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Northwest Arkansas KURM to sign off

First heard about this yesterday, but Kermit Womack is signing off KURM 790/100.3 at the end of the month. Sad to hear this as it was always a quirky station that seemed to change very little as the area around it kept growing, but it always seemed focused on superserving Benton County as more stations either became regional and/or cut local programming altogether. KURM 790 signed on in November 1979, and the FM moved from South West City, MO around 20 years ago.

KURM has been a dependable local station, especially after KFAY 1030 got rid of local talent during the Great Recession. When I went to college at the U of A, I found myself seeking out KURM after hearing the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City had been bombed. KFAY was airing syndicated programming, and, as I was waiting for my girlfriend to get done with her last class of the morning, I remembered KURM was also an option for local and regional news. I flipped over to 790, and it was airing a national news feed from Oklahoma City.
 
First heard about this yesterday, but Kermit Womack is signing off KURM 790/100.3 at the end of the month. Sad to hear this as it was always a quirky station that seemed to change very little as the area around it kept growing, but it always seemed focused on superserving Benton County as more stations either became regional and/or cut local programming altogether. KURM 790 signed on in November 1979, and the FM moved from South West City, MO around 20 years ago.

KURM has been a dependable local station, especially after KFAY 1030 got rid of local talent during the Great Recession. When I went to college at the U of A, I found myself seeking out KURM after hearing the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City had been bombed. KFAY was airing syndicated programming, and, as I was waiting for my girlfriend to get done with her last class of the morning, I remembered KURM was also an option for local and regional news. I flipped over to 790, and it was airing a national news feed from Oklahoma City.
Both Kermit and his brother Dick worked for the Shepherd stations in Moberly, MO - Kermit as sales manager, Dick as chief engineer. No doubt Shepherd's philosophy influenced what Kermit did with KURM. The Womacks were originally from northwestern Arkansas. Kermit was in the National Guard, which is probably where his "Colonel" honorific came from.

Womack wanted the calls KERM, but those weren't available, so he settled on KURM: The Voice Behind the Microphone - Ozarks Farm & Neighbor Newspaper - written for, by & about farmers
 
Here's the RadioInsight article:

I checked out the station website to listen online. I haven't seen the phrase "Watts Line" on a station website ever. I'll be listening to the Party Line later this week.
 
Are they going to sell the stations? Would it be a nice LMA to someone already in the market?

The stations will be put up for sale after sign off. No word on whether anyone is lining up to buy, though. In terms of whether it would be a good LMA for someone in the market, it's hard to say. The AM has good coverage, but it's AM. The FM signal is pretty much a glorified translator. It doesn't put a citygrade signal over much of the populated part of the market, but I suppose it might have some value to someone already operating an AM or an AM/translator combo. The area has a few of those. I believe it also owns the land where the towers are. So, unless anyone is willing to also buy the land (and assuming the Womacks would sell it), it will probably need to find a new tower. Land in Northwest Arkansas sells at a premium these days. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised as Womack sold KARV several years ago.

Womack wanted the calls KERM, but those weren't available, so he settled on KURM: The Voice Behind the Microphone - Ozarks Farm & Neighbor Newspaper - written for, by & about farmers

Correct, and his company is Kerm, Inc.
 
I haven't seen the phrase "Watts Line" on a station website ever. I'll be listening to the Party Line later this week.
"WATS"- Wide Area Telephone Service - was the original AT&T name for "toll-free" phone numbers (1-800, etc.). Technically, that was "inbound WATS". An "outbound WATS" service was also available for toll-free Long Distance calls made by a customer, usually a business or large institutional customer. This was worth it back in the days when Long Distance was a meaningful expense.
 
"WATS"- Wide Area Telephone Service - was the original AT&T name for "toll-free" phone numbers (1-800, etc.). Technically, that was "inbound WATS". An "outbound WATS" service was also available for toll-free Long Distance calls made by a customer, usually a business or large institutional customer. This was worth it back in the days when Long Distance was a meaningful expense.
Thanks for the info. I listened to Dial-A-Trade earlier and it was pretty good.
 
