- KUT says its operating budget comes entirely from the local community.
- Austin PBS (KLRU) is on channel 18 and produces Austin City Limits.
- KVRX and KOOP share 91.7 FM.
Austin’s public media has a strong local focus. Its NPR station runs a statewide newsroom partnership, its sister station is built entirely around music, the public TV station is home to Austin City Limits and the student station shares a frequency with community radio. Here is how it fits together.
KUT Public Media
| Station | Frequency | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| KUT | 90.5 FM | Austin’s NPR station: KUT News, NPR programs, Texas Standard |
| KUTX | 98.9 FM | The Austin Music Experience |
KUT describes itself as Austin’s NPR station and KUT Public Media as a voice of and for the Central Texas community. Its newsroom produces KUT News and the statewide program Texas Standard, and it works with KERA North Texas, Houston Public Media and Texas Public Radio in San Antonio in a collaboration called The Texas Newsroom. Its weekday news magazine, Austin Signal, mixes local journalism with music, arts and culture.
KUT says one hundred percent of its operating budget comes from the local community, through individual donors and sponsorships from local businesses, and that its journalism is free to all, without paywalls or subscriptions.
Tip: KUT & KUTX Studios is KUT Public Media’s podcast arm, with shows about the people, places and history of greater Austin. It is a good way to catch up on local stories you missed on air.
KMFA 89.5: classical
KMFA calls itself Austin’s classical music radio station and says it handcrafts classical music experiences on air, online and in the community. It sits at 89.5 FM, licensed to Austin.
KVRX and KOOP on 91.7
KVRX is the student-run station at the University of Texas at Austin, known for its slogan “None of the hits, all of the time.” It shares 91.7 FM with KOOP, an Austin community radio station, under a time-share the FCC approved in 1993. The FCC’s public files show KVRX licensed to Austin and KOOP to Hornsby. See Austin Live Music Radio: Where to Hear Local Artists on the Dial for what they play.
Austin PBS (KLRU) on channel 18
KLRU brands itself Austin PBS, Austin’s community licensed public television station. The FCC’s public files show it on virtual channel 18, RF channel 22, licensed to Austin. Its featured programs include Austin City Limits, Central Texas Gardener, Austin InSight and Decibel, and it points viewers to the PBS app for streaming, noting that some content requires a local station membership.
Why they cluster on the dial
The FCC’s rules make the frequencies from 88.1 to 91.9 MHz available for noncommercial educational FM stations. That is why KAZI 88.7, KMFA 89.5, KUT 90.5 and KVRX/KOOP 91.7 sit together at the bottom of the dial. KUTX at 98.9 is one of the exceptions, a public station licensed outside that band. The full dial is in Austin Radio Stations by Frequency: The FM and AM Dial.
Which station for what?
| If you want | Tune to |
|---|---|
| NPR news and Texas news | KUT 90.5 |
| Local and new music | KUTX 98.9 |
| Classical music | KMFA 89.5 |
| Student and community radio | 91.7 (KVRX and KOOP) |
| PBS shows and Austin City Limits | Austin PBS, channel 18 |
Supporting public media
Because these stations depend on listeners and viewers, memberships and pledge drives are part of the experience. If one of them becomes part of your routine, a small monthly contribution helps keep it on the air. For the history of Austin’s broadcasters, see Austin TV Channels: The Local Stations You Can Watch for Free, which notes when the main TV stations signed on.
Streaming public media
Every public broadcaster on this page streams online. KUT and KUTX stream from their own websites and apps, KMFA and KVRX stream from theirs, and Austin PBS directs viewers to the PBS app. Streams are useful at work or when reception is poor, but they depend on your internet connection, so a battery radio is still worth keeping for outages.
Statewide news from an Austin newsroom
Texas Standard, produced by KUT, covers news from across Texas rather than just Austin. Through The Texas Newsroom, KUT shares reporting with KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media and Texas Public Radio in San Antonio, so a story from another part of the state can reach Austin listeners the same day. If you follow Texas politics and policy, it is one of the most direct ways to do it for free.
Austin Signal, KUT’s weekday news magazine, brings together voices from KUT News, KUTX and Texas Standard with regional reporting partners. It is the place on the dial where the news side and the music side of KUT Public Media meet.
If you are new to Austin, a simple way to sample public media is to spend a week with KUT in the morning, KUTX in the afternoon and Austin PBS in the evening. By the end you will know which programs fit your routine, and which station to support.