Hey TJ---my dad did radio in Seattle, so I kept up on who did what when I was a little guy, and KBLE-FM when it went on the air around 1964 did a combination of "The Nashville Sound" and religious programming. They did an automated country format with local announcers trakking---such as Al Clarke. In addition it also did some specialized international programming---an hour of Hawaiian music, Scandinavian music, and the like primarily on Sunday afternoons. They were very eclectic and obviously NOT mass-appeal. They probably had no idea the potential goldmine that they had on their hands back then.
Also found out some more stuff about 1540AM---it has a bit of a story KFKF-AM/1330 went on the air in March of 1958 licensed to Bellevue they were 1000 watts and they originally were 6am to Sunset, but way back when 1330 in Portland(KPOJ at the time) complained about KFKF's increased power to 5000 watts interfering with their signal, so KFKF-AM/1330 was then limited to Sunrise to Sunset.
Which is why they wanted an FM so bad, and they bought KZAM-FM 92.5 that was a Black formatted station(the originaly hit the air on November 20, 1961)--very unique for the early 60's when it went on the air, and especially for Seattle with not a large minority population, which was probably why in 1963 it went dark.
Kemper Freeman and KFKF bought the dark signal, and then a year or so later had the city of license changed from Seattle to Bellevue, and in 1965 became KFKF-FM. They simulcasted for a number of years, and it was a format on the FM they called "Star Stereo," since stereo was still something fairly new. They played easy-listening instrumentals, some jazz and broadway show tunes. I do remember when they first signed on and broadcasted from studios in Bellevue Square their legal ID was "KFKF Bellevue, KZAM-FM Seattle." At least that's the way they did it, until the call letters were changed to KFKF-FM. That happened in 1965 and the city of license changed to Bellevue in 1966.
Now onto more of the 1540-AM story-----In 1964---1540 was granted to "Northwest Broadcasters," with 1KW day and 1KW night/directional, and chose the call-letters KBVU, the signed on in 1965 and it was a lite-AC/Jazz type format. The station--even though it had a good signal never really got off the ground with ratings or their format. Their studios were close to where there towers were located right off US10--now I-90 in Bellevue. I remember visiting their studios and transmitter with my dad. Around 1970 KBVU went off the air---just couldn't make it. So KFKF obviously wanting the full-time signal of 1540 vs. the sunrise to sunset of 1330, purchased 1540 and moved their AM signal from 1330 to 1540, upped the power to 5000 watts, and as they say--the rest is history. Eventually 1330 was re-licensed to Enumclaw KENU....and eventually evolved into being owned by Green River Community College with 500 watts daytime power.
I was able to research what I remembered thru old Broadcasting Yearbooks, and if anyone else would enjoy looking them as much as I did here is the link:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/ It's there you will find many old Broadcasting Yearbooks, for most every year from 1935 to 1980 with only a few years missing. It's fascinating to see the old listings of facilities and the people that used to work at the various radio stations and even TV stations back then.....ENJOY!!!! It is very addicting!!
Hope some of that history helped out some!!
