After 50 years of serving the central Arkansas community as KUAR/KLRE Public Radio, we are proud to unveil our new identity: Little Rock Public Radio.
This transformative change reflects our deep commitment to the vibrant communities we have been privileged to engage with over the decades. While our name has evolved, our dedication to delivering unparalleled news, informative content, and captivating programming that embodies the spirit of central Arkansas remains unwavering.
Little Rock Public Radio is more than just a name; it's a representation of the heart and soul of our community. Our programming will continue to provide a trusted source of connection and inspiration, weaving together the stories, voices, and music that define us.
Little Rock Public Radio General Manager Jonathan Seaborn spoke with News Director Daniel Breen about the rebranding effort. You can hear their conversation above, and read excerpts from the interview below.
Interview Highlights
What can listeners expect from this rebranding?
Our core identity isn't changing. You can still turn to KUAR for trusted and valued news and information, and KLRE for quality classical programming. But our reference point moving forward will no longer be UA Little Rock Public Radio, we'll be Little Rock Public Radio.
We're still a service of UA Little Rock and couldn't be more appreciative of our relationship with the university, but as we look to broaden our horizons beyond just what we've been for the past 50 years, it felt like the right time to make the change.
How did this rebranding effort come about?
This, to some degree, predates me; during my interview process and throughout the onboarding process, it was one thing that kept coming up— that we're all very aware that we need to update the logo, that we need to go through a little bit of a rebrand, but we're not sure what direction we should take. It was something I was almost charged with coming into the position is really looking at the identity of the station and marching toward that rebranding process.
What do you hope is the greater impact of this rebrand?
As is every institution's goal right now, we're looking to broaden our audiences and reach a younger audience, and I hope that this pushes us in the right direction especially from a visual standpoint.
Our logos felt very of a specific time, and so we're trying to do something that's a little more future-proof and a little more contemporary in design. And I hope that it helps us as we do other initiatives to try to appeal to a younger, wider audience that this brand allows us to do that while not alienating our current listener base.
Are there any other exciting developments on the horizon?
Yes! As we near our fall fund drive here in just a few weeks, the other thing we'll be teasing is a schedule change. We did a listener survey, we had close to 130 responses, and our new Program Director Ryan Gregory and myself listened.
The core identity of who we are isn't changing; you're still going to hear Morning Edition, you're still going to hear All Things Considered. We really tried to address a few of the concerns that came up.
There's the schedule change, there's the rebrand, and then just a lot of fun stuff going on that I don't want to give too much away too quickly.
