Broadcast area Whidbey Island Facility ID 49918 City of license Washington, Oak Harbor Owner New Age Media Ltd_ Branding The Whale | Class D Frequency 1110 kHz Format Adult contemporary music Area Whidbey Island Sister stations KWLE | |
Translator(s) 99.5 K258CW (Oak Harbor) Power 500 watts daytime only
250 watts (translator) Callsign meaning Radio Punjabi Asian (former format) | ||
KRPA (1110 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary radio format, simulcasting its sister station 1340 KWLE Anacortes, Washington. Licensed to Oak Harbor, Washington, KRPA is owned by New Age Media Ltd., with studios in Mount Vernon.
The station broadcasts during daytime hours only, to protect clear channel Class A stations KFAB in Omaha, Nebraska and WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina. Programming can be heard around the clock on FM translator 99.5 K258CW.
KRPA had focused on the South Asian community of Greater Vancouver as a rimshotter, although reception in most areas of Greater Vancouver is quite poor. The station's prime coverage area is Whidbey Island and the San Juan Islands, although with a good radio, the signal reaches into Vancouver, as well as Victoria and Seattle.
History
The station went on the air as KEUE, later becoming KISD on July 1, 1984. On June 30, 1987, the station changed its call sign to KJTT, on January 21, 2000 to KWDB and March 14, 2012 to the current KRPA.
As KWDB, the station carried a conservative talk radio format until March 2012, when the station flipped its format to an ethnic format focused on Vancouver's South Asian community, following Satnam Media Group's acquisition of the station from Action Pages, LLC (formerly Impact Directories of Northwest Washington, LLC) in November 2011.
The station was sold by Satnam Media to New Age Media Ltd. at a purchase price of $85,000; this transaction was consummated on July 18, 2014.
After a claim of illegal broadcasting to Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Radio Punjab ceased its broadcast on KRPA on September 23, 2014. KRPA is now a repeater of KWLE.