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Sad to see another heritage radio station go off the air. Generations in NW AR listened to KURM and Dial-A-Trade—old-fashioned radio at its finest. I will be rolling tape on this station before they leave for good.
 
THe Colonel, Kermit is having a major medical procedure done and doesnt htink the stations can run without him. One son is congressman and doesnt want them and one kid of Colonel's that does want them isn't the right fit for operating the stations

The licenses are for sale if someone wants them, but the AM site is worth a pretty big ass penny, being in a major residential area next to a school

When he signs them off, it sounds like they are done under him and will have to find a new operator. The signals are good, so someone will want them.

Wether they want to pay what theyre worth and what im sure the Colonel will put his foot down for, is another thing.

So im told by someone who would know.
 
Both Kermit and his brother Dick worked for the Shepherd stations in Moberly, MO - Kermit as sales manager, Dick as chief engineer. No doubt Shepherd's philosophy influenced what Kermit did with KURM. The Womacks were originally from northwestern Arkansas. Kermit was in the National Guard, which is probably where his "Colonel" honorific came from.

Womack wanted the calls KERM, but those weren't available, so he settled on KURM: The Voice Behind the Microphone - Ozarks Farm & Neighbor Newspaper - written for, by & about farmers

It was always assumed that Kermit and Dick were brothers but there was actually no relation, as Dick was usually the first one to make that very clear lol
 
It was always assumed that Kermit and Dick were brothers but there was actually no relation, as Dick was usually the first one to make that very clear lol
As the bearer of an extremely common last name, I share his pain.
 
Geez, I was looking at KURM-FM, and it's not very good. Class A with most of the coverage where there are few, or no population.
I guess one could consider it a rimshot to Springdale, catching the edge of Bentonville along the way. Unfortunately, I can't imagine they'll get much for this station. KURN.jpg.
Credit FCC Database and Google Maps 60dbu contour:
 
Geez, I was looking at KURM-FM, and it's not very good. Class A with most of the coverage where there are few, or no population.
I guess one could consider it a rimshot to Springdale, catching the edge of Bentonville along the way. Unfortunately, I can't imagine they'll get much for this station. View attachment 7183.
Credit FCC Database and Google Maps 60dbu contour:


Wether they get much for the FM or not doesnt matter much... and if they sell the AM without the land.. or turn the AM in and sell the land..... the land sale will more then make up for the rest of it

(NO, im not saying they will turn in the AM, by no means am i implying that.. im just laying out the possibilities here to make money and trying to be clear the AM tower and is worth alot)
 
Wether they get much for the FM or not doesnt matter much... and if they sell the AM without the land.. or turn the AM in and sell the land..... the land sale will more then make up for the rest of it

(NO, im not saying they will turn in the AM, by no means am i implying that.. im just laying out the possibilities here to make money and trying to be clear the AM tower and is worth alot)
You could be right Mr. Syntax. If they already have a land sale deal then hopefully they'll make any money before capital gains off the land. I wish them well, but that FM isn't worth the equivalent of a new Kia Rio sedan.
 
Look, no matter what happens, the station isn't going to be what it was. It's the product of a very singular individual who's become very old and whose family isn't all that interested in carrying on. Just turning it off may well be the most merciful thing that happens. Yes, it's sad when stations like that are lost. But I'm sure it was never an easy business to start with, even if Rogers-Bentonville-Springdale became one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country, and, due to the present-day economic environment that radio faces, the station is going to have to become something very different in order to survive.
 
due to the present-day economic environment that radio faces, the station is going to have to become something very different in order to survive.
Starting with a signal that covers Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, and Fayetteville, but that will never happen. I was thinking maybe the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe might be interested in their own station, but where the 60dbu covers, there doesn't seem to be much population on tribal land either.
 
