Koahnic Broadcast Corp. in Anchorage, Alaska, has received CPB funding to handle program distribution for public radio’s Native stations (press release, PDF). Native American Public Telecommunications in Lincoln, Neb., has until now served as the primary distributor of Native programming.

Trustees of Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas, have unanimously approved selling the college’s noncommercial FM station to the Educational Media Foundation for $2.46 million, reports the Longview News-Journal. The other top bidder, NPR affiliate Red River Radio in Shreveport, La., could only offer less than half of the religious broadcaster’s winning bid. Kilgore’s president says the university wanted to pursue “the greater dollar value.” (Kilgore College press release.)

Broadcast Electronics will provide program-associated data for XPoNential Radio, the Triple A-formatted stream that NPR offers for digital multicasting, reports Radio World. Information about artists and song titles will be disseminated via Internet.

The Public Radio Slave blogs from an undisclosed station about wacky complaints and requests from listeners, such as, “Hi, I won’t be able to listen to Fresh Air tonight because of a school play one of my kids is in. I was wondering if you could tape it for me?”

Christopher O’Riley, host of public radio’s From the Top, recently released Home to Oblivion, an album of Elliott Smith tunes reworked for solo piano. O’Riley’s previous two recordings gave a similar treatment to Radiohead.

Longtime public radio producer and program creator Jim Russell is leaving American Public Media and setting up shop independently as “The Program Doctor.”

Several noncommercial broadcasters, including Philadelphia’s WHYY and WMMT-FM in Whitesburg, Ky., received 2006 New Voices grants from the University of Maryland’s J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.

Daniel Ash, Chicago Public Radio’s v.p. of communications, talks with Chicagoist about the broadcaster’s upcoming format changes. “Our aim is to develop a service that is highly localized and a reflection of the Chicago area, which would include music,” Ash says. Chicagoist, a local blog, was critical of the changes, as was this opinionator in the Chicago Tribune. But Trib blogger Steve Johnson offered words of praise.

Chicago Public Radio has angered local musicians with its decision to drop all music from its stations in favor of news and talk programming, reports the Chicago Tribune. “It’s a major blow — it’s kind of criminal,” says jazz musician Ken Vandermark.

Lisa A. Phillips has just started appearing in bookstores to promote her newly published Public Radio Behind the Voices (CDS Books, 334 pages), which profiles 43 national program hosts and other stars. To be ready in case she’s interviewed, Phillips has virtually memorized her book. Quick! Who had accountants for fathers? She ticks them off: Ira Glass, Michael Feldman and Bob Edwards. Alas, if having an accountant father would cause anything in particular in a public radio star, that pattern of results defies theorizing. In her travels and phone interviews over the past two years she enjoyed many interviews, among them Performance Today weekend host Korva Coleman, who “lives very intentionally,” putting her family first, and Bill McGlaughlin, conductor and host of St.

Exposure on NPR’s Fresh Air helped land the debut album of novelty act What I Like About Jew into Amazon’s top 100 sellers, reports Reuters.

The sounds of the Philadelphia Orchestra will return to national radio thanks to a deal with NPR, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Orchestra musicians have expressed frustration since the ’90s that they have lacked a steady presence on national radio.

The New York Times has opted to sell its 50 percent stake in the Discovery Times Channel back to Discovery Communications Inc., ending its three-year-old partnership with cable network, the New York Observer reports (see earlier post). In a conference call announcing its first quarter earnings, Times CEO Janet Robinson told analysts today that the company will shift its focus to short-form programming for distribution on its recently redesigned website. “Advertisers are really coveting that,” she said (via Romenesko). The Times previously partnered with a variety of public TV shows, such as Frontline, Now with Bill Moyers, Nova and The NewsHour.

The former development director of Ann Arbor’s Michigan Radio pleaded no contest yesterday to a charge of embezzling from the station. The Detroit News reports that two other defendants, including the current g.m. of WDET-FM in Detroit, pleaded not guilty. News of the crimes did not appear to affect Michigan Radio’s spring fund drive, reports the Free Press, though pledges are down at WDET. A station exec attributes the drop to a recent format change. (Additional coverage in the Free Press.)

Some analysts believe that public radio has benefited from Howard Stern’s move to satellite radio, which left some former listeners looking for other earthbound alternatives, reports Reuters.