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

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.
· Dan Maher, ending the program Survey of North American Folk Music, begins Inland Folk.

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.

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 (right)) takes charge of Spokane Public Radio as General Manager and Program 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

1998
· June: Garrison Keillor (right) 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.

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

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.