KUOW-FM
City of license	Seattle, Washington
Broadcast area	Seattle metropolitan area
Branding	KUOW 94.9
Frequency	94.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) 94.9 HD-2 for KXOT 94.9 HD-3 for BBC World Service
Translator(s)	K212FG 90.3 Bellingham, K258BJ 90.5 Everett, KUOW AM 1340 Tumwater/Olympia
First air date	1952
Format	Public radio
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	224 meters
Class	C1
Facility ID	66571
Callsign meaning	University Of Washington
Affiliations	NPR
Owner	University of Washington
Webcast	Listen live
Website	KUOW.org

KUOW-FM 94.9 is a National Public Radio affiliate radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is the second-most listened-to radio station in the Seattle/Tacoma media market^[1] and the most listened-to news radio station in the state. It is a service of the University of Washington.

[edit] About KUOW

KUOW's site states its mission as, "to create and serve an informed public, one challenged and invigorated by an understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures."

The station was founded in 1952 as a commercial radio station owned by Fisher Broadcasting. In 1964, not seeing the commercial viability of FM broadcasting, Fisher donated the 94.9 frequency to UW. It is one of the few public radio (or any non-commercial educational) stations on a commercial frequency outside of the reserved band. For years, it served as a training ground for UW students to learn about broadcasting. Programming consisted of classical music, classroom lectures, local news, and Washington Huskies sports.

In the 1960s, however, KUOW began branching out, adding more news programming. It was a charter member of NPR in 1970. In 1992, it changed format from music to news and information^[2], and in 2001 it moved into a newly refurbished studio space.^[3]

KUOW broadcasts from Capitol Hill in Seattle with a power (ERP) of 100 kW. The studios are located in Seattle's University District. The station is heard in the Puget Sound region on KUOW-FM 94.9, in Bellingham on K212FG FM 90.3, in Everett on K258BJ FM 99.5, in Olympia on KUOW AM 1340 (Tumwater being its actual city of license), and on the Internet at http://www.kuow.org. It has also made two applications at the same site for an FM broadcast translator in Olympia, on 98.5 and 107.3.

KUOW discontinued traffic reports during its broadcasts of Morning Edition and All Things Considered starting May 9, 2008.

[edit] Audience

KUOW's 2008 annual report states that the station served an average of 375,800 listeners each week in fiscal year 2008. ^[4] These listeners averaged eight and a quarter hours of listening per week to total more than 3 million weekly listener hours. In the same year, KUOW ranked second among all radio stations in the Seattle Metro market, with a 4.8% share of the market's radio audience.

[edit] Finances

KUOW's 2008 direct support (money received) totaled $10,116,910. ^[5] Its sources were:

• 46% individuals
• 41% corporate
• 7% government (largely the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the University of Washington)
• 6% other

[edit] Programs

KUOW produces several programs, most of which are concerned with local news and events:

• The Conversation – Hosted by Ross Reynolds, The Conversation is a call-in program that covers news-oriented and other topics.
• KUOW Presents – KUOW Presents airs local and national program specials.
• Sound Focus – Hosted by Dave Beck, Megan Sukys and Jeannie Yandel. The program presents engaging interviews with people who define the Northwest character. National guests join the conversation to share ideas that can change the way listeners look at life around the Puget Sound.
• Speaker's Forum – Speaker's Forum airs speeches and presentations from a wide variety of specialties.
• The Swing Years and Beyond – Hosted by Amanda Wilde, The Swing Years and Beyond airs American music from the 1920s through the 1950s.
• Weekday – Hosted by Steve Scher, Weekday is an interview/call-in talk show that covers various topics usually related to local and national news.

KUOW also broadcasts the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library's Evergreen Radio Reading Service to blind and handicapped listeners on its 67kHz subcarrier. KUOW is one of three major FM stations in Washington to do so; KPBX-FM in Spokane and KFAE-FM in Yakima are the others. However, this requires a special FM radio capable of receiving such broadcasts; it cannot be received on a standard FM radio.

[edit] KUOW alumni

• Luke Burbank:^[6] NPR Host
• Cynthia Doyon: deceased^[7]
• Juris Jansons: General Manager KASB radio
• John Moe: former host of Weekend America^[8]
• Bill Radke: former host of Weekend America
• Dana Davis Rehm:^[9] NPR Senior Vice President, Strategy & Partnerships
• Robert Smith: NPR Correspondent, National Desk, New York
• Ken Vincent – 23 years; midday announcer, news editor, and engineer of Weekday, The Conversation, and The Beat

[edit] See also

• National Public Radio

[edit] References

• Evergreen Radio Reading Service
• www.kuow.org

[edit] External links

• KUOW 94.9
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KUOW
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KUOW
• Query the FCC's FM station database for K212FG
• Query the FCC's FM station database for K258BJ
• Radio Locator information on KUOW
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KUOW