Thousand Oaks-based National Public Radio station KCLU has purchased a station in Santa Maria that will expand its reach to the Central Coast.

The station, which is a community service of California Lutheran University, will begin broadcasting to listeners in Santa Maria, the Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc, Nipomo and the Five Cities area. The frequency is 89.7 FM.

The station said in a news release that it will air local news, traffic reports and weather forecasts in addition to syndicated programs from NPR, Public Radio International and the BBC. It said the programming will vary from what it broadcasts in Ventura County on 88.3 FM and South Santa Barbara County on 102.3 FM and 1340 AM.

KCLU was established in 1994 for the Ventura County market, and purchased a transmitter in the Santa Barbara area in 2008 to strengthen its signal there. The station said it now serves more than 90,000 listeners in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

FULL DISCLOSURE: The Business Times provides volunteer news and commentary for a daily business news segment for KCLU.