City Interlochen, Michigan Affiliations NPR | Format Public radio | |
Broadcast area WIAA: Cadillac-Traverse City
WIAB: Mackinaw City-St. Ignace
WICV: Petoskey Owner Interlochen Center for the Arts Website | ||
Interlochen Public Radio, established in 1963, is a network of public radio stations in Northern Michigan. It broadcasts classical music and news on five stations in northwest lower Michigan. It is operated by the Interlochen Center for the Arts, with studios on the center's campus in Interlochen, Michigan; just outside Traverse City. It is an affiliate of National Public Radio and Public Radio International.
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At one point early in the 2000s, IPR led the nation in annual listener support. This was all the more remarkable because it is the second-smallest NPR member in Michigan, and one of the smallest in the entire NPR system.
History
Joseph E. Maddy, founder of the National Music Camp (now the Interlochen Center for the Arts), had long wanted to bring a fine arts radio station to Northern Michigan. In 1963, WIAA signed on for the first time. Originally broadcasting eight hours per day, it grew enough within a decade to become a charter member of NPR. Interlochen Public Radio became a network in 1989 with the addition of WICV in 1989.
In 2000, Interlochen signed on WICA at 91.5, and by 2001 all NPR news and talk programming had moved there. However, WICA does not have nearly the signal strength of WIAA. As a result, Cadillac, the second-largest city in IPR's service area, has no access to NPR talk programming even after the addition of two repeaters for WICA since the turn of the millennium.
Stations
Since 2000, IPR has operated a two-service network. "Classical IPR" (formerly known as "IPR Music Radio") provides classical music and hourly NPR news updates for three stations. News and talk programming from NPR and other sources is heard on three stations, branded as "IPR News Radio".