Northwest Public Broadcasting received a unique gift to expand the NPR affiliate‘s coverage in Washington state: the FCC license for the Wenatchee Valley’s KOHO 101.1. The in-kind gift and grant to Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College comes from the Sleeping Lady Foundation.
The Sleeping Lady Foundation honors the legacy of Harriet Bullitt, the daughter of Seattle’s King Broadcasting founder Dorothy Bullitt. Harriet founded KOHO in 1999, then purchased Chelan’s KOZI-AM, creating the Icicle Broadcasting Company.
The license transfer was officially approved by the FCC on December 21, 2023.
In addition to the signal itself, the grant provides studio and broadcast equipment, tower facilities, a favorable long-term lease for studio and office space in Wenatchee, and a seed grant for NWPB to develop and implement local programming.
As a community service of WSU, NWPB offers practical experience to Murrow students in a real-world news organization setting. Besides KOHO, NWPB plans include expanding the group’s KJEM Jazz service distribution, adding a local host and program director, and introducing new programming this spring to meet community demand.
Murrow College Dean Bruce Pinkleton remarked, “This gift will allow us to serve the residents of Wenatchee and the surrounding areas with more high-quality programming more consistently — a win for those living in the region and for NWPB.”
NWPB General Manager Cara Williams Fry commented, “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the board members of the Sleeping Lady Foundation. They put community first in all our conversations and our missions align. This gift allows NWPB staff to expand its content offerings and to create hyper-local content to serve the long-time listeners and supporters in Wenatchee.”
