Press Release: May 24th, 2006
For KUOW Contact: Marcia Scholl, (206)221-7217
For PRC Contact: Judy Cleary, (303) 377-9365
KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio and Public Radio Capital Bring New Program Service to Seattle/Tacoma
May 24, 2006 (SEATTLE/TACOMA, Wash. and DENVER, Colo.) - KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio (KUOW), the region's award-winning station for news, information, and cultural programming at 94.9 FM for Seattle/Tacoma and on 1340 AM in Olympia, and Public Radio Capital (PRC) in Denver will soon make available a new public radio program service of news and information on KXOT FM. Through an operating agreement with PRC, the licensee of KXOT, KUOW will be solely responsible for the programming operation and management of the non-commercial station, located at 91.7 FM, and serving listeners in Seattle and Tacoma.
According to KUOW General Manager, Wayne Roth, the operating agreement with PRC enables KUOW to achieve three critical objectives in the region: expand service to current and new listeners, develop additional public radio service, and preserve an important frequency for public radio.
"As the operating partner of KXOT, we are excited to provide a new service which includes public radio programs previously not available to listeners in the Seattle/Tacoma region," Roth said. "While the new service will have the hallmark of the news and information programs we broadcast on our other stations, we will focus on future development of innovative programs that will reach new, and potentially younger, audiences in this area."
Marc Hand, co-managing director of Public Radio Capital in Denver, added, "PRC's purpose is to broaden the reach of public radio, and so we knew from the start in entering into this agreement that KUOW would be the perfect operating partner."
Seattle-based Susan Harmon, PRC co-managing director said, "KUOW has done so much to build and sustain the success of public radio in our region, there's no doubt that it will bring the same great inventiveness and energy to developing new, 'must-listen' programs on KXOT."
KXOT was taken off the air (went "dark") at the end of January of this year for the purpose of engineering increased power for the station and will remain "dark" until KUOW's new service begins in summer 2006.
About KUOW
KUOW is the region's public radio station for news,
information and cultural programming. It serves the Puget
Sound region, Western Washington and Southern British
Columbia at 94.9FM, Bellingham, WA at 90.3FM and Olympia,
WA at 1340AM. KUOW 94.9 and KXOT are streamed live via the
Internet at kuow.org and KUOW, KXOT and KUOW3 are
broadcast in crystal clear HD Radio technology. KUOW FM
(licensed by the University of Washington), KUOW AM, and
now KXOT are operated by KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio
(PSPR) PSPR is a community board governed private
non-profit corporation established in 2000.
KUOW is a founding member of National Public Radio, an affiliate of American Public Media and Public Radio International, a founding station of the Northwest News Network and a member of the Associated Press.
About Public Radio Capital
Public Radio Capital's (PRC) mission is to secure and
expand the number of public radio stations in communities
nationwide, so that people have greater program choices for
in-depth information, unbiased news, diverse music, and
cultural programming. In its role to broaden the reach of
public radio, PRC is the industry's leading advisor in
planning, acquiring and funding new public radio channels.
Since its founding in 2001, nonprofit PRC has secured
nearly 30 stations for public radio in communities reaching
over 16 million people as well as helped public
broadcasters in many other cities prepare for expansion of
service.
About KXOT 91.7 FM
KXOT 91.7 FM is a non-commercial public radio station that PRC purchased from Bates Technical College in 2005. Last year, Seattle non-commercial station KEXP programmed the channel with an eclectic music format, and changed the station's call letters from KBTC to KXOT.
