KPCC (FM)

{{Short description|Public radio station in Pasadena, California}} {{Distinguish|KPPC (disambiguation){{!}}KPPC}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox radio station | name = KPCC | logo = LAist ac-logo-laist black.svg | logo_upright = .9 | city = Pasadena, California | country = US | area = Greater Los Angeles | frequency = {{Frequency|89.3|MHz}} {{HD Radio}} | branding = LAist 89.3 | language = English | format = {{hlist|Public radio|All-news radio}} | subchannels = HD2: KCMP simulcast (Alternative rock) | affiliations = {{hlist|American Public Media|NPR|Public Radio Exchange}} | owner = Pasadena City College | licensee = Pasadena Area Community College District | operator = Southern California Public Radio (American Public Media Group) | airdate = {{start date|1957|8|2}} | former_callsigns = KPCS (1957–1979) | callsign_meaning = Pasadena City College | licensing_authority = FCC | facility_id = 51701 | class = B | erp = 600 watts | haat = {{Convert|891|m|ft|sp=us}} | coordinates = {{coord|34|13|36|N|118|03|58|W|type:landmark_region:US-CA|display=inline,title}} | translators = See {{section link||Translators and boosters}} | repeaters = See {{section link||Repeaters}} | webcast = | website = {{URL|https://laist.com/}} }} '''KPCC''' (FM 89.3) – branded '''LAist 89.3''' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed in Pasadena, California. KPCC itself primarily serves Greater Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley; through rebroadcasting 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">{{cite web | url = https://laist.com/about-us | title = About Us | access-date = December 25, 2024 | publisher = Southern California Public Radio | location = Pasadena, California }}</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">{{cite web | url = https://laist.com/shows | title = All LAist Programs | work = LAist | publisher = Southern California Public Radio | location = Pasadena, California | access-date = December 25, 2024 }}</ref> The studios are located inside the Mohn Broadcast Center and Crawford Family Forum on South Raymond Street in Pasadena, and the station transmitter is on Mount Wilson.

{{As of|2023}}, SCPR served "more than 527,000 listeners each week".<ref name="scpr-990fy23">{{cite web | title = IRS Form 990 | url = https://media.scpr.org/about/publicdocs/scpr990fy23.pdf | date = 2023-06-30 | author = Southern California Public Radio | location = Pasadena, California | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240509224416/media.scpr.org/about/publicdocs/scpr990fy23.pdf | archive-date = 2024-05-09 | url-status = live | access-date = 2024-12-25}}</ref>{{rp|45}} It is one of two full NPR members in the Los Angeles area; Santa Monica-based KCRW is the other.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://laist.com/news/kpcc-laist-893-npr-public-radio-brand-rebrand |website=LAist | title=LAist Is Taking Over Your Radio Dial: KPCC Will Be LAist 89.3 |first=Mike| last=Roe| date=January 31, 2023| accessdate=May 13, 2026}}</ref>

==History== 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">{{cite book | url = https://pasadena.edu/about/documents/PCC-75th-History.pdf | title = Pasadena City College: A History Commissioned on the Occasion of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary | author = Mark Morrall Dodge | publisher = Pasadena City College | location = Pasadena, California | isbn = 0972668403 | year = 2002 }}</ref>{{rp|34}} 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"/>{{rp|55}}

Pasadena City College opened a radio studio on December 14, 1947,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://pasadena.edu/about/history.php | title = History | access-date = December 25, 2024 | publisher = Pasadena City College | location = Pasadena, California }}</ref> with a studio classroom, engineering room, work room, and reception room, and no transmitter or broadcast license; the studio instead continued to broadcast its programs over other local radio stations,<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|70}} such as KPPC and KXLA (AM).<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|71}} The college was also active in television from September 1949, using the Pasadena Playhouse, which had its own television department.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|71}}

The college began its own broadcasts on FM in April 1957 as KPCS, with a transmitter purchased from  KWKW.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|71}} {{citation needed span|date=December 2024|It used the former KWKW-FM 250-watt transmitter and studio equipment, and a small antenna on the roof of the campus administration building that provided limited coverage. The station was operated by, and for, students who were studying broadcasting at the college.}} One of the few two-year college stations with an FCC broadcast license, it was 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"/>{{rp|71}} The original call sign of KPCS stood for "Pasadena City Schools",<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|96}} {{citation needed span|date=December 2024| in the meantime the institution operating KPCS had been renamed to Pasedena City College, and afterward split into a separate community college district;}} so the call sign was changed to KPCC at the end of 1971.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|96}}

