What is "ampers"

AMPERS (Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations) is a public radio network in Minnesota. It is the second-largest public radio organization in the state, after Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). Known as Independent Public Radio (IPR) between 2004 and 2012, the network helps member stations coordinate fundraising and allows them to share a certain amount of programming. A number of AMPERS' 12 members are college radio stations. The network headquarters is located at 525 Park Street, Suite 310, St. Paul, MN.

AMPERS was founded in 1972. Each station focuses on broadcasting music that is reflective of the local community significantly more than most other stations in the region. For example, KFAI offers far more public access programming than any other broadcaster in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. This is quite different from MPR, which only has two main audio streams, plus a third service on KCMP in the Twin Cities and KMSE in Rochester. KCMP had previously been operated by St. Olaf College until 2004, and was one of the most powerful stations in the AMPERS network.

AMPERS stations

Call (nickname)

Primary format

Frequency

Location

School or organization

KAXE 1

News/information/music

91.7 FM

Grand Rapids

Northern Community Radio

KBEM-FM 2 (Jazz 88)

Jazz/Traffic

88.5 FM

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Minneapolis Public Schools

KFAI 3

Eclectic

90.3 FM

Minneapolis

Fresh Air, Inc.

106.7 FM

St. Paul

KMOJ

Urban

89.9 FM

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Center for Communication and Development

KMSU/KMSK 4
(The Maverick)

News/information/music

89.7 FM

Mankato

Minnesota State University, Mankato

91.3 FM

Austin

91.9 FM

Fairmont

91.9 FM

Albert Lea

KQAL 5

Eclectic

89.5 FM

Winona

Winona State University

KSRQ6 (Pioneer 90.1)

Alternative

90.1 FM

Thief River Falls

Northland Community and Technical College

KUMD-FM 7

Adult Album Alternative

103.3 FM

Duluth

University of Minnesota Duluth

KUMM 8 (U90)

College rock

89.7 FM

Morris

University of Minnesota Morris

KUOM 9 (Radio K)

College rock

770 kHz AM

Minneapolis-St. Paul

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

106.5 FM

St. Louis Park

KVSC 10

Alternative

88.1 FM

St. Cloud

St. Cloud State University

WKEK 11

Eclectic//WTIP

89.1 FM

Gunflint Lake

Cook County Community Radio Corp.

WGPO 12

Eclectic//WTIP

90.1 FM

Grand Portage

Cook County Community Radio Corp.

WTIP 13

Eclectic//WTIP

90.7 FM

Grand Marais

Cook County Community Radio Corp.