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KCLA 1400 Pine Bluff AR: off the air, again.
- Thread starter rgseark2009
- Start date
MM....this happened many, many, many years ago, BUT Benton had two AM's.
I want to say KBBA was one and maybe the other was KGKO...just can't remember.
I want to say KBBA was one and maybe the other was KGKO...just can't remember.
You're right Monty. KBBA was my first paying radio job in 1989. At least it was supposed to be. My first few checks bounced and after that I only got sporadic cash payments. I only stayed six months before getting a better job elsewhere. Those were dark days with decrepit equipment and terrible 15 second commercials. Within two years KBBA, which had been owned by the Riddle family for nearly four decades, was off the air. It sold in 1992 for a mere $7500. I still have the R&R announcement from April 17, 1992.
But it was resurrected and today seems to be doing well: http://www.kewi690.com/
It's owned by Landers Broadcasting, which I've assumed must be connected to all the Landers car dealerships in town. It has what looks from the outside like a charming radio operation located on the town square in Benton by the courthouse.
I'm not sure what happened to KGKO. Back in the late '80s it had an FM counterpart: KAKI-FM 107.1, known as K-107, where I did one air shift one night (which I still have on tape) while hoping to get a job there and escape KBBA. But a week or so later nearly the entire air staff was let go after getting word that it could upgrade the FM to (I think) 50,000 watts at 106.7, making it a full fledged Little Rock station. The owner (I think Preston Bridges, who had also originally had a stake in KBBA) soon sold the FM, keeping only KGKO-AM. I don't find anything while doing a search, so I don't know if it has disappeared. It had been a daytime only station.
During my short time working in that town I realized how difficult it was for small Benton broadcasters to compete with Little Rock signals blasting in.
But it was resurrected and today seems to be doing well: http://www.kewi690.com/
It's owned by Landers Broadcasting, which I've assumed must be connected to all the Landers car dealerships in town. It has what looks from the outside like a charming radio operation located on the town square in Benton by the courthouse.
I'm not sure what happened to KGKO. Back in the late '80s it had an FM counterpart: KAKI-FM 107.1, known as K-107, where I did one air shift one night (which I still have on tape) while hoping to get a job there and escape KBBA. But a week or so later nearly the entire air staff was let go after getting word that it could upgrade the FM to (I think) 50,000 watts at 106.7, making it a full fledged Little Rock station. The owner (I think Preston Bridges, who had also originally had a stake in KBBA) soon sold the FM, keeping only KGKO-AM. I don't find anything while doing a search, so I don't know if it has disappeared. It had been a daytime only station.
During my short time working in that town I realized how difficult it was for small Benton broadcasters to compete with Little Rock signals blasting in.
Thanks Michael....I thought I was close to being right on those two stations. A friend of mind from college, Bill Rogers, who went on to work at Channel 7 for a number of years, was a Benton native and worked at one of the stations...not sure which. He may have worked for both...not sure. He was there in the mid-1970's and both, I was told, were struggling then.
MichaelHibblen said:During my short time working in that town I realized how difficult it was for small Benton broadcasters to compete with Little Rock signals blasting in.
The same could be said for a lot of communities within earshot of LR radio. Tough competition. But the trick is to steer clear of the competitive herd and do something different and superserve your community. It can be done.
More dead AM stations:
KDEW 1470 DeWitt AR
KKDI 1540 Sheridan AR (sister station of defunct KKDI-FM 102.3 which eventually morphed into the modern-day KARN-FM 102.9)
KDEW 1470 DeWitt AR
KKDI 1540 Sheridan AR (sister station of defunct KKDI-FM 102.3 which eventually morphed into the modern-day KARN-FM 102.9)
KKDI moved from 1540 to 880 on the dial. Now lives as KLRG.
Media Mogul said:KKDI moved from 1540 to 880 on the dial. Now lives as KLRG.
My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I remember KKDI on FM, and the station mentioned the AM frequency on air. However the signal on 1540 was only about 250 watts which at that frequency was limited coverage, not unlike the old KBJT 1570 (Fordyce AR) frequency.
I did remember that KGHT (ex KKDI-AM) 880 claimed to be AM Stereo and started with classic country for a number of years before going to Southern Gospel. KGHT had insanely low modulation and lacked the punch of many other stations (ironic in an age today where stations have insanely overprocessed audio---KHTE 96.5 comes to mind) for many years before going off the air.
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