The station originally signed on the air in 1957 from the Pasadena City College campus as KPCS; the call sign stood for Pasadena City Schools, which operated the college before the advent of the state-controlled Pasadena Area Community College District. It used the former KWKW-FM 250-watt transmitter and studio equipment, and a small antenna on the roof of the campus administration building that provided limited coverage. The station was operated by, and for, students who were studying broadcasting at the college. KPCS changed to KPCC on December 1, 1979. Formerly, the station broadcast from a transmitter in Orange County, later from Downtown Los Angeles, and on the PCC campus. The station originally broadcast from the campus of Pasadena City College in Pasadena. KPCC decided to invest in a $24.5 million modern facility. In February 2010, the station moved to a converted office building on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena named the Mohn Broadcast Center and Crawford Family Forum. The station is operated by Southern California Public Radio, a group owned by American Public Media Group. However the license remains in the hands of Pasadena City College; the station is usually identified as a "public service of Pasadena City College" at the top of each hour. Since the APM takeover, PCC student participation has been reduced to internships supported by American Public Media. PCC's contract with American Public Media permits either side to terminate the arrangement after giving sufficient notice, APM with six months notice and PCC with five years notice after 2015. PCC gets on air recognition and funding for a broadcast internship program, while APM controls the station and all the pledges, grants, and corporate underwriting revenues. KPCC reaches 600,000 listeners each week.
Current programming
Weekday programming on KPCC includes:Take Two with A Martínez; AirTalk with Larry Mantle; The Frame with John Horn; and Off-Ramp with John Rabe. The programs The Madeleine Brand Show and Patt Morrison were replaced in 2012. The station also produces Sandra Tsing Loh's The Loh Down on Science, a 60-second science feature on weekdays, and The Loh Life on weekends, which features her commentary on various issues.
HD2 airs alternative rock via a simulcast of KCMP/Minneapolis. Both subchannels also stream live on the Internet.
Translators
KPCC also extends its signal via full-power satellites KUOR Redlands, KVLACoachella, and KJAI Ojai, as well as low-power translators KPCC-FM1 Santa Clarita, KPCC-FM2 West Los Angeles, KPCC-FM3 West Los Angeles, K210AD Santa Barbara and K227BX Palm Springs. KUOR is licensed to the University of Redlands, while KVLA and KJAI are licensed to American Public Media Group's SCPR. All three of the station's full-power repeaters also broadcast two HD Radio signals.