Capital Public Radio traces its roots to KERS, a student radio station that signed on from Sacramento State in 1964. The 10-watt station grew in power to 5,000 watts by the late 1960s. However, a decade later, Sacramento was still without a public radio station, and Sacramento State embarked on a campaign to transform KERS into such an outlet. On April 2, 1979, KXPR signed on at 88.9 FM airing a mix of classical music, jazz, and NPR news programming. It originally operated at 20,000 watts. In 1984, it moved to 90.9 FM from a new, more powerful transmitter, operating at 50,000 watts. By 1985, it was the eighth most listened-to NPR station in the country. Amid the expansion of NPR's schedule in the 1980s, Sacramento State sought and was granted a second station. That station, KXJZ, signed on in 1991 at 88.9 FM. By 1996, it had taken all NPR news programming from KXPR. The first full-power satellite, KXSR, signed on in 1992. KKTO followed in 1996, taking over from a low-powered translator that had operated from
South Lake Tahoe since 1985. In 2006, KXPR and KXJZ swapped frequencies. KXJZ moved to 90.9, while KXPR returned to 88.9. ==References==