Broadcast Coverage Maps

FM Stations - Detail         FM Stations - Printable

FM Stations
WBRH	#	90.3	Baton Rouge		WWNO		89.9	New Orleans
WRKF		89.3	Baton Rouge		KTLN	N	90.5	Thibodaux
KSLU		90.9	Hammond		WWOZ		90.7	New Orleans
KRVS		88.7	Lafayette		KDAQ		89.9	Shreveport
KEDM	N	90.3	Monroe		KLSA		90.7	Alexandria
WRBH		88.3	New Orleans		K214CE	N	90.7	Grambling

AM Stations  

None

General Comments

Public radio in Louisiana is provided by six educational licensees and two community licensees.   These licensees operate eleven stations and one translator.  Louisiana has no state-recognized agency that is responsible for the development of public radio.  People living in New Orleans and Baton Rouge are served by multiple stations.

FM Service

Nine stations were identified for inclusion in the 1989 PTFP study.  Since 1989, public broadcasters in Louisiana have made great strides extending public radio coverage and reducing by half the number of unserved people in the state.  Public radio coverage in Louisiana has increased with the construction of KEDM Monroe, repeater station KTLN Thibodaux, and the activation of translator K214CE Grambling.  KEDM was constructed by the University of Louisiana in 1991 and is the primary public radio station for Ouachita Parish and northeast Louisiana.  In 2003, KRVS Lafayette relocated its tower to the west in order to serve the city of Lake Charles.  The relocation was prompted by the loss of a translator in the area.

The percentage of the state's population receiving a public radio station increased from 84% in 1989 to 93.4% currently.  The number of people without public radio service decreased from 660,000 in 1989 to 296,396.  

AM Service

None    

Service from Adjacent States

People living in the border areas of Louisiana receive public radio signals from Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.    

Unserved Areas

Region A

This region is an area of spotty coverage in the northwestern portion of the state between stations KDAQ, KEDM and KLSA.  Over 20,000 residents remain unserved in this area.

Region B

The eastern portion of the state along the Mississippi River south of the Arkansas border has about 25,000 unserved residents.  This area is primarily river bottom land with low population density.

Region C

The major area in Louisiana still without public radio service includes Cameron, Beauregard, Vernon and Sabine parishes along Louisiana's border with Texas from the Gulf of Mexico north along the Sabine River.  This area is largely rural and has a low population density.  This area accounts for over 150,000 or about half of the total unserved population in Louisiana.  Three adjoining counties across the border in Texas are also without service.  The presence of a channel 6 television station southwest of the area in Beaumont, Texas, may limit the extension of public radio service to the area.    

Region D

This area without service lies east of New Iberia along the Gulf coast in St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes. The area includes Morgan City and Houma and a combined total of 45,000 residents. The predominant topographical feature of these parishes is coastal marshland.    

Region E

The area above New Orleans along the Mississippi state line includes three parishes with over 20,000 residents unserved.  This area is composed primarily of farming and forestry.

Region F

The Louisiana peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico has about 5,000 unserved residents.  This area is primarily coastal marshland.