During the 1970s and 1980s the station won numerous broadcasting awards.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|96}} The radio station and television studio were flooded in the 12-day rainstorm that affected Pasadena in 1983.<ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|92}}

{{citation needed span|date=December 2024|Formerly, the station broadcast from a transmitter in Orange County, later from Downtown Los Angeles (at the Frank Stanton Studios), and on the PCC campus. The station originally broadcast from the campus of Pasadena City College in Pasadena.}}

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"/>{{rp|115}} 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"/>{{rp|92}} where the radio studios remained until 2010.<ref name="lat-kpcc-embarks">{{cite news | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-20-la-et-kpcc20-2010mar20-story.html | title = Pasadena radio station KPCC embarks on new era | first = Steve | last = Carney | date = March 20, 2010 | access-date = December 25, 2024 | work = Los Angeles Times }}</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"/>{{rp|115}} 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 Radio=== Around 1999<ref name="lat-changing-laist"/><ref name="pcc-75th"/>{{rp|115}} 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"/>{{rp|46}}

{{citation needed span|date=December 2024|PCC's contract with American Public Media permits either side to terminate the arrangement after giving sufficient notice, APM with six months notice and PCC with five years notice after 2015 (effectively making it a 20-year contract with an unlimited option to renew). PCC gets on air recognition and funding for a broadcast internship program (along with the traditional responsibility of maintaining FCC-related issues as the licensee), while APM controls the station and all the pledges, grants, and corporate underwriting revenues.}}

{{citation needed span|The station is usually identified as a "public service of Pasadena City College" at the top of each hour. Since the APM takeover, PCC student participation has been reduced to internships supported by American Public Media.|date=June 2014}} 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"/>{{rp|115}} which became known as Lancer Radio, and had an Internet audio stream and a website by 2005.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://collegearchive.pasadena.edu/Documents/Detail/pcc-courier-march-03-2005/152658?item=152662 | title = New Voice of Campus Radio | page = 4 | volume = 91 | issue = 3 | date = March 5, 2005 | first = Chantal | last = Mullins | work = Courier | publisher = Pasadena City College | location = Pasadena, California | access-date = December 25, 2024 }}</ref>

thumb|250px|right|KPCC's Mohn Broadcast Center in June 2011 In March 2010, KPCC moved from the Shatford Library to a {{convert|35000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} 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"/>

thumb|89.3 KPCC logo until 2023

===''LAist''=== 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">{{cite news |last=Pearce |first=Matt |date=January 31, 2023 |title=KPCC is changing its name to LAist 89.3 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-01-31/kpcc-is-changing-its-name-to-laist-89-3 |access-date=January 31, 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title= WNYC, KPCC, and WAMU Acquire Gothamist Assets | url = https://www.wnyc.org/press/acquires-gothamist/22318/ | publisher = New York Public Media | location = New York, New York | date = February 23, 2018 | access-date = December 25, 2024 | language=en |archive-date = February 23, 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180223204638/https://www.wnyc.org/press/acquires-gothamist/22318/ |url-status=live}}</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"/> {{citation needed span|date=December 2024|KPCC rebranded to LAist on February 7, 2023.}}

