KCUR 89.3

About KCUR 89.3

KCUR exists because of a rejected budget request. In the spring of 1956, C.J. Stevens, then Director of Radio and TV at the University of Kansas City, asked for funding to establish an educational FM station and was turned down. Stevens and Sam Scott instead raised money outside the university, and on October 21, 1957, KCUR began broadcasting from the third floor of Scofield Hall with a signal range of four miles, two full-time employees, and a $15,000 university budget. It was the first university-licensed educational FM station in Missouri; its call letters came from the university's short name, "KCU." In 1961 the university's trustees tried to drop the station from the budget entirely, but the decision was reversed at the next meeting, and the station's power was later boosted to 40,000 watts.

In 1970 KCUR received a $7,500 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and a year later it became a charter member and network affiliate of NPR. The signal grew to 100,000 watts in 1976, and in 1985 the station moved to the Student Services Building at 4825 Troost. In 1992 national and local news programming replaced daytime classical music, and the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day with the BBC World Service overnight. Its weekday lineup is anchored by NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered plus the local hourlong talk show Up to Date.

Today KCUR operates as a listener-supported public radio station run by the University of Missouri-Kansas City from the Student Services Building at 4825 Troost Avenue, broadcasting at 100,000 watts on 89.3 FM with HD Radio. Its sister station is KWJC 91.9 FM (Classical KC), and its digital home is kcur.org.