KRVS is a 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...

 broadcasting a World Ethnic format. Licensed to Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

; it is currently owned by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...

 and features programing from 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,...

, National 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 covers various types of music of Louisiana

Music of Louisiana

The music of Louisiana can be divided into four general regions. Southwest Louisiana, , Southern Louisiana, west of New Orleans the southeast, the region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues and Afro-Caribbean rhythms...

 such as Cajun music

Cajun music

Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...

, zydeco

Zydeco

Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, swamp pop

Swamp pop

Swamp rock is a musical genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s and early 1960s by teenaged Cajuns and black Creoles, it combines New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French...

, swamp rock and other Louisiana singer/ songwriter music. KRVS also broadcasts the annual Festival International de Louisiane.

The station began broadcasting in 1963 with a power of 10 watts and a coverage area of about six city blocks. KRVS's call letters have a dual meaning, as they stand for Radio Voice of Southwestern (UL's name at the time the station signed on was the University of Southwestern Louisiana), but also are mnemonic for the Cajun French

Cajun French

Cajun French is a variety or dialects of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern and southwestern parishes....

 word ecrivisse, which means crawfish. Originally a college radio station, it joined NPR in the mid-1970s.

Today the station serves roles as regional public radio and an international online resource. KRVS broadcasts at 100,000 watts providing service to 651,000 residents in 12 parishes across southern Louisiana, an area referred to as Acadiana

Acadiana

Acadiana, or The Heart of Acadiana, is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large Francophone population. Of the 64 parishes that make up Louisiana, 22 named parishes and other parishes of similar cultural environment, make up the intrastate...

. KRVS programs also are available on the Internet.

KRVS once operated a translator at 90.5 FM in Lake Charles

Lake Charles

Lake Charles may refer to:in Canada*Lake Charles, Nova Scotia, a lake in the Halifax Regional Municipalityin the United States*Lake Charles, Louisiana, a city in the United States*Lake Charles , the lake after which it is named...

, but it was shut down after American Family Radio

American Family Radio

American Family Radio is a network of more than 180 radio stations broadcasting Christian-oriented programming to over 40 states.-Overview:AFR was launched by Rev...

opened a full-power station at nearby 90.3 FM. FCC rules allow a full-power station to force any adjacent translators to shut down. KRVS moved its transmitter 30 miles to the west so Lake Charles would not lose access to NPR programming.