Combined, the stations cover most of Western Kentucky and parts of Indiana and Tennessee, reaching into the northern suburbs of Nashville.

It even prompted residents of nearby Butler County to file a class-action federal lawsuit against the university in February 1981;[1] the suit was dismissed in June of that year due to insufficient evidence.

In 1990, two more stations were launched to joined the network: WKUE-FM in Elizabethtown and WKPB for the Ohio River communities of Henderson and Owensboro.

WKU Public Radio airs news and informational programming on weekdays, with classical music heard at night.

Weekends feature informational shows by day, with jazz on Saturday nights and specialty music programs Sunday evenings.