Changes in Hutchinson!

[purplepassion]

KWHK-Oldies 95.9 FM signed on air the last week, KWHK is an ABC Oldies station broadcasting with 2,850 watts @ 489 feet. KWHK had been the call letters for an old AM station in Hutchinson.

KSKU-Hit Radio has moved to 94.7 FM and is broadcasting with 50,000 watts on a new 558 foot tower midway between Hutchinson and Great Bend. The station has a tremendous regional signal.

It is currently also being simulcast on 97.1 FM - KGGG. KGGG-97.1 FM is in the process of moving to it's new tower site in Colwich. The station is a Class C-2 and will city grade the entire metro Wichita area.

 

[Kent]

KWHK-Oldies 95.9 FM signed on air the last week, KWHK is an ABC Oldies station broadcasting with 2,850 watts @ 489 feet. KWHK had been the call letters for an old AM station in Hutchinson.

As I understand, KGGG's oldies format has effectively moved to 95.9. I remember the old KWHK 1260 existing but never really operating. Wasn't that the station that had been off-air for so long the owner didn't even remember to renew the license?

KSKU-Hit Radio has moved to 94.7 FM and is broadcasting with 50,000 watts on a new 558 foot tower midway between Hutchinson and Great Bend. The station has a tremendous regional signal.

94.7 does have a much better range than the signal parameters indicate. Actually, a lot of Kansas stations do, at least partly because of the terrain.

It is currently also being simulcast on 97.1 FM - KGGG. KGGG-97.1 FM is in the process of moving to it's new tower site in Colwich. The station is a Class C-2 and will city grade the entire metro Wichita area.

Any word on what will happen with 97.1? I know this move has been in the works for about 4-5 years now, and Entercom apparently looked at it as a potential addition to its cluster. However, Entercom can't acquire it now without divesting something else.

 

[purplepassion]

Re: Changes in Hutchinson & HK history!

Mack Sanders drove KWHK-AM 1260 into bankruptcy. The F.C.C. and the I.R.S. showed up on the same day, the F.C.C. to do an inspection, and the I.R.S. to lock and doors and file a tax lien. That's my definition of a bad day!!! The bankruptcy court trustee did not know anything about F.C.C. Rules & Regulations and let the station go dark. The station was dark for over a year and the F.C.C. revoked the license. Current AM regulations and the new standards would only allow KWHK to have 6 watts. They have to protect 1260 AM in Springfield.

Prior to Mack Sanders it had been a pretty good AM station, excellent in the 50's , 60's, & 70's. Started to decline in the 80's, Mack got it in the late 80's and early 90's.

 

[LymanJames]

I loved the old 1260 HK! When I first came to college here in Kansas...listened to Tom Pike, J.W. Walker and Ken Woodard. Remember driving by the old studios on Main in Hutch as a student at Sterling College. It was really a good sounding little AM. I hated to see it fade away like it did. Nice to see the calls make a come back.

 

[X-Man]

Any word on what will happen with 97.1? I know this move has been in the works for about 4-5 years now, and Entercom apparently looked at it as a potential addition to its cluster. However, Entercom can't acquire it now without divesting something else.

Your right, Entercom as well as Clear Channel or Journal would have to give up an FM in order to get 97.1 if they wanted to buy it. So that now leaves Carter-Sherman or Connoisseur to purchase the station. I'm sure Carter-Sherman would love to put KSJM on a better signal to really compete with Power and Channel, and Connoisser wouldn't mind having a second FM in Wichita as well.