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Iowa KBGG-1700 gone in Des Moines

They had an FM translator on 101.3 the last several years too. Never did much for it.

And of course this all against the back drop of sports radio having peaked already last decade.
 
KBGG's predecessor at 1390 had been a basket case for decades. Nostalgia, country, kids' radio, business news, you name it, KCBC/KMRY/KKSO/KBGG tried it. That was also one of the rare cases when an expanded-band station actually shut down the station it was designed to replace. The FCC wimped out and didn't enforce that original requirement for expanded-band grants, intended to reduce nighttime interference on the AM band and enable stations with difficult nighttime patterns to have a simpler mode of operation. 1390 was reputed to have a difficult pattern.
 
Yes the history of that property (1390-1700) going back decades has never been one of much of any success. 1700s most successful period was in the early 2000s only due to a local personality. That was the peak.

Again it’d be nice to still see them use 101.3 for something like a sub channel of one of the bigger stations. Things though the whole company is in managed downfall mode so I don’t see that happening.
 
radiorobert said:
Yes the history of that property (1390-1700) going back decades has never been one of much of any success. 1700s most successful period was in the early 2000s only due to a local personality. That was the peak.

Again it’d be nice to still see them use 101.3 for something like a sub channel of one of the bigger stations. Things though the whole company is in managed downfall mode so I don’t see that happening.
Click to expand...
Do you happen to know anything about the Iowa Radio Network? All i know is that it was based at KCBC, had some affiliates around the state but never any close to where I lived (southeast/south-central Iowa), and advertised a lot in the Register. Modern-day Radio Iowa, an offshoot of Learfield from Missouri, is an entirely separate thing.
 
I dealt with Iowa Radio Network a tiny bit when I worked for Clear Channel. Mostly just recording feeds and arranging for some newscast bits.

That’s interesting about the KCBC history and connection.
 
radiorobert said:
Yes the history of that property (1390-1700) going back decades has never been one of much of any success. 1700s most successful period was in the early 2000s only due to a local personality. That was the peak.

Again it’d be nice to still see them use 101.3 for something like a sub channel of one of the bigger stations. Things though the whole company is in managed downfall mode so I don’t see that happening.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the translator's fate is permanently attached to that of the the AM's. It can't be repurposed.
 
radiorobert said:
I dealt with Iowa Radio Network a tiny bit when I worked for Clear Channel. Mostly just recording feeds and arranging for some newscast bits.

That’s interesting about the KCBC history and connection.
Click to expand...
It looks like the Iowa Radio Network was around through 1986. In the late 1990s, there was another Iowa Radio Network for University of Iowa sports only; the original Iowa Radio Network wasn't just for sports. The Radio Iowa news network started July 1, 1987 with 30 affiliates; I doubt that Learfield would have made that move if there was another network in the state.

The last list I could find of Iowa Radio Network affiliates was from the state girls' basketball tournament in March 1986 (fair use excerpt of the ad below). The Des Moines affiliate listing is of note: it was KWKY! By then KCBC had become KMRY. It's possible that KCBC/KMRY was separated from the network after the station went into receivership in 1983.

1743355853778.png
 
Mark Roberts said:
It looks like the Iowa Radio Network was around through 1986. In the late 1990s, there was another Iowa Radio Network for University of Iowa sports only; the original Iowa Radio Network wasn't just for sports. The Radio Iowa news network started July 1, 1987 with 30 affiliates; I doubt that Learfield would have made that move if there was another network in the state.

The last list I could find of Iowa Radio Network affiliates was from the state girls' basketball tournament in March 1986 (fair use excerpt of the ad below). The Des Moines affiliate listing is of note: it was KWKY! By then KCBC had become KMRY. It's possible that KCBC/KMRY was separated from the network after the station went into receivership in 1983.

View attachment 8931
Click to expand...
KJAN is still a Learfield/University of Iowa affiliate. KCJJ was until sometime after 1994, which was one of the reasons Steve Bridges bought the station. At some point the rights went to KXIC even though Steve Bridges has said on air that he learned later that he outbid KXIC for them.
 
Fighting Irish said:
Unfortunately, the translator's fate is permanently attached to that of the the AM's. It can't be repurposed.
Click to expand...
How did Iowa Public Radio manage to repurpose the translators for WOI and WSUI? They received them as part of AM Revitalization. I have never understood how they were able to change the format from rebroadcasting the AM's.
 


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