KISR move-in toward NWA?

[wxman76]

Looks like KISR has filed to the FCC on a possible move of its transmitter from just north of Van Buren to on top of a mountain between Mountainburg and Winslow...I think this where FOX 24 broadcasts from. It will still be licensed to Fort Smith, but it seems that Fred Baker wants a piece of the NWA market as well.

https://maps.google.com/?q=http://t...=93.7&contour=60&city=FORT_SMITH&state=AR.kml

 

[Kasper]

Is his station so terrible that he has to try and move it into another area for a higher success rate? I've been listening to 102.7 The Vibe and it sounds 100% better than anything KISR has to offer. Music, Imaging, and Overall Sound wise.

 

[stevensonair]

KISR has been independently owned, live and local for over 4 decades. I think a lot of people would disagree that it's a "terrible" station and the ratings prove many people enjoy what Mr. Baker's done with it.

 

[Kent]

In the mid-80's, Fred tried to buy KMCK 105.7. The deal was filed with the FCC but still fell through. I always thought he must've been just a little upset when Tate pulled off a 97.9/105.7 combo a few years later. Maybe this move makes sense from a business standpoint. Fayetteville is growing faster than Ft. Smith and isn't growing older with every passing day.

Love it or hate it, KISR has always done top-40 its own way.

 

[wxman76]

Love it or hate it, KISR has always done top-40 its own way.

Exactly. KISR is among the most unorthodox sounding CHR's in the country, but I will always admire them for not giving into syndication, imported voicetracking, and corporate playlists.

 

[MoreMusic101]

In the mid-80's, Fred tried to buy KMCK 105.7. The deal was filed with the FCC but still fell through. I always thought he must've been just a little upset when Tate pulled off a 97.9/105.7 combo a few years later. Maybe this move makes sense from a business standpoint. Fayetteville is growing faster than Ft. Smith and isn't growing older with every passing day.

Love it or hate it, KISR has always done top-40 its own way.

Many people probably don't remember that Fred actually owned and operated KKEG 92.1 in Fayetteville for a brief time in the 1970's. It was not successful and for whatever reason the station was divested pretty quickly. He has owned two translators of KISR in the Fayetteville market, one at 103.1 and the other at 95.9 for a number of years, and tried to break into the market that way as well. The Fort Smith market has been very good to KISR, but it may increase the stick value as an exit strategy to cover both markets better.

He hasn't been afraid to venture outside of his own market. He put a 100,000 watt country station at Wichita Falls on the air in the late 80's, but wasn't able to make it go. KISR has been very successful in Fort Smith due to the longevity of his manager Gary Keifer in sales, and Fred's brilliance in executing promotions. It doesn't seem that the magic has worked elsewhere.

 

[transmitteron]

Is his station so terrible that he has to try and move it into another area for a higher success rate? I've been listening to 102.7 The Vibe and it sounds 100% better than anything KISR has to offer. Music, Imaging, and Overall Sound wise.

As an employee of KBBQ I would hope you're listening to your own station.

KBBQ has a more focused playlist but it's very recurrent/gold based. KISR is more current heavy but still plays 80's and 90's.

While KISR does sound horrible (especially imaging and jocks) they are doing well in the market so I'll give them that.

 

[Kent]

Many people probably don't remember that Fred actually owned and operated KKEG 92.1 in Fayetteville for a brief time in the 1970's. It was not successful and for whatever reason the station was divested pretty quickly. He has owned two translators of KISR in the Fayetteville market, one at 103.1 and the other at 95.9 for a number of years, and tried to break into the market that way as well. The Fort Smith market has been very good to KISR, but it may increase the stick value as an exit strategy to cover both markets better.

You can count me on that one. I was never aware of Fred owning KKEG. I knew Big Chief/KTCS owned it and KFAY at one time, but I was never aware of Fred having it. I also knew KKEG applied for the 100,000 watt signal at 107.9 only to have it be awarded to someone else and becoming KEZA. I also remember KEZA being even softer and easier than Tulsa's KBEZ in the mid-80's when it was still easy listening.

