KCAW is a non-commercial radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 in Sitka, Alaska, on 104.7 FM

Frequency modulation

In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...

, which airs public radio programming. It first went on air in 1982.

Programming

KCAW is Sitka's only public radio station and offers a wide variety of programming. News for the station includes local news coming from Raven Radio's two paid reporters, Southeast Alaska

Alaska Panhandle

Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...

 news from CoastAlaska

CoastAlaska

CoastAlaska is an umbrella public radio network for five Southeast Alaskan public radio stations: KRBD, Ketchikan; KSTK, Wrangell; KTOO, Juneau; KFSK, Petersburg; and KCAW, Sitka....

, statewide news from the Alaska Public Radio Network

Alaska Public Telecommunications, Inc.

Alaska Public Media is a non-profit organization with member television and radio stations that are part of PBS, NPR and other public broadcasting networks...

, national news from National Public Radio, and international news from the BBC World Service

BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

. KCAW also airs a variety of American Public Media

American Public Media

American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...

 and Public Radio International

Public Radio International

Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...

 programming as well as its own variety of locally produced shows.

KCAW also syndicates Encounters, a nature and wildlife-themed show hosted by Richard Nelson

Richard Nelson (author)

Richard K. Nelson is a cultural anthropologist and writer whose work has focused primarily on the indigenous cultures of Alaska and, more generally, the relationships between people and nature.He is the host to a public radio series called Encounters aired nationally.Nelson was born and raised in...

, statewide.

Listening area

KCAW has a large listening area, by the means of translators

Broadcast relay station

A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...

, which include much of the western and northern portions of the Alaska Panhandle

Alaska Panhandle

Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...

 including Sitka, Angoon

Angoon, Alaska

Angoon is a city on Admiralty Island in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 572, by the 2010 census the population had declined to 459...

, Elfin Cove

Elfin Cove, Alaska

Elfin Cove is a census-designated place near the northwestern corner of Chichagof Island in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska, United States...

 and the Fairweather fishing grounds, Kake

Kake, Alaska

Kake is a town in Petersburg Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 710 at the 2000 census. The name comes from the Tlingit word or , which is derived from “dawn, daylight” and “mouth”, i.e. “mouth of dawn” or “opening of daylight”.-Geography:Kake is located at...

, Pelican

Pelican, Alaska

Pelican is a city in the northwestern part of Chichagof Island in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 163.-Geography:...

, Port Alexander

Port Alexander, Alaska

Port Alexander is a city at the southeastern corner of Baranof Island in Petersburg Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 81.-Geography:Port Alexander is located at ....

, Tenakee Springs

Tenakee Springs, Alaska

Tenakee Springs is a city on Chichagof Island in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 104.-Geography:Tenakee Springs is located at ....

, and Yakutat. Raven Radio has roughly a 1,200-strong member base (listeners who donate money to the station).