St. Louis Public Radio's website states that its mission is "To inform and provide a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures for a more inspired and engaged public." First signing on the air on June 2, 1972, KWMU has more than 500,000 readers and listeners in the St. Louis area. The station employs more than 30 journalists and has a total staff of over 70, with hundreds of volunteers helping for special events. In 1983, it was the first radio station in St. Louis to play music from compact discs. A year later, it became the first radio station in the United States to broadcast Ambisonic programs. In 1992, the station increased its effective radiated power to 100,000 watts. In 1995, the station moved to an all-news format. KWMU started broadcasting in HD Radio in 2006. In the fall of 2008, the station added a second digital stream, KWMU-2 The Gateway, on its second digital subcarrier. It airs mostly alternative and world music. In the spring of 2010, the station added a third digital stream, Classical 90.7 KWMU-3, a 24-hour classical music service. Both stream live on the Internet. On September 10, 2009, the station rebranded as St. Louis Public Radio and its website to . In September 2010, St. Louis Public Radio became the radio outlet for live broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcasting its Saturday night concerts from Powell Symphony Hall. In April 2011, KWMU broke ground on a state-of-the-art studio facility at Grand Center. The facility also houses academic space for UMSL. On June 18, 2012, KWMU moved from its longtime home on the first floor of Lucas Hall on the UMSL North campus in Bellerive, to the new facility. On July 26, 2012, UMSL officially acquired WQUB from Quincy University. The station now serves as a semi-satellite of KWMU in the Tri-State Area. Beginning July 1, 2017, UMSL adopted Rolla station KMST as a satellite of KWMU for south-central Missouri.
Finances
The station receives its funding from private donations, corporate sponsors, local, regional and national grants, as well as the University of Missouri - St. Louis. In Fiscal Year 2018, KWMU's revenue totaled $8,816,400. Its sources were from:
