City Ada, Michigan Branding Public Reality Radio First air date October 1988 | Frequency 1680 kHz | |
Repeater(s) W237CZ 95.3 MHz, Grand Rapids | ||
WPRR (1680 AM) is a talk radio station serving the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. The station is currently owned by Goodrich Radio.
Contents
History
The station went on the air as WBHD on September 4, 1998. On October 15, 1998, the station changed its call sign to WJNZ flipping to an Urban Contemporary format as "1680 Jamz," giving Grand Rapids its first 24-hour Urban station at the time, the call letters and format are now on AM 1140.
On June 16, 2003, the station changed the call letters to WDSS and placed the Radio Disney format on the frequency. The station was poorly maintained during the Radio Disney years as station IDs were often mixed up and no ID was heard at the top of the hour.
On August 7, 2008, WDSS discontinued the Radio Disney format, switching to a continuous-loop announcement, announcing the changeover to a new "Public Reality Radio" format in September. The announcement also mentioned that the station's call sign would change over to WPRR on August 18 (the new calls actually took effect August 20). According to station owner Bob Goodrich, Public Reality Radio will be a non-profit, educational endeavor, featuring "a variety of podcasts and programming." On September 22, 2008, "Public Reality Radio" was launched, which includes programming from the Pacifica Radio network.
Translators
In 2010, WPRR established a repeater, W237CZ at 95.3 MHz. Goodrich would acquire the repeater from the Horizon Christian Fellowship in February 2010.
On November 19, 2012, WPRR purchased WXPZ from Larlen Communications. On July 5, 2014, WXPZ's callsign was changed to WPRR-FM.
Programming
Programs aired on the station include Democracy Now!, The Thom Hartmann Program, The David Pakman Show, The Union Edge, Loud and Clear with Brian Becker, Background Briefing, The Bradcast with Brad Friedman and other local shows.
Southpaws
Southpaws was a local program cancelled by WPRR on December 5, 2016. Show creator Darren Gibson and co-host Jack Prince are continuing the progressive driven political talk show as a one-hour podcast.
Women Libs
Women Libs was also a local program cancelled by WPRR on December 5, 2016. Show hosts Mary Harrington and Lucy Diamond are continuing the show as a one hour podcast, which also airs on WLRI LPFM in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The show focuses on concerns and aspects of living in a "male dominated world".