KBHR 570

A few years ago, I began watching Northern Exposure. I’d seen a few episodes as a kid, and I remembered the opening sequence quite well, but I just hadn’t felt compelled to revisit the series, despite the nifty DVD’s released in the early 2000s.

It wasn’t until I began watching Picket Fences, a show I did watch pretty regularly as a kid, that I decided it was time to revisit Northern Exposure. Just like without Twin Peaks, there would be no Northern Exposure, without Northern Exposure there would be no Picket Fences. Unfortunately, Northern Exposure was not streaming at the time, and the DVD release featured loads of stock music that apparently really threw off the vibe of the show. Thankfully, the kind folks at r/NorthernExposure guided me to the German Blu-ray release, which retained the original soundtrack. A year or so ago, we finally got a proper Blu-ray release with the original soundtrack here in the States, and the show was added to digital marketplaces along with streaming on Amazon Prime.

I fell in love with the show. I still haven’t finished it, but it’s such a strange, peaceful, surreal TV show. The characters are so fantastic, and it’s hard not to want to visit or live in Cicely, Alaska.

While researching all that I could about the show, I ran across KBHR 570. In the television show, KBHR is the local radio station where Chris from Chris in the Morning waxes philosophically while playing a wide variety of music. Some fans created KBHR570.com, which is an online radio station that channels the spirit of the TV show’s station. The music played is diverse and the hosts are quite wonderful. It quickly became my “go to” when I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to listen to. I know if I turn on KBHR, I’ll hear some familiar tunes and something new, but no matter what, it’s going to be enjoyable.

There is rarely a commercial break, and when there is, it’s old radio ads like Ford ads from the 1950s, which makes for a fun listen.

Recently they’ve done some updates to their website and even have a Discord chat. If the analytics are correct on the site, the station really has more than ten or fifteen listeners, but I got to say, it’s really nice being able to turn on KBHR whenever I need a little pick me up. It actually reminds me a lot of radio in the 90’s, where it felt more personal, like maybe I was the only one listening at 1 AM in the morning.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the greatness that is KBHR 570.