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KGRG goes silent

What a joke. Green River is a complete waste now, and some more people should be fired for this. Knew a few people who did time at KGRG who tell me it was an absolute blast when it was still a cutting edge alt-rock station and they went on to do decent in the business. They screwed with something that wasn't necessarily broken.
 
"Could KSER buy it out to simulcast into South King County? Or even expand the KUPS 90.1 coverage area by adding a simulcast?"

I won't speak for the KSER Foundation board as a whole, but I'm the president of that board.

We're plugging along, but we have several big challenges already on our plate. Our century-old studio building sits on downtown Everett land that's being surrounded by new development, so finding a new home is inevitable in the coming few years.

And while we luckily continue to have a passionate team of volunteers and donors, we need to attract more ears and donations to continue funding our small paid staff and facilities, which include the Lake Stevens-based transmitter on 90.7 FM and the Whidbey Island transmitter on 89.9. We have a fully revamped website coming soon at KSER.org, as well as an app to allow people to listen and donate from anywhere.

Thanks to some adjustments in the programming schedule, we now run music programs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday. The rest of the day is still divided between some talk/news/public affairs and our wide variety of specialty music shows.

Expanding southward might be an option if we were flush with reserve cash and feeling like we had a handle on everything else, but that's just not where we are right now.
 
I wouldn't think of KSER as a buyer for the reasons mentioned. Plus it's pretty SnoCo based. Kinda strange to put in Auburn.
 
Wonder if they would give it away for free since they have 0 interest with it. By free = zero cost to acquire license to broadcast and call sign and temporary use of old studio. Everything's there even a tower site on campus, just seems like they don't want it. It seems like there's a lot to be had here. Even paying for music rights is minimal. Just turn the lights back on under someone else's name.
I'm sure some type of cash needs to change hands, even free cost money.

I got a 30 watt transmitter with a 150 watt amp and a j-pole and a premium subscription to spotify. 😅😅
 
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I have driven down highway 18 into the valley (from I-5) the last two Monday mornings to pick up my boss and what really stands out is how tall the Muckleshoot Hotel building is. What's the chance that Green River has approached the Muckleshoot Tribe about taking over the license or that the Muckleshoot has approached them?
Pretty sure the Tribe could afford the license and running the station and it would be a good source of programming- stories and history from the elders, native music along with other music programming and news and whatever else Native Voice One has to offer. The Casino Hotel isn't that far from the last licensed site so it probably wouldn't be difficult to find a power level and antenna pattern that would allow it to come back on the air. Studios at the Tribal Center along 164 with a mostly volunteer Tribal staff and an IP or microwave STL to the roof of the hotel.

I have great ideas.

Val
 
Yep. Can confirm the same thing. I am receiving it very weakly in Tacoma. I hear something called "The Current on 89.9."

Reading the FCC application, I hear "excited for being able to sell this license." I hope it can be sold to someone with nice hands.
 
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Are they simulcasting the Minnesota Public Radio Current network or is this something else? All I get on 89.9 is a messy KXIR with a few other signals underneath, no KGRG.
 
It's their own format called "The Current", unaffiliated with the MPR "Current". I would call it a pop hits format, sort of along the lines of KNHC but with less of a dance vibe. Was passing through on 18 yesterday (a rarity for me) and listened for a short while. Heard a legal ID at 1602, was for "KGRG-FM HD-1 Auburn and K207AP Sumner-Lake Tapps". They are not currently running an HD signal and K207AP was cancelled back in January. This ID is sort of legal I suppose if I'm remembering correctly but more importantly it shows that they are putting the minimum effort into keeping the license alive, what with not making the legal ID's 100% legal and just firing up the automation computer again. At least the ID is near the top of the hour.

Expect it to go silent again in a couple of weeks at most.

Val
 
The tragedy is KGRG didn't have any angels like KEXP and KNKX.
 
Their board in one of the studios came from the old KZOK-AM (Damn, I still remember Z Rock lol)
That board, if I remember was a hand-me down from KZOK-FM. The IGM Instacart that piloted 1590 from the 1970-1990s I'm pretty sure is gone.
 
It's their own format called "The Current", unaffiliated with the MPR "Current". I would call it a pop hits format, sort of along the lines of KNHC but with less of a dance vibe. Was passing through on 18 yesterday (a rarity for me) and listened for a short while. Heard a legal ID at 1602, was for "KGRG-FM HD-1 Auburn and K207AP Sumner-Lake Tapps". They are not currently running an HD signal and K207AP was cancelled back in January. This ID is sort of legal I suppose if I'm remembering correctly but more importantly it shows that they are putting the minimum effort into keeping the license alive, what with not making the legal ID's 100% legal and just firing up the automation computer again. At least the ID is near the top of the hour.

Expect it to go silent again in a couple of weeks at most.

Val
If I'm not mistaken, the Current format continued online after 89.9 was shut down, so it was probably a matter of just turning the transmitter back on.
 
The Current format was shut down online after they signed off last year. They put it back on the air so the license would not get revoked. It will probably shut down by the end of the month. They are probably still trying to sell it, but nobody has tried to buy it.
 
I noticed KGRG-FM filed for a "RESUMPTION OF OPERATIONS" notice on June 15th so that makes the return official:

Notice of Resumption of Operations
KGRG-FM Auburn, WA
June 2026
On June 10, 2026, KGRG-FM resumed on-air operation with the technical facility authorized by
Engineering STA 0000298906.
 


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