SPR Timeline
Roots in the 1970s in a South Hill basement

1980
· January 19: The eagerly-anticipated public radio station for the Spokane area, KPBX, goes on the air.
· May 18: Mount St. Helens erupts; as the phone company appeals for emergency calls only, KPBX postpones its first pledge drive

1981
· Dick Wellstood performed a benefit for KPBX in the Skylight Room at Riverpark Square.
· Jazz Trio of Brian Flick, Mark Ivester and Dan McCollim perform live on the air July 4
· KPBX Jazzathon held August 15 as a 12-hour fund raiser
· Beethoven Spectacular airs November 21 from 8am to 7pm

1982
· June: Marvin Granger, the man Garrison Keillor credits for starting his radio career, ends three years at the helm of KPBX. Music Director Richard Malawista takes over as General Manager.

1983
· KPBX holds “Election 91,” where spring pledgers voted their favorites. Congressman Tom Foley called in the deciding vote for Mozart over Beethoven for favorite classical composer. Best Jazz winner was Miles Davis, Bob Edwards beat Susan Stamberg for best newscaster. The drive raised over $30,000 for KPBX.
· Inland Northwest Voices, produced by KPBX, features interviews with published authors living/working in the area.
· Dan Maher, ending the program Survey of North American Folk Music, begins Inland Folk.

1984
· The Corporate Conscience, a new series examining trends in business social responsibility.
· KPBX airs a 10-part series on Immigrant Women in America
· George Cole starts new series "Mind Set" about ideas, opinions and people of Spokane.
· "The Early Bluesman" series by Frank Delaney
· KPBX introduces the First Annual Bikeathon
· KPBX production "Inland NW Voices" gets National distribution

1985
· KPBX carries two live broadcasts of the 14th Annual
Northwest Folk Festival
· KPBX presents Don Giovanni, Carmen, and The Magic Flute at the Magic Lantern
· 82 bicyclists raise $13,500 in pledges from the Bike-A-Thon
· Hearts of Space begins

1986
· October: Concert of the Week begins, on Tuesday nights. It is later changed to Mondays to give the local performers an opportunity to hear their work on the radio. The Music Director is able to choose any free-standing concert of quality, local, national, or international.

1987
· Fresh Air with Terry Gross doubles its time to an hourly show every weekday
· Staff members Mary Hawkins, Brian Flick, and Verne Windham brainstorm and present the Jazz Masters series, celebrating excellent but lesser-known Spokane musicians
· Frank Delaney, host of the Backwater Blues Show since 1982, turns his focus to Raw Bites computer and technology commentaries.
· Michael Patoray begins The Saturday Café.
· KPBX sponsors International Beer Tasting Festival at the Floral Hall at the Interstate Fairgrounds

1988
· September: KPBX turns on the South Hill translator with a party featuring radio personalities. This new translator joins frequencies in Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint, Kellogg, Omak, and Enterprise.
· October: Dick Kunkel takes charge of Spokane Public Radio as General Manager and Program Director.

1989
Jim Feehan becomes News Director

1990
· January: Car Talk begins airing Saturdays at 6 p.m.
· May: Marian McPartland performs in Spokane to celebrate KPBX’s 10th anniversary.
· The Bonners Ferry translator is turned on, while translators for Methow Valley and Okanogan Valley are built.
· Spokane Symphony performances are broadcast every Tuesday at 8pm

1991
· January: KPBX holds its first Recordings & Videos Sale. Donated records & tapes sell for as little as 50 cents, and as much as $5.
· July: KPBX and Katherine Gellhorn present the first Evening Under the Stars fundraiser

1992
· KPBX presents an Olde Fashioned Picnic at CDA park for games, folk dancing, music and an opportunity to meet board and employees
· Neil Elwell hosts KPBX Blues Review

1993
· June: The first KPBX Kids' Concert with brass instrumentalists, The Bottom Line, in Riverfront Park.
· August: KPBX hosts the first Blues Cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
· After years of 30-day pledge drives, KPBX holds its first 10-day pledge drive.

