KGY-AM Sold to Sacred Heart Radio

[Grounded Grid]

A 1 kw AM station in Olympia is running HD? For what conceivable reason? If so, there goes my contribution to U of W.

Well... they could have budgeted that into the purchase. The station could also have been HD when they bought it (though I doubt it).

One of their former engineers said the UW bought the station because of holes in their FM coverage down there. The station is basically a translator... likely not much of an expense.

Not much of an issue really... unless their IBOC is blasting something all the way to Gray's Harbor..

 

[Grounded Grid]

Is it just me or did KGY completely go to hell when they let go of Dick Pust?

It probably didn't help. Dick had his followers, and the way the station let him go made for some hate and discontent. Of course, the media magnified that part. In defense of the station, they felt they were at a point where the move had to be made. You could debate whether they managed it well, but it was their right to do what they did. It was unfortunate that, given the career he made of the station, Dick's departure wasn't more amicable.

Beyond that, KGY wasn't keeping up, the situation with Dick notwithstanding. A couple of people there were making very good salaries, based on their years of service, and some attitudes about how radio should be run weren't keeping up with reality. If I had been smart, I should have stayed there myself... but I was a dumb kid back then. KGY was a family operation, and the Olsons had very strong ideas about how to take care of their staff. The ways they rewarded loyalty would be very hard to do today.

Until Dick was let go, very little attention was paid to their FM. It sat in a corner studio, playing a satellite-delivered country format, while the AM, maybe with fewer listeners and an older demographic, got most of the attention and was predominately live. I hadn't seen that treatment of an AM/FM combo since the early '80s. By itself, that might have helped push things downhill.

Other factors might have been the new owners' relative lack of experience when the station needed it most, and maybe some unusual programming concepts. Add the expense of the FM power increase, which might not have given them the coverage and advertising boost they were hoping for, the costs of building new studios for the FM and the construction of a new tower for the AM. They put a LOT of money into the property and then, with respect to the person involved, had to hire outside talent to promote the place.

Pick your reason. Probably, there are more. Aside from the small price they got for the AM, letting it go might help them focus on the asset(s) with the most potential. Guess we'll see how that works out.

 

[Lightingnut]

I took a tour of the KGY facility back in the summer of '95 and wondered why they didn't just simulcast the stations together? AM was already dying for music back then. The FM at the time was running a satellite fed classic rock format, before changing to 'real country' in '96.
They could've been a real south sound powerhouse for news and AC music which was what the AM was at the time. So short sighted in my opinion.

 

[fordranger797]

On the positive side, I guess we can rejoice in the fact that Satnam Media didn't buy KGY only to make a mess like they did on 1110 in Oak Harbour. I still contend that 1110 should have remained a community station.

 

[bossbill]

On the positive side, I guess we can rejoice in the fact that Satnam Media didn't buy KGY only to make a mess like they did on 1110 in Oak Harbour. I still contend that 1110 should have remained a community station.

I'm not recalling Oak Harbor having any financial success as a community station.

 

[fordranger797]

I'm not recalling Oak Harbor having any financial success as a community station.

Logically speaking, that 1110 signal isn't strong enough to achieve its purpose. That station was only intended to serve the local audience.

Satnam media currently has a mess on their hands with CFSI radio.

 

[Shiny Knob]

Here's the deal with the KGY callsign. When a station with a 3 letter call sign is purchased, the new owner can only use that 3 letter call sign if there is a continuity of ownership of the company that owns the station. But if the station is sold instead of the company that owns the station, then that continuity is broken, so a new 4 letter call sign has to be issued.

Since KGY AM has been sold, but not the company itself, the AM must be given a new call sign.

Legally, the KGY call sign could be moved back to the FM, but that seems unlikely considering the amount of branding that has been done to make KYYO seem to be KAYO.

On the other side, since the KGY call sign will be permanently retired, there's nothing to stop Oldies 95.3 from calling themselves KGY for as long as they feel like it.

And from what I hear on the air, it doesn't sound like they're retreating from using KGY in their imaging.

So from across town, to me it smells like KGY will continue to be the image on the air at 95.3, even if it's officially KYYO-HD2.

 

[Bongwater]

Logically speaking, that 1110 signal isn't strong enough to achieve its purpose. That station was only intended to serve the local audience.

Satnam media currently has a mess on their hands with CFSI radio.

New Age Media also recently purchased both KRPA and KWLE "1340 The Whale" Anacortes, which is still playing Variety Hits. I tune in from time to time and it's nearly wall to wall music with an occasional spot for the Rockfish Grill. Their online feed has been down for a while and Glen Harris seems to be the only voice on the station. Hoping nothing happens to KWLE, it's pretty decent musically speaking. But it does worry me. KRPA is still running South Asian programming...

 

[bossbill]

As distressing as it is to see US border stations programming to a small Canadian specialized audience, this is nothing new. Consider the following food for thought:

1) I worked for KARI in Blaine almost 50 years ago. The station had no intention of serving Blaine; it was built intentionally to provide religious and right-wing programs to the residents of British Columbia. The 5,000 watt directional antenna did its job. On a regular basis, men in flashy suits drove across the border in their expensive cars, with reels of tape hidden inside. When I was there, 80-90% of our revenue was in Canadian funds. And I don't recall ever running a PSA for the Birch Bay Lions Club or Boy Scout picnic.

2) Even earlier, 1963 I believe, I took the bus to Anacortes to help repair the KAGT AM transmitter. The station had been off the air for quite a while, someone bought it real cheap, and were readying to operate the station. Yes, over 50 years ago, AM stations in small markets such as Anacortes were struggling trying to be "community" radio stations.

3) Face it, a 1 kw AM radio station can't compete with a 100 kw (or even 1 kw for that matter) FM station. Radio listeners are fickle, and with few exceptions, will not seek out a faint, noisy AM station in order to get the local weather.

The South Sound/Olympia area is rife with AM signals that are no longer relevant to the locals. Ever hear of "KQ 92"? The last I remember, I sold an audio console to KQEU in Olympia in the early 90's. Just a few years later, the station was dark. KBKW Aberdeen was not doing well either, and had to move their studios, so they bought the KQ92 equipment for a song. I had sold the console that I later received used when I purchased KBKW some years later.

 

[davideduardo]

Here's the deal with the KGY callsign. When a station with a 3 letter call sign is purchased, the new owner can only use that 3 letter call sign if there is a continuity of ownership of the company that owns the station. But if the station is sold instead of the company that owns the station, then that continuity is broken, so a new 4 letter call sign has to be issued.

You have confused the "administrative law" rules for recovery of a 3-letter call that had been changed with the rules for ownership. A 3-letter call will move on with the owner, no matter what, as long as there is no change in call. It does not matter if it is an asset sale or a stock sale.

However, the owners of KGY, who are keeping their co-located FM, can move the calls to a co-owned FM prior to the sale being consumated. In this case, the sale contract would specify that the purchaser of the AM does not get the calls.

Since KGY AM has been sold, but not the company itself, the AM must be given a new call sign.

 

[fordranger797]

3) Face it, a 1 kw AM radio station can't compete with a 100 kw (or even 1 kw for that matter) FM station. Radio listeners are fickle, and with few exceptions, will not seek out a faint, noisy AM station in order to get the local weather.

That is true. However, I think that listeners on the San Juan's would be more inclined to hear some sort of local programing on 1110 compared to the audience that 1110 is targeting at this moment.