Boise State Public Radio is a broadcast service of Boise State University, which operates four programming services on several radio stations throughout central and southern Idaho and northern Nevada.
KBSW in Twin Falls, Idaho airs a mix of programming from KBSU and KBSX, as well as some local programming produced at a satellite studio at the College of Southern Idaho.
A full-time jazz format, named "Idaho's Jazz Station," airs on KBSK in McCall, and also on HD Radio as KBSU-FM HD2 Boise. This format aired on KBSU and KEZJ prior to July 2007.
Boise State Public Radio is the lead station for the Mountain West News Bureau, a partnership of stations providing news coverage of the Rocky Mountain West.[2]
The network's roots date back to 1957, when KBJC was launched by what was then Boise Junior College as a carrier current station. It originally operated only when school was in session, and was a typical freeform college radio station. The station grew with the school, increasing its operating hours when BJC was upgraded to four-year status. The call letters changed to KBSC after Boise College was taken over by the state in 1967, and changed to the current KBSU after it was granted university status. In 1976, the station was granted a full FM license, and went on the air for the first time that fall. Gradually, the station began transitioning away from the freeform format, ultimately joining NPR in 1988. Before then, Boise was one of the largest cities in the western United States, and the only major market in Idaho, without a clear signal from NPR.
On October 18, 2022, Boise State Public Radio expanded to Lewiston and Pocatello. In Lewiston, Boise State Public Radio now operates KLCZ, formerly operated by Lewis–Clark State College, as a simulcast of KBSX; in Pocatello, it acquired the translator formerly operated by Salt Lake City NPR affiliate KUER-FM. Boise State Public Radio airs KBSU's musical programming in Pocatello, as the market receives NPR news programming from KISU-FM.[3]
