KPCC (FM)

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KPCC (FM 89.3) – branded LAist 89.3 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed in Pasadena, California. KPCC itself is primarily serving Greater Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley; through rebroadcating and translator stations, KPCC's programming also reaches the Santa Barbara, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, and Ventura County, California areas, and part of the Inland Empire area.<ref name="laist-about-us">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The station is owned by Pasadena City College and operated by the American Public Media Group's Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), in addition to serving as an affiliate for National Public Radio and Public Radio Exchange. It originates some of its own shows.<ref name="laist-shows">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The studios are located in Pasadena, and the station transmitter is on Mount Wilson.

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HistoryEdit

Pasadena City College has a history in radio back to when it was still Pasadena Junior College, a combined high school and college; in 1934 it began hosting a montly radio show on the Pasadena Presbyterian Church station KPPC (AM).<ref name="pcc-75th">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Pasadena City College's 75th anniversary history book mentions "an experimental program every Monday night in 1942 on KPCS" named "Presenting Pasadena for Pasadena Preferred", produced by the PCC Radio Division and the Chronicle.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp

Pasadena City College opened a radio studio on December 14, 1947,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with a studio classroom, engineering room, work room, and reception room, but no transmitter or broadcast license; the studio instead continued to broadcast its programs over other local radio stations,<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp such as KPPC and KXLA (AM).<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp The college was also active in television from September 1949, using the Pasadena Playhouse, which had its own television department.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp

The college began its own broadcasts on FM in April 1957 as KPCS, with a transmitter purchased from KWKW.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp Template:Citation needed span One of the few two-year college stations with an FCC broadcast license, it originally on the air from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it went to "all day" broadcasting on October 1, 1962.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp The original callsign of KPCS stood for "Pasadena City Schools",<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp Template:Citation needed span so the callsign was changed to KPCC at the end of 1971.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp

During the 1970s and 1980s the station won numerous broadcasting awards.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp The radio station and television studio were flooded in the 12-day rainstorm that affected Pasadena in 1983.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp

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KPCC's transmitter and radio tower moved from the C Building at PCC to a higher-powered facility on Mount Wilson in 1988.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp In 1993, the studios also moved out of the C Building, where they had been confined to a cramped basement, and into the newly built Shatford Library with the television production studios and Media Center,<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp where the radio studios remained until 2010.<ref name="lat-kpcc-embarks">Template:Cite news</ref>

The station expansion, particularly in signal coverage area, led to years of controversy in the 1990s over the station's change in focus from Pasadena-area to Los Angeles regional interest.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp However, by the end of the 1990s, KPCC remained a small, student-operated National Public Radio station with various music programs and a budget of $300,000.<ref name="lat-kpcc-embarks"/>

Southern California Public RadioEdit

Around 1999<ref name="lat-changing-laist"/><ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp or 2000,<ref name="lat-kpcc-embarks"/> Pasadena City College received an offer from Minnesota Public Radio for MPR to form a new branch, Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), to take over operation of KPCC, with PCC continuing to hold the official broadcast license.<ref name="lat-kpcc-embarks"/> SCPR is a not-for-profit organization now controlled by American Public Media Group, parent organization of Minnesota Public Radio.<ref name="scpr-990fy23"/>Template:Rp

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Template:Citation needed span Under the operation of SCPR, the music and some of the local programming was replaced by network programming. Though there were still internship opportunities for students in technical roles, there were much fewer on-air voice opportunities. In response to this, PCC started an additional, 1 watt, radio station on 88.9 MHz in 1998,<ref name="pcc-75th"/>Template:Rp which became known as Lancer Radio, and had an Internet audio stream and a website by 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:MohnBroadcastCenter.jpg

KPCC's Mohn Broadcast Center in June 2011

In March 2010, KPCC moved from the Shatford Library to a Template:Convert converted office building on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, at a cost of $24.5 million, and named the new facilities the Mohn Broadcast Center and Crawford Family Forum.<ref name="lat-kpcc-embarks"/>

File:89.3KPCC.svg

89.3 KPCC logo until 2023

LAistEdit

In February 2018, SCPR, along with the operators of public radio stations WNYC in New York City and WAMU in Washington, D.C., acquired much of the assets of the blog Gothamist and its sister sites LAist and DCist, using donations from two anonymous donors, and with plans to merge LAist into SCPR's existing studio operations.<ref name="lat-changing-laist">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

On January 31, 2023, SCPR announced that the radio stations would move away from using "KPCC" as a brand, and adopt the "LAist" name across all its platforms, including the radio stations. The official call letters for the Pasadena radio station remain KPCC after the re-brand.<ref name="lat-changing-laist"/> Template:Citation needed span

ProgrammingEdit

Broadcast programming originating at KPCC includes the L.A.-centric AirTalk and film-focused FilmWeek with Larry Mantle,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Loh Down on Science with Sandra Tsing Loh,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and pop culture trivia show Go Fact Yourself with J. Keith van Straaten and Helen Hong.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The stations also carry multiple public radio shows from National Public Radio (NPR), the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), and LAist/SCPR's sister organization American Public Media (APM).<ref name="laist-shows"/>

In 2025, LAist began a news partnership with commercial station KCBS-TV. This allowed for resources to be shared between the two stations. This proved useful during the southern California wildfires that year, as the station simulcast KCBS-TV's audio of their wall-to-wall coverage.

HD broadcastingEdit

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HD1 simulcasts the analog feed; and
HD2 airs alternative rock via a simulcast of KCMP/Minneapolis (branded "The Current"). Both subchannels also stream live on the Internet.

Repeaters, translators, and boostersEdit

KPCC extends its radio programming via full-power satellites KUOR-FM Redlands (89.1 FM),<ref name="fcc1b">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> KVLA-FM Coachella (90.3 FM), and KJAI Ojai (89.5 FM), as well as low-power translators Template:Update inline KPCC-FM2 West Los Angeles (89.3 FM), KPCC-FM3 West Los Angeles (89.3 FM), K210AD Santa Barbara (89.9 FM) and K227BX Palm Springs (93.3 FM). KUOR is licensed to the University of Redlands, while KVLA and KJAI are licensed to American Public Media Group's SCPR. Template:Citation needed span

Repeaters for KPCC
Call sign	Frequency	City of license	Facility ID	Class	ERP (W)	Height (m (ft))
KVLA-FM	90.3 FM	Coachella, California	Template:FID	A	340	Template:Convert
KJAI	89.5 FM	Ojai, California	Template:FID	A	97	Template:Convert
KUOR-FM	89.1 FM	Redlands, California	Template:FID	A	35	Template:Convert

Translators and boosters for KPCC
Call sign	Frequency	City of license	FID	Class	ERP (W)	Height (m (ft))	Relays
K227BX	93.3 FM	Palm Springs, California	Template:FID	D	10	Template:Convert	KVLA-FM
K210AD	89.9 FM	Santa Barbara, California	Template:FID	D	10	Template:Convert	KJAI
KPCC-FM1	89.3 FM	Santa Clarita, California	Template:FID	D	3	Template:Convert	Template:Update inline
KPCC-FM2	89.3 FM	West Los Angeles, California	Template:FID	D	350	Template:Convert	KPCC (booster)
KPCC-FM3	89.3 FM	West Los Angeles, California	Template:FID	D	700	Template:Convert	KPCC (booster)