Clovis stations off the air?

[RadRadio23]

I have a 100000watts subscription which I use almost every day and saw that the Tallgrass Nation cluster in Clovis is off the air (KICA 98.3, KKYC 102.3, etc.). Does anybody know why? Did they go bankrupt? Are they coming back? I know they don't stream. I did not see any posts about this.

 

[dawireless]

Clovis cannot sustain the present number of signals polluting the local airwaves.

If Cannon AFB ever leaves,you can turn out the lights on the ghetto.

In the 60s for a long time there were only 4 AMs and 1 FM within 25 miles of downtown.

I remember seeing 50 cent spots on the books.

Clovis has grown,but there are way to many stations broadcasting to sand dunes and wheat fields.

I heard that the 2 stations are up for grabs.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Clovis cannot sustain the present number of signals polluting the local airwaves. If Cannon AFB ever leaves, you can turn out the lights on the ghetto. In the 60s for a long time there were only 4 AMs and 1 FM within 25 miles of downtown. I remember seeing 50 cent spots on the books. Clovis has grown, but there are way to many stations broadcasting to sand dunes and wheat fields. I heard that the 2 stations are up for grabs.

Not so fast with that Cannon AFB contingency. Yes, Cannon is still the chief driver of Clovis' commerce, but it's no longer the only one. Clovis is diversifying. Burlington Northern Railroad has been slowly but steadily expanding it's operation in Clovis, with a gradual expansion of it's sizable local depot. Another indicator of Clovis' talent for attracting private sector investment is it's massive and unique cheese processing factory, which began operating south of town in 2001.

Clovis can rise above the spector of an AFB closing just like Roswell did. But I do agree with you on one thing-- too many radio stations for such a small market!

 

[dawireless]

I worked at, KZOL AM Farwell Texas,KICA AM,KTQM FM,and KCLV AM Clovis in the 60s, jock,music director PD etc.
I felt that we were over polluted with signal then. Oh well.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

I worked at, KZOL AM Farwell Texas,KICA AM,KTQM FM,and KCLV AM Clovis in the 60s, jock,music director PD etc.
I felt that we were over polluted with signal then. Oh well.

Moving to nearby Tucumcari in the early '70s, I would scan (DX?) Clovis radio stations. Two or more of them could be heard on daytime power with tolerable carrier static, which gave the impression of Clovis being a much larger, almost urban sounding market than it truly was. Yes, Clovis had a surprising number of stations even then.

 

[dawireless]

Clovis radio sounded bigger than the market.
Very competitive.
I was the PD/MD for KCLV AM in 1972.
We had a news director and a roving news car camaro with a marti unit.
We also had another station vehicle with a marti for remotes.
Our jingle package was from PAMS in Dallas.
Our news feed was ABC contemporary radio news and we also had Paul Harvey.
The top 40 format was supported by our owner Lonnie Allsup and we had great jocks.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Clovis radio sounded bigger than the market.
Very competitive.
I was the PD/MD for KCLV AM in 1972. We had a news director and a roving news car camaro with a marti unit. We also had another station vehicle with a marti for remotes. Our jingle package was from PAMS in Dallas. Our news feed was ABC contemporary radio news and we also had Paul Harvey. The top 40 format was supported by our owner Lonnie Allsup and we had great jocks.

The '70s?! Wow, this is getting interesting; you and I may have met. If nothing else, we must have had some mutual aquaintances, like the late Norm Stratton and the late Frank Stanley. Norm cut his teeth at Tucumcari's KTNM, where I myself later worked. He owned a Clovis radio station in the '70s, though I can't remember which one. Frank and I collaborated on news feeds to Amarillo's TV stations, swapping tips and sending out film footage via Greyhound. I helped Frank with his biggest project ever, The New Mexico News Network, serving 25-NM stations located everywhere except in the Albuquerque market, for top of the hour network news feeds. The mother station was one of Clovis' radio stations. That project fell flat on it's face when Public Service pulled the plug, sorry to say.

