KRVS

---

title: "KRVS" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-established-in-1963", "university-of-louisiana-at-lafayette", "college-radio-stations-in-louisiana", "radio-stations-in-lafayette,-louisiana", "npr-member-stations", "1963-establishments-in-louisiana"] description: "Public radio station in Lafayette, Louisiana" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KRVS" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Public radio station in Lafayette, Louisiana ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
city	Lafayette, Louisiana
name	KRVS
logo	KRVS logo since 2012.svg
logo_size	150px
area	Lafayette-Acadiana combined statistical area, Lake Charles metropolitan area
frequency
branding	Radio Acadie
languages
format	Public radio
subchannels
affiliations
owner	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
airdate
callsign_meaning	Radio Voice of Southwestern, in reference to former name of owner, University of Southwestern Louisiana
licensing_authority	FCC
facility_id	66595
class	C0
erp	100,000 watts
haat	379.0 m
coordinates
webcast
(HD2)
website
(HD2)
::

| city = Lafayette, Louisiana | name = KRVS | logo = KRVS logo since 2012.svg | logo_size = 150px | area = Lafayette-Acadiana combined statistical area, Lake Charles metropolitan area | frequency =
| branding = Radio Acadie | languages = | format = Public radio | subchannels = | affiliations = | owner = University of Louisiana at Lafayette | licensee = | sister_stations = | airdate = | former_callsigns = | callsign_meaning = Radio Voice of Southwestern, in reference to former name of owner, University of Southwestern Louisiana | licensing_authority = FCC | facility_id = 66595 | class = C0 | power = | erp = 100,000 watts | haat = 379.0 m | coordinates = | webcast = (HD2) | website = (HD2)

KRVS (88.7 FM) is an American radio station broadcasting a public radio format. Licensed to Lafayette, Louisiana, United States, it is currently owned by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and features programming from American Public Media, NPR and Public Radio International.

Programming covers various types of music of Louisiana such as Cajun music, zydeco, blues, jazz, swamp pop, swamp rock and other Louisiana singer/songwriter music. KRVS also broadcasts the annual Festival International de Louisiane. The station also carries news and music programming in Louisiana French.

History

The station began broadcasting in May 1963 and was officially licensed on August 8, 1963, to operate a power of 10 watts and a coverage area of about six city blocks. The station initially operated on FM at with an AM carrier current simulcast on . In 1979, the station increased its FM transmission power to 3 kilowatts and shifted to . In November 1982, the station again increased its transmission power to 100 kW and switched to its current frequency of .

KRVS's call letters stand for Radio Voice of Southwestern (The university's name at the time the station signed on was the University of Southwestern Louisiana). Originally a college radio station, it joined NPR in the mid-1970s.

Today the station serves roles as regional public radio and an international online resource. KRVS broadcasts at 100,000 watts, providing service to 651,000 residents in 12 parishes across southern Louisiana, an area referred to as Acadiana. KRVS programs are also available on the Internet.

In fall 2023, KRVS launched an HD Radio subcarrier for the student-run station, KampusFM. The station also operates an all-talk channel, "News & Talk," featuring public radio programming on a third HD subcarrier.

thumb|left|Earlier version of KRVS logo used from 2005 to 2012.

KRVS operated a translator at 90.5 FM K213AZ in Lake Charles that was licensed on February 6, 1989. It was shut down on May 22, 2001 after American Family Radio opened a full-power station, KYLC, at nearby 90.3 FM. FCC rules allow a full-power station to force any adjacent translators to shut down. In 2003, KRVS moved its transmitter 30 miles to the west to extend its signal to Lake Charles. Its current signal can be heard in Lafayette, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, and 100 miles into the Gulf.

References

References

1. "KRVS Facility Record". United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division.
2. McBride, Stewart. (May 6, 1982). "Louisiana's Cajuns; Music May Set a Culture on Its Feet Again". The Christian Science Monitor.
3. "Broadcasting Station License Record: KRVS". FCC.
4. (1966). "L'Acadien". University of Southwestern Louisiana.
5. (1979). "L'Acadien". University of Southwestern Louisiana.
6. (1984). "L'Acadien". University of Southwestern Louisiana.
7. "FM Station Construction Permit (modified)". FCC.
8. (December 26, 2013). "KRVS Radio Acadie still thriving after 50 years". The Daily Advertiser.
9. Broussard, Ryan. (June 17, 2009). "Radio Voice of Southwestern". The Independent Weekly.
10. Parker, Kade. (2024-04-24). "KampusFM is bringing KRVS back to its roots".
11. "Context-HD3 News and Talk Schedule".
12. [https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&facid=69164 FCCdata.org - powered by REC]
13. (September 23, 2002). "Import letter". Federal Communications Commission.
14. (April 14, 2001). "Lake Charles with no public radio". The Town Talk.
15. Harden, Blaine. (September 15, 2002). "Religious and Public Stations Battle for Share of Radio Dial". The New York Times.
16. "Louisiana". National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::