Broadcast area | Rhode Island |
---|---|
Branding | Rhode Island Public Radio |
Slogan | Rhode Island's NPR |
Frequency | see table in article |
First air date | May 1, 1998 (service, on 1290 AM) |
Format | News/talk |
ERP | see table in article |
HAAT | see table in article |
Class | A (all stations) |
Facility ID | see table in article |
Transmitter coordinates | see table in article |
Callsign meaning | see table in article |
Former callsigns | see table in article |
Affiliations |
NPR Public Radio International American Public Media |
Owner | Rhode Island Public Radio |
Sister stations | WRNI |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | ripr |
Rhode Island Public Radio is the NPR member radio network for the state of Rhode Island. Its studios are located in the historic Union Station in downtown Providence. The network airs a format of news and talk from NPR, such as Morning Edition, On Point, and All Things Considered, as well as extensive local news coverage.
In addition to NPR, APM, PRI and other public radio programming from national sources, RIPR has dedicated reporters covering specific beats, including Politics, Health Care, Education, the Environment, and Arts & Culture. RIPR also produces local segments including:
In the 1990s, a group of Rhode Islanders formed the Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio in order to bring a local public radio station to the state. At the time, Rhode Island was the only state in New England (traditionally one of the bedrocks of support for NPR) and one of only two in the entire country (the other being Delaware) that did not have a full-service NPR station within its borders. Most of the state got at least a grade B signal from Boston's WGBH-FM (with Providence itself receiving a city-grade signal) and WBUR. After a few years of looking, they found a partner in Boston University, owner of WBUR. BU agreed to buy WRCP (1290 AM), a 5,000-watt station that had been on the air since 1947, for $1.9 million; the foundation conducted a statewide drive to help raise the funds. For many years, 1290 AM had been known as WICE, but switched to Portuguese programming as WRCP in 1983.