SDPB South Dakota Public Radio

SDPB South Dakota Public Radio is the radio network of South Dakota Public Broadcasting, the public media provider of the US state of South Dakota. As an NPR-affiliated station, it offers news, talk formats, music and regional content with a focus on education, culture and public affairs.

The origins date back to 1919, when the University of South Dakota launched the first educational broadcasts. Important stations such as KUSD (1922) and KUSD-FM (1967) formed the basis. In 1982, several university stations merged to form South Dakota Public Radio, which merged with the TV network in 1985 to become SDPB. The network covers over 90 percent of the state with 23 FM transmitters and reaches about 382,000 households, especially rural areas.

SDPB provides live legislative service, emergency alerts, documentaries on regional history and educational programs. It operates a dense transmitter network from Vermillion to Rapid City.