Starting with a signal that covers Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, and Fayetteville, but that will never happen. I was thinking maybe the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe might be interested in their own station, but where the 60dbu covers, there doesn't seem to be much population on tribal land either.
The thought occurred to me, too. It's an area that I have only passing familiarity with, so I wouldn't want to pretend to know more than I actually do.
 
The thought occurred to me, too. It's an area that I have only passing familiarity with, so I wouldn't want to pretend to know more than I actually do.
Back when I was involved with station ownership, we had several conversations with a local tribe about selling them a Class C FM that easily covered all their land.
There were several discussions and the segment of the tribe that wanted the station got overruled by the larger tribal order. The concern was nobody in tribal leadership knew how to run a radio station, and having to hire outside management would be a cost they didn't want to take on. In the end, I think they were very smart in their decision. Although, at the time the numbers we were talking about was nearly fifty times what the station ultimately sold for.
 
This was worth it back in the days when Long Distance was a meaningful expense.

Kids today will never know the pleasure of getting a multipage phone bill around $500 when their girlfriends still have a semester of college left! When I worked for Sprint, people often talked about the days when long distance would just be a flat fee. They thought it was 10-20 years off. It happened about five years after I left, and it happened suddenly.

THe Colonel, Kermit is having a major medical procedure done and doesnt htink the stations can run without him. One son is congressman and doesnt want them and one kid of Colonel's that does want them isn't the right fit for operating the stations

Pretty sure my first semester at the University of Arkansas was Steve Womack's last. I never met him, but I seem to remember his name coming up occasionally in conversations with a couple friends in the Army ROTC program. I know the ROTC programs there were brutal compared to the ones I heard about after I transferred to the University of Missouri. Arkansas also only had Army and Air Force ROTC, no Navy. A couple people I knew in the ROTC program at Arkansas transferred because they wanted an easier program.

The licenses are for sale if someone wants them, but the AM site is worth a pretty big ass penny, being in a major residential area next to a school

Unless things have changed, the Womacks also farm on that site. Not that they'd never be interested in unloading it, but, if the family farm is successful and/or enjoyable for them, they might not have any interest in letting it go for the time being. Despite the growth in Washington and Benton Counties, most of the growth around Rogers seems to be centered on I-49 (which didn't even exist when I was there). I was there a few months ago visiting family, and downtown Rogers, while definitely not suffering, had more empty storefronts than it did a couple years earlier. That doesn't mean that AM site and family farm isn't going to be worth something to a developer, though.

Geez, I was looking at KURM-FM, and it's not very good. Class A with most of the coverage where there are few, or no population.
I guess one could consider it a rimshot to Springdale, catching the edge of Bentonville along the way. Unfortunately, I can't imagine they'll get much for this station.

It doesn't cover much of the populated area of Northwest Arkansas at all. I suppose it could catch the eye of a speculator, though. With that way that area is growing, I can't imagine it covering greenspace indefinitely. It was a move-in from South West City, MO. The AM licensed to South West City, KLTK 1140, made its own move into Northwest Arkansas a few years later and runs Spanish-language programming and has an FM translator around Bentonville. That translator probably serves a larger population than 100.3 serves. One of the big problems serving that area has been that Washington and Benton Counties were largely considered two distinct entities when the table of allotments was being created. Stations were generally designed to cover one or the other, but not both. KEZA 107.9 was the first commercial station signed on that could cover the whole area (and even down to Ft. Smith). I seem to remember KKEG wanted 107.9 so it could move there, but the station was ultimately awarded to Kim Hendren (a cousin of previous governor, Asa Hutchinson, who also owned a couple stations with his family). In the early 90's, the stations that could upgraded so they could cover the whole area, but many of them had to move further away from the population centers to upgrade. Those that are near Garfield are practically in Missouri, and I often had trouble picking them up on ordinary radios in Fayetteville. With all the moves and upgrades that happened 10-15 years earlier, 100.3 had fewer opportunities. It has to protect 100.7 in Ft. Smith, which the Hernreichs upgraded around 1990, as well as 100.1 in Kimberling City. It can't move very far in any direction that would benefit it.
 
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