== Programming == Broadcast programming originating at KPCC includes the L.A.-centric ''AirTalk'' and film-focused ''FilmWeek'' with Larry Mantle,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://laist.com/shows/airtalk | title = AirTalk | work = LAist | publisher = Southern California Public Radio | location = Pasadena, California | access-date = December 25, 2024 }}</ref> ''The Loh Down on Science'' with Sandra Tsing Loh,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://laist.com/shows/the-loh-down-on-science | title = The Loh Down on Science | work = LAist | publisher = Southern California Public Radio | location = Pasadena, California | access-date = December 25, 2024 }}</ref> and pop culture trivia show ''Go Fact Yourself'' with J. Keith van Straaten and Helen Hong.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://laist.com/shows/go-fact-yourself | title = Go Fact Yourself | work = LAist | publisher = Southern California Public Radio | location = Pasadena, California | access-date = December 25, 2024 }}</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 television stations KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://current.org/2025/01/laist-expands-news-coverage-through-cbs-los-angeles-partnership/ | title = LAist expands news coverage through CBS Los Angeles partnership | work = Current | access-date = September 3, 2025}}</ref> 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 broadcasting === {{update span|reason=not mentioned anywhere on LAist.com and HDRadio.com shows old logos for KPCC so may not have current info|?=yes|date=December 2024|Besides a standard analog transmission, KPCC broadcasts over two HD Radio channels.<ref>https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?latitude=34.052230834961&longitude=-118.24368286133 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808034647/https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?latitude=34.052230834961&longitude=-118.24368286133 |date=August 8, 2017 }} HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles</ref>}} * 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 boosters == KPCC extends its radio programming via full-power satellites KUOR-FM Redlands (89.1 FM),<ref name="fcc1b">{{cite web |title=KUOR-FM Call Sign History |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=69217&Callsign=KUOR-FM69217|work=FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database |access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref> KVLA-FM Coachella (90.3 FM), and KJAI Ojai (89.5 FM), as well as low-power translators {{update inline|date=December 2024|reason=FM1 might be gone|KPCC-FM1 Santa Clarita (89.3 FM),}} 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. {{citation needed span|date=December 2024|All three of the station's full-power repeaters also broadcast two HD Radio signals.}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Repeaters for KPCC |- !scope="col"| Call sign !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | Frequency !scope="col"| City of license !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | Facility ID !scope="col"| Class !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | ERP<br />(W) !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | Height<br />(m (ft)) |- !scope="row" | KVLA-FM | 90.3 FM || Coachella, California || {{FID|85911}} || A || 340 || {{Convert|175|m|ft|abbr=on}} |- !scope="row" | KJAI | 89.5 FM || Ojai, California || {{FID|60140}} || A || 97 || {{Convert|403|m|ft|abbr=on}} |- !scope="row" | KUOR-FM | 89.1 FM || Redlands, California || {{FID|69217}} || A || 35 || {{Convert|815|m|ft|abbr=on}} |}

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Translators and boosters for KPCC |- !scope="col"| Call sign !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | Frequency !scope="col"| City of license !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | FID !scope="col"| Class !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | ERP<br />(W) !scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | Height<br />(m (ft)) !scope="col"| Relays |- !scope="row" | K227BX | 93.3 FM || Palm Springs, California || {{FID|155851}} || D || 10 || {{Convert|143.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} || KVLA-FM |- !scope="row" | K210AD | 89.9 FM || Santa Barbara, California || {{FID|33702}} || D || 10 || {{Convert|270|m|ft|abbr=on}} || KJAI |- !scope="row" | KPCC-FM1 | 89.3 FM || Santa Clarita, California || {{FID|178427}} || D || 3 || {{Convert|678|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{update inline|date=December 2024|reason=FM1 might be gone|KPCC (booster)}} |- !scope="row" | KPCC-FM2 | 89.3 FM || West Los Angeles, California || {{FID|198690}} || D || 350 || {{Convert|−17|m|ft|abbr=on}} || KPCC (booster) |- !scope="row" | KPCC-FM3 | 89.3 FM || West Los Angeles, California || {{FID|198689}} || D || 700 || {{Convert|−17|m|ft|abbr=on}} || KPCC (booster) |}

==References== {{Reflist|refs=}}

==External links== * {{officialwebsite|https://laist.com/}} {{FM station data|51701|KPCC}} * {{Cite web|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=69572 |title=FCC History Cards for KPCC|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}

===Further reading=== * {{cite news |last=Stuart |first=Tessa|date=November 1, 2012|access-date=July 31, 2024|title=How KPCC's Quest for Latino Listeners Doomed The Madeleine Brand Show|url=https://www.laweekly.com/how-kpccs-quest-for-latino-listeners-doomed-the-madeleine-brand-show/ |newspaper= LA Weekly |location= Los Angeles |publisher= Voice Media Group }}

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Category:1957 establishments in California Category:American Public Media Group PCC Category:Entertainment companies based in California Category:Mass media in Pasadena, California Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States Category:NPR member stations Category:Pasadena City College Category:Radio stations established in 1957 PCC