What KPOO does

KPOO is a noncommercial, listener-sponsored community radio station founded in 1971 and operated by Poor People's Radio, Inc., a California nonprofit. The station broadcasts on 89.5 FM at 160 watts transmit power (270 watts radiated) from its permanent headquarters at 1329 Divisadero in San Francisco, covering the Bay Area including Oakland. KPOO programs 24-hour content including jazz, reggae, salsa, blues, gospel, and hip hop music, alongside community news, live broadcasts of San Francisco Board of Supervisors meetings, election coverage, public service announcements, and specialty cultural programming serving underserved communities (Native American, Irish, Palestinian, Filipino, Polynesian, LGBT, veterans, women's, and prisoner rights). The station was the first Bay Area outlet to play rap, salsa, and reggae music and the first West Coast station to broadcast an all-rap show in 1979.

The station's technology stack is conventional broadcast plus internet streaming: live audio is delivered via StreamGuys.com streaming infrastructure (kpoo.streamguys1.com/xstream), distributed through the TuneIn app, iTunes, and the station's website. Playlist tracking is handled by Spinitron. No proprietary software development, AI capabilities, APIs, or mobile applications are documented. All programming is produced by volunteer DJs and a small volunteer board of directors led by General Manager Jerome Parson (also Chief Executive and Treasurer) and News Director Harrison Chastang (Secretary).

KPOO's revenue model is donation- and grant-funded, with no commercial advertising. Listeners can contribute one-time or recurring donations via Authorize.net credit card processing or PayPal. The station is also supported by grants to fund operations and broadcast equipment. There are no products or services sold, no pricing tiers, and no enterprise customers. The target audience is low-income and underserved communities in the San Francisco Bay Area who lack representation in mainstream media. Headcount is 1-10 employees supplemented by a large volunteer base, and the station holds 501(c)-style nonprofit status with Tax ID 23-7081243.

Name

KPOO

Legal name

Poor People's Radio, Inc.

Website

https://kpoo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KPOO is a noncommercial, listener-sponsored community radio station in San Francisco that broadcasts news, music, and public affairs programming 24/7 on 89.5 FM to underserved Bay Area communities, funded by donations and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Radio Broadcasting

NAICS

Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Community/Low-Power Nonprofit Radio (LPFM/Community Radio) (MPABADAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Internet Radio & Streaming Broadcast Stations (Simulcast/Online-only) (MPAIAEAE)

Keywords

• Community radio station
• Noncommercial radio broadcasting
• Live audio streaming
• Public service announcements
• Volunteer-run radio

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Listener Donations: KPOO is funded primarily through listener donations and contributions. Listeners can make one-time or recurring donations via credit card (Authorize.net) or PayPal.
2. Grants: As a noncommercial community radio station, KPOO receives grants to support operations and broadcast equipment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

KPOO is a noncommercial community radio station that broadcasts 24 hours a day on 89.5 FM and via internet streaming. It delivers diverse music programming (jazz, reggae, salsa, blues, gospel, hip hop), community news, live coverage of public meetings (including SF Board of Supervisors), election coverage, interviews, and free public service announcements. The station is operated by volunteer DJs and funded through listener donations and grants.

Product overview

KPOO is a noncommercial community radio station offering a unified broadcast product consisting of 24-hour live streaming radio programming. The station operates as a single integrated service combining live radio broadcasts with online streaming capabilities. Programming includes diverse music genres (jazz, reggae, salsa, blues, gospel, hip hop), community news including live government meetings, cultural specialty shows serving specific ethnic and interest communities, and free public service announcements. All programming is produced by volunteer DJs and staff.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KPOO Live Radio Stream 24-hour live radio broadcast streaming over the internet and via 89.5 FM, featuring jazz, reggae, salsa, blues, gospel, and hip hop music along with news, public meetings, election coverage, live events, interviews, and public service announcements. Free for individual listeners in the San Francisco Bay Area and globally via streaming.
• Community News Programs News programming including live broadcasts of San Francisco Board of Supervisors meetings and non-stop election night coverage, serving Bay Area residents seeking local government and civic information.
• Music Programming Diverse music shows including The Power of Blues Compels You, Gospel Caravan, Fingersnaps Music Salon, Cuba Canta, Con Clave (Salsa), and Hip Hop For The People, offering genres not typically available on commercial radio stations.
• Public Service Announcements Free community announcements between 10 and 60 seconds that inform or educate listeners about local events, health fairs, art shows, and community resources. Available free of charge to community organizations.
• Specialty Cultural Shows Programs focused on specific communities including Arab Talk (Middle East analysis), Pajaro Latino-Americano (Latin programming), Webworks: Voices of the Native Nation, The Irish Freedom Hour, and Prison Focus.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StreamGuys.comcoreTechnology or IntegrationKPOO's live internet audio streaming is powered by StreamGuys.com, which provides the streaming infrastructure enabling global web and mobile access to the station's broadcast.
• TuneIncoreTechnology or IntegrationKPOO's programming is available on TuneIn platform, enabling listeners to access the station via smartphone, tablet, desktop, and in-car entertainment systems.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• KALW: KALW is a San Francisco-based public radio station (KQED-affiliated) that broadcasts local news, music, and cultural programming on 91.7 FM. It overlaps directly with KPOO in Bay Area listener-supported public-service radio.
• WFMU: WFMU is a long-running listener-supported, noncommercial freeform radio station in Jersey City, NJ, known for volunteer-hosted, eclectic music programming — closely mirroring KPOO's volunteer-DJ, ad-free, genre-diverse model.
• Radio Bilingüe: Radio Bilingüe is a Latino-controlled, noncommercial Spanish-language community radio network based in California that serves Indigenous and Latino communities. It is comparable to KPOO in being a listener-supported nonprofit with bilingual/cultural programming serving underserved audiences.
• KPFA: KPFA is a Berkeley-based listener-supported nonprofit community radio station, part of the Pacifica Network, with a closely analogous listener-funded, volunteer-driven editorial model and similar diverse programming focus serving the broader Bay Area.
• KFJC: KFJC is a low-power community/college radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area (Foothill College) with a volunteer-driven, freeform format. It is highly comparable to KPOO in scale, geography, and programming philosophy.
• WBAI: WBAI is a New York City listener-sponsored Pacifica Network community radio station with a similar progressive, community-activist programming tradition to KPOO and a comparable funding model reliant on listener donations.

Broad incumbents

• KEXP: KEXP is a Seattle-based noncommercial radio station with a much larger audience, broader digital reach, and more developed streaming platform, but operates in the same nonprofit, music-and-culture programming category as KPOO.
• KCRW: KCRW is a Santa Monica-based public radio station with strong music, news, and cultural programming and a sophisticated digital streaming product. It operates in the same listener-supported public radio space as KPOO but at significantly greater scale.
• Pacifica Network: Pacifica Foundation is the national nonprofit network that operates listener-sponsored community radio stations including KPFA and WBAI. It represents the broader organizational umbrella and programming standards that KPOO's community-radio model aligns with.

Regional players

• KUSF (online / archival): KUSF was a San Francisco-based community/college radio station displaced from its FM frequency in 2011; its online archive and successor community-radio initiatives remain relevant peers to KPOO within the Bay Area community-media ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KPOORADIO
• Facebookfacebook.com/kpooradio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kpoo-fm-rado

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KPOO