programming (On Being and New Dimensions), ideas (TED Radio Hour) as well as music shows include Kanakapila Sunday, showcasing Hawaiian music, and American Routes. The station also broadcasts the BBC World Service overnight after midnight.[2]

HPR-2 ("your home for classical music") is Hawaii's only dedicated classical music station, offering a mix of national and locally produced shows. Local shows include Morning Cafe/Morning Concert, Classical Pacific, Howard's Day Off, and The Early Muse. The station also broadcasts symphony performances from Pittsburgh, Chicago, San Francisco, and others. Select performances of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and Hawaii Youth Symphony are also broadcast.[3]

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.[4] Both services have been streamed live on the Internet since 2001.

There are also six low-power translator stations that fill in gaps in coverage:[5]

• K203EL at 88.5 MHz, serving Haleiwa and Schofield Barracks HPR-1
• K235CN at 94.9 MHz, serving Waimea on the Big Island HPR-1
• K264BL at 100.7 MHz, serving East Oahu HPR-2
• K269GD at 101.7 MHz, serving Moloaa on Kauai HPR-2
• K239BV at 95.7 MHz, serving Kawaihae to Captain Cook on the Big Island HPR-2
• K283CR at 104.5 MHz, serving Waimea on the Big Island HPR-2

In addition, HPR-1 and HPR-2 may also transmits on Charter Spectrum digital channels 864 and 865 or Hawaiian Telcom TV digital channels 661 and 662 for the entire state of Hawaii.[6]

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.[7] 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.

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