KCHU-AM 770 is a 10,000-watt full service public radio station broadcasting from a tower located in Old Town Valdez*. KCHU’s signal reaches a listening area of approximately 45,000 square miles with a population that fluctuates from 10,000 to 25,000 seasonally . As of September 30, 2016, KCHU had 413 paid members. The station serves seven communities around Prince William Sound and the Copper River Basin. KCHU is repeated by translators in Cordova, Whittier, Tatitlek, Chenega Bay and Chitina, and is carried by two full-service licensed stations in McCarthy and Glennallen.
KCHU can be heard at 770 AM in Valdez, Valdez is the United States’ northernmost ice free port and home of the terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. Valdez has a population of about 4,300. You can tune in to 88.1 FM in Cordova, Chenega Bay and Tatitlek. Cordova is primarily a fishing port, accessible by sea and air only. Tatitlek, an island in Prince William Sound, is the home of the Native Village of Tatitlek and the community of Ellamar. The Copper River Valley area, including Glennallen, Copper Center and Gakona, is served by KXGA 90.5 FM, a 3,200-watt licensed station whose transmitter is presently located on the top of Tolsona Ridge.
KCHU can also be heard at 89.7 FM in McCarthy, home to KXKM-FM, a licensed station located at the heart of Wrangell St. Elias National Park, the largest national park in America. Two translators repeat KCHU’s signal in Prince William Sound, serving Chenega Bay and Tatitlek at 88.1 FM. Our farthest translator in the sound is located in Whittier at 88.3 FM, completing one of the largest public radio networks in America served by a single station – KCHU.
*Old Town Valdez is the original Valdez town site; about 2 miles outside of the present-day city core. The town was moved after the 1964 earthquake.
