Local public radio station moves to all-news format

John Hacker, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·3 min read

Jan. 16—PITTSBURG, Kan. — A local public radio station, KRPS 89.9 FM, has moved to an all-news format, preparing for a busy news year in 2024.

Fred Fletcher-Fierro, interim general manager of KRPS, which is based at Pittsburg State University, said the station launched its new format at the start of 2024 and that it includes a number of new programs from National Public Radio and other sources.

The change eliminates several hours of classical and jazz music the station used to broadcast in the afternoon and some evening time slots.

"The switch was made based on listener trends," Fletcher-Fierro said. "Our most listened-to hours every day are our morning news shows, NPR's 'Morning Edition,' and 'Weekend Edition' Saturday and Sunday, followed up by our afternoon and evening news, 'All Things Considered' and 'Marketplace.' So much news happens between the morning and the afternoon, and we wanted to keep those listeners tuned in and think of KRPS as their NPR news source."

Fletcher-Fierro said the station has been planning the change for months and advertised it throughout December before implementing the change Jan. 1.

"In particular in 2024, it's going to be the biggest year for democracy and voting in the United States," Fletcher-Fierro said. "Then, of course, every member of the Kansas House is up for reelection, the Missouri House, the U.S. House. Missouri will have a new governor and possibly a new U.S. senator. There's just a lot of news, and we have devoted listeners, and our ratings tell us they want more news."

Since the station's launch in 1988, KRPS has aired a combination of news, jazz and classical programming.

Fletcher-Fierro said the new format includes music for a three-hour block on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a number of new programs.

The station has added the following

—11 a.m. weekdays: NPR's "Here & Now."

—1 p.m. Monday through Thursday: "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross.

—2 p.m. Monday through Thursday: "The World."

—3 to 6 p.m. weekdays: an additional hour of NPR's "All Things Considered."

—8 p.m. Monday through Thursday: additional news coverage.

—7 to 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday: an additional hour of "Weekend Edition."

"A unique aspect of KRPS in comparison to commercial news radio is that KRPS broadcasts multiple news sources, including the BBC World Service, the Kansas News Service, locally produced content and news from partner stations across Missouri," Fletcher-Fierro said. "Since we launched in 1988, the music business and how we receive music has changed tremendously and news and information has changed too."

He said the station will also be launching an app for mobile devices as well and is working with a grant from the state of Kansas to convert to a high-definition format.

"When we get this installed, hopefully in the fall, we'll be happy to bring back a classical HD station," Fletcher-Fierro said. "With HD they divide your signal and you can have multiple stations in the same bandwidth. We'll stream that on the app we're going to launch and have it on the website. You can listen through Alexa and those kinds of devices. But our meat and potatoes need to be news. Nothing against music, but our listenership is really anchored in the news programs, and I thought, 'Well, what better year?' We're not going to get a better opportunity like 2024 to do this. We've been around for over 35 years, and I know if you've lived here you have an idea of what KRPS was in the past, and just give us another chance for us to be your radio news source."