Power outage takes down KEXP streaming for Seattle radio station’s worldwide audience

What happened

The outage started around midnight, and the station was on and off for a while before it was “knocked offline by a major power outage” between 2 and 3 a.m., said Dashel Schueler, KEXP’s director of marketing and communications. A failed backup power system left KEXP’s servers dark Friday, cutting off the web stream and mobile app for roughly 175,000 weekly listeners.

The station’s 90.3 FM signal is back on the air. Seattle independent radio station KEXP, based in Lower Queen Anne, lost power early Friday morning.

(GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) KEXP’s website and online streaming were down Friday morning after a power outage hit the Seattle radio station, though its over-the-air broadcast was back and running. The station’s backup power system, known as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), also failed.

Power outage takes down KEXP streaming for Seattle radio station’s worldwide audience by Kurt Schlosser on Oct 30, 2026 at 10:23 am October 30, 2026 at 10:23 am Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Email KEXP’s website and online streaming were down Friday morning after a power outage hit the Seattle radio station, though its over-the-air broadcast was back and running. “There’s no power to the server room infrastructure because the UPS that is supposed to protect all of that gear has failed,” Schueler said.

Staff are trying to power critical devices to restore services while they wait for the UPS to be repaired or for a workaround that bypasses it. Listeners in the Seattle area can tune in at 90.3 FM.

The outage affects the KEXP.org stream and the station’s mobile app. KEXP estimates about 175,000 people stream its live broadcast each week, and another 85,000 listen to its shows on-demand.