Maybe you knew John Smith, a salesman for Clovis' subsidiary of KFDA TV in Amarillo. Believe the Clovis station's calls were KFDC. John and I earlier worked together at Albuquerque's KBNM FM. And then there is Mike Lee-- Last I spoke with Mike he was still GM at KFDA TV. He got his start in Clovis in the late '60s and early '70s. You must have heard of Ron Slover, News Director and evening anchor at KFDA (Channel 10) in the '70s & early '80s. Ron and I became personal friends. He purchased Amarillo's KDJW AM , traditional country, in 2003. I became one of his DJs soon after that purchase. I left Texas in 2004, but stayed in touch with Ron, often driving to Amarillo to meet him for lunch. Ron sold KDJW in 2005 to Catholic Services.

 

[dawireless]

2 fun e.
I knew those guys as well.
I also was a transmitter engineer for KFDW/KFDA in Arch New Mexico.
Which means I slept at the transmitter building,worked on my motorcycle and read a local 5 minute news cast on the air.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Those were the days...

 

[dawireless]

We probably did meet at one time.

Other good local newsmen were Tom Crabtree,Lon Meeker and Don Shipman.

And then there was the infamous Ray Carnay aka Ray Charnay.
He worked for Odis Echols as news director for KCLV when Echols owned the station.
Ray previously worked for KBOX in Dallas as well.
I googled Ray Carnay radio newsman years ago and up came articles on some alleged sodomy charges/convictions and a connection to Lee Harvey Oswald.

It was interesting reading.

Those were the good old days.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

We probably did meet at one time.
Other good local newsmen were Tom Crabtree,Lon Meeker and Don Shipman.
And then there was the infamous Ray Carnay aka Ray Charnay.
He worked for Odis Echols as news director for KCLV when Echols owned the station.
Ray previously worked for KBOX in Dallas as well.
I googled Ray Carnay radio newsman years ago and up came articles on some alleged sodomy charges/convictions and a connection to Lee Harvey Oswald.
It was interesting reading. Those were the good old days.

And a small world just got smaller-- Echols' name came up later in a job interview I had at WGSM, Huntington New York. I didn't get the job, but the interview was fun. I mentioned my radio work in eastern NM. Turned out that the PD was related by marriage to Echols. Echols NM legacy included his political carreer. I can't recall what office he held.

What a shocker about Carnay. I don't remember hearing that news myself.

I definitely remember Lon Meeker, and may have spoken with him over the phone. Lonnie Alsup's office used to send commercials to KTNM (Tucumcari). The office manager took a condescending additude toward our little operation, which used to drive our manager/part-owner, Smokey Joe Barnes crazy. Got to a point where everytime she'd call, he would put her on hold and roll it to someone else. If no one else was around, he would give the call to me. I was the news director!

 

[jrcat7]

Other good local newsmen were Tom Crabtree,Lon Meeker and Don Shipman.<<<

I worked with Don Shipman at KICA in around 1967. He had an orange Mustang for a news unit, equipped with a Marti unit.

I was working one afternoon and I heard the Marti unit warm up in the control room speaker. Don came on and said he was on the way to an accident where a train had hit a car. When he got there he said the car was down the tracks a ways and he would go down then return and give his report. A few minutes later I hear Don huffing and puffing back to the car. I cue up the 3 second bulletin intro. He said "Give me a bulletin" so I immediately hit the cart. I guess he figured it would take the normal 15-20 seconds to find the cart and load it.

Well, I hit the cart and put the Marti on the air... I guess it happened so fast that Don didn't hear it. He then yells "GIVE ME A GODDAMN BULLETIN" which he hears over his car radio...well, I wasn't about to play it again so he finally started talking.

I also worked for the Echols at KCLV and for Norman Petty at his studio and at his KTQM.

John Granger