1994
· Leon Atkinson begins hosting the Guitar Hour.
· An attack on public funding leads to outpouring of support for public radio and television.
· KPBX hosts "Cures & Costs: Healthcare Reform in America" public issues forum presented by SPR and the Spokane Public Library with Doug Nadvornick moderating a large panel of experts
· Bruce Davis starts Big Band Era Jazz

1995
· To celebrate KPBX’s 15th anniversary, Peter Schickele and
Bob Edwards both make appearances in Spokane.
· January: John Johnson begins Johnson’s Improbable History
of Pop.

1996
· KPBX purchases its own grand piano for the performance studio, and celebrates with an on-air piano party featuring Archie Chen, Greg Presley, and other local pianists.
· Ice Storm cuts off power to both the studio and the tower. KPBX is knocked off the air.
· "The Health Journal" begins, hosted by Doug Nadvornick as a weekly call-in health series

1997
· May: Verne Windham invites young competitors in the Allied Arts Festival (now Musicfest Northwest) to perform live on KPBX. Students continue to return every year.
· Earlier reduced from a month to ten days, KPBX has its first seven-day membership drive.
· KPBX's newsroom gets 15 Society of Professional Journalism Awards for the year
· This American Life begins

1998
· June: Garrison Keillor brings A Prairie Home Companion to the Spokane Opera House for a live nationwide broadcast. Tickets to the live show sell out in an hour, and Keillor agrees to do a second, evening show.
· Local reporter/producer Joe Zupan's story on Spokane's COPS program airs nationally on NPR.

1999
· Jason Moody, a teen violinist living near Sandpoint, wins A Prairie Home Companion’s Talent from Towns under Two Thousand contest.
· July: KSFC, after two years of simulcasting KPBX, begins broadcasting its own separate news programs.
· September: KPBX brings Susan Stamberg, “the mother of NPR,” to Spokane to kick off 20th anniversary festivities

2000
· January: the KPBX Kids’ Concert features a taping of the new program From the Top.
· May: Zorba Paster and Tom Clark appear in Spokane to dispense health advice. Now, almost every weekly episode of On Your Health includes a caller from the KPBX and KSFC listening area.

2001
· April: Ira Glass of This American Life presents a show in Spokane
· Doug Nadvornick receives a Murrow Award for his series on helping the homeless, locally.

2002
· Bill Roesch presents the series, "A Collector's World of Opera"
· Clark Fork, ID listeners win the PHC getaway
· SPR news team gets PRNDI awards
· Blues Review evolves into Down Home Blues

2003
· KPBX and KSFC present a year-long series examining the heath of children in our region. Growing Up Healthy is an experimental project partnered with the Inlander and Health District.
· KPBX sets up its first repeater station, KIBX, to serve the Bonners Ferry area.

2004
· KPBX begins The Bookshelf local reading series.
· The Northwest News Network opens a bureau in Coeur d’Alene, and increases regional news coverage for members such as Spokane Public Radio.
· SPR produces an 11-part documentary series honoring
Leonard Bernstein

2005
· SPR introduces the "Radio Man" logo, and the Guide goes color.
· Doug Nadvornick heads to DC to work for NPR
· Terry Gross comes to Spokane.
· SPR recieves several Murrow Awards in journalism.

2006
· SPR Health Forum examines ADHD in children and adults
· SPR provides public radio podcasts: listen on your schedule, not ours

2007
· SPR begins providing live radio streaming
· Health Forum explores Autisim

2008
· Village Rock begins while Johnson's Improbable History of Pop goes on hiatus.
· KSFC gets new programs: Justice Talking, The State We're In, Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, Are We Alone?, A World of Possibilities, Wait…Wait...Don't Tell Me, and Le Show
· SPR was awarded the Business Benefactor Award by the Spokane Arts Commission, as well as other awards within the community: 9 from Washington AP, 7 from Pacific NW Society of Professional Journalists, 4 1st place awards from Public Radio News Directors, and nine from Edward R. Murrow awards

2009
· SPR Health Forum examines sleep disorders
· KSFC introduces new program, "Sound Medicine"
· Amanda Loder receives Regional Edward R. Murrow award for Native Health news series
· Spokane Public Radio joins Facebook
· Verne Windham gets Allegro's Bravo Award

2010
· SPR celebrates its 30th Anniversary with "30 Years in 30 Days" looking back at our history as well as what has happened in the region and around the world since 1980.
· SPR brings A Prairie Home Companion back to Spokane