Blue Ridge Public Radio

Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) is the nonprofit NPR member organization for Western North Carolina, based in Asheville. It runs two services, BPR News and BPR Classic, heard on 20 frequencies across the mountains.

Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) is the nonprofit public media organization serving Western North Carolina from its studios at 73 Broadway in downtown Asheville. It is the region's NPR affiliate and operates two services: BPR News, which carries local, national and international news and analysis, and BPR Classic, which offers classical and jazz music, storytelling and cultural programming. BPR reaches about 90,000 listeners each week on air, along with a growing digital audience.

The license holder is Western North Carolina Public Radio, Inc., a 501(c)(3) community nonprofit incorporated in 1979 that took over the license of WCQS from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The organization launched the Blue Ridge Public Radio name and BPR News in 2017 and renamed its classical service BPR Classic in 2018. In 2022 it swapped the frequencies of the two services, bringing BPR News, now on WCQS 88.1 FM, to an additional 250,000 people in 14 counties and the Qualla Boundary. Together the services are heard on 20 frequencies, from Asheville, Hendersonville and Brevard to Waynesville, Sylva, Franklin and Murphy, and in 2026 a stronger 90.5 FM transmitter on High Top extended BPR Classic to about 180,000 more people around Asheville.

BPR News covered Hurricane Helene around the clock in 2024 with live reporting and official briefings in English and Spanish, work recognized with national Edward R. Murrow and Online Journalism Awards. The station also broadcasts the Asheville Symphony's Masterworks series and concerts from the Brevard Music Center, and sponsors The Moth StorySLAM storytelling nights in Asheville.

BPR describes itself as a small team dedicated to public service and is Living Wage Certified in Buncombe County. It hires for newsroom roles such as reporters and news leadership, audience and content, membership and donor engagement, business sponsorship and office administration. Applications go through a blind initial screening in which names and other personal identifiers are removed, followed by later stages in which candidates share their full professional background.

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Websitehttps://www.bpr.org/

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