On Saturday, Sept. 1, there will be a new voice in the Four-State area. KRPS, 89.9 FM, will launch KRPS-Dos, a new Spanish language broadcast. The new broadcast is possible because KRPS has made the switch to HD radio, a pure digital transmission that not only improves the sound quality of radio broadcasts, but also allows the station to broadcast a second digital frequency.

HD receivers, which cost around $100, are required to receive the digital broadcasts. Regular listeners to KRPS with analog receivers will not miss any of their favorite programs, but will not get the added clarity that digital offers. Only persons with digital receivers, however, will be able to tune in to KRPS-Dos.

Missi Kelly, KRPS general manager, said adding the Spanish language broadcast was a good fit with the station’s mission of serving audiences in the Four-State area that have limited service on the radio dial.

“I was very surprised when I realized the explosion of the Hispanic population within the KRPS primary listening area since 1990,” Kelly said. “From the beginning, part of the core mission of KRPS has been to serve otherwise ‘unserved’ audiences. To my knowledge, KRPS-Dos will be the only 24 hour Spanish radio service within the immediate Four-State area. How better could we fulfill this aspect of the KRPS mission?”

Kelly said the station has received a very favorable response to KRPS-Dos from the PSU community, including faculty, staff, students and friends. She recently shared plans for KRPS-Dos with a PSU alumna who has lived in New Mexico and now lives in Texas.

“When she heard about KRPS-Dos she was very excited,” Kelly said. “She said even though Spanish was not her primary language she felt having Spanish radio and television stations available basically doubled her entertainment choices. Along those lines, I feel KRPS-Dos will be an excellent resource for anyone learning to speak Spanish as a second language.”

An added bonus to KRPS-Dos is that the new service comes at very little additional cost to the station, because nearly all of the programming for KRPS-Dos is free. “BBC Mundo,” for example, is a popular program by the BBC broadcast to more than 300 stations serving nearly 6 million people in Latin America. A wide variety of musical programs cover everything from the accordion conjunto of Northern Mexico to the African-inspired rhythms of Brazil’s Carnival.

---Pitt State---