HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY, KIRO-TV!

[dgendvil]

I would like to tell you that yesterday that KIRO-TV (channel 7) celebrated it's 50th year on the air & J.P. Patches was the first program on the station back on Feb. 8, 1958. When do you think KIRO 7 will celebrate it's anniversary special? It should be coming pretty soon, I hope. I've been waiting for it for the last 10 years to see it. But I hoping it airs. So, here's to channel 7 for 50 years strong & 50 more to come! Cheers!

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

If I have enough fingers and toes...the math works out that Thanksgiving this year is KING's 60th.

 

[majoradio]

..and THIS year is also KING-TV Jean Enersen's '40th anniversary' with the station...

**Speaking of J.P., here's his updated schedule:

http://www.jppatches.com/jpnews.htm
(scroll down near the bottom of page)

Looks like he'll be on KIRO with Dori on Monday...

 

[Bongwater]

Here's a little trivia: Who were the competing stations for TV Channel 7, along with KIRO in the late '50s?

Answer: KJR, KVI, KXA....

What would the Seattle broadcasting landscape have looked like if Channel 7 were, say, KJR-TV or KXA-TV.......

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Not many 3-letter TV calls...would have given the market an interesting distinction.

I liked the reference in the 70's when news started going more "sensational" ... that people nick-named San Francisco's KGO the "Killings, Guts & Orgasms" station.

 

[Bongwater]

Not many 3-letter TV calls...would have given the market an interesting distinction.

I liked the reference in the 70's when news started going more "sensational" ... that people nick-named San Francisco's KGO the "Killings, Guts & Orgasms" station.

Certainly would have done a few things for the radio end (I forgot to mention KOL was also one of the original applicants for Channel 7 too. However, KTW was not.)

Some possible scenarios if the losers won:

-KVI or KOL would have probably gone news/talk by 1975, meaning if Channel 7 was KOL-TV there might have never been a KMPS.

-KXA would have probably had a frequency change and/or earlier power boost/antenna upgrade (maybe even a swap with KVI BACK to 570 - their original frequency prior to a late '20s, early '30s swap with KVI?)

-KJR might have gone talk by 1983.

-KIRO might have been MOR beyond '74, probably taking the place of KVI in the format in the '70s.

If "The Butterfly Wings" theory, where the zen folks say something as innocuous as the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Japan can affect a hurricane in the Atlantic applied here, I would gather the changes over the overall course of Puget Sound radio history would reach FAR beyond just these stations, the reverberations would have likely affected the ENTIRE course of Puget Sound radio history. Another station could have been the heritage country station, maybe meaning ANOTHER station could have ended up the heritage rock, CHR or AC during the '70s and '80s. Meaning the lives and destinies of many broadcasters could have been just as dramatically different. And don't EVEN get me started on what the aftermath of that whole Telecom '96 mess would have looked like NOW had approval for Channel 7 was granted to any of these other contenders in 1958.....

One can only ponder.....

 

[majoradio]

KST..'Washington'

I still miss TV's
(( KST..'Washington' ))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiEV7aH_1hk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwNfEYB7ioU
=======================================
The late Charlie Byrd (passed away in Nov '02/no, not the jazz-classical guitarist) - as Ranger Charlie
- he did radio announcing for many Tacoma stations in the 70's-80's, including the ol' KTNT-AM 1400:

http://boomp3.com/m/aa8c6758b7a0

This short audio from '83 features a TNT Radio jingle with Byrd doing news on the Mike Lonergan afternoon pgm -
Mike a Tacoma City Councilman since 2000 - THIS year running for the office of County Executive