I remember hearing KISR had a large translator network at one time, but I never got a chance to enjoy it. When I lived in Tulsa, I never got the Broken Arrow, OK translator at 101.7 (KEOK overpowered it every time if it was ever even on-air), and I never heard the 103.1 and 95.9 translators in Fayetteville. I'm thinking I briefly heard the 103.1 translator only to find it aired religious programming, and 95.9 was always KKBL from Monette.

He hasn't been afraid to venture outside of his own market. He put a 100,000 watt country station at Wichita Falls on the air in the late 80's, but wasn't able to make it go. KISR has been very successful in Fort Smith due to the longevity of his manager Gary Keifer in sales, and Fred's brilliance in executing promotions. It doesn't seem that the magic has worked elsewhere.

Which station did he have in Wichita Falls? KLUR 99.9 has been the country leader there for decades, and the other two 100,000 watt FM's in the late 80's were KKQV 103.3, which was owned by Sunburst and ran top-40 only to become oldies KWFS in '90, and KNIN 92.9, which ran CHR/Top-40 and was run by RJ Moran. KYYI 104.7 is a class C1 station that started out doing country but has been classic rock for years since. I believe it signed on in the early 90's.

 

[wxman76]

I remember hearing KISR had a large translator network at one time, but I never got a chance to enjoy it. When I lived in Tulsa, I never got the Broken Arrow, OK translator at 101.7 (KEOK overpowered it every time if it was ever even on-air), and I never heard the 103.1 and 95.9 translators in Fayetteville. I'm thinking I briefly heard the 103.1 translator only to find it aired religious programming, and 95.9 was always KKBL from Monette.

I recall the Fayetteville translator at 95.9 being active in the mid to late 80s. The one at 103.1 was briefly simulcasting KISR early this year, before falling silent again.

 

[rgseark2009]

I think there was a KISR translator in the Little Rock area about 1984 or so on 99.3. It was not long after KZYP went on the air on 99.3 in Pine Bluff (now silent). I went out to Wichita that year and heard KISR 93.7 en route from Russleville to Muskogee OK. IMHO, KISR was head and shoulders above the stodgy (focused?) playlist of then KKYK 103.7.

In May (2013), I made a trip to Mt Magazine and KISR had a decent signal (in car) from Ola, west. Not crazy about the state of CHR/top 40 music these days, but KISR did a great job in '84 and still does.

 

[Kent]

KISR, at one time, had a network of translators from Tulsa to Little Rock. However, growing up mostly in Tulsa, I never knew KISR existed until I heard them in Ft. Smith. About once-an-hour, they'd mention various translators where you could hear them, including Broken Arrow, Tahlequah, Russellville and Little Rock.

When I went to school in Fayetteville, KISR was an easy catch on almost all of my radios. Of course, the almost was apparently enough to keep it from regularly showing up in the ratings. I also spent part of one summer at my parents' lake house near Wagoner, OK, and KISR was available on all the good radios there. Most of the other strong Ft. Smith stations were, too, but KISR was the easiest one to get.

 

[kjl]

Don't care for the format they have, but I like the treasure hunts when I was younger. They still do that golden bone hunt?

 

[radioaircheck]

96.7 is supose to move from Ozark close to NWA. Does anyone know when this will happen and what format it will be?

 

[Kent]

There is an application to move KCYT 96.7 from Ozark to Fayetteville. If the move is successful, it will move to one of the towers next to I-540 just before the Johnson exit heading south from Springdale. At this point, it's just an application, and, from looking at it, I'm not sure if it will be successful or not. It will probably be successful, but it's not likely to be rubber stamped. It changes 96.7's COL to Fayetteville, and getting a move like that isn't as easy as relocating it to a small town near the city you want to target. If it were me, I'd have tried to license it to Johnson or, maybe, even Tontitown.

As for what the format will be, your guess is as good as mine. I suspect no one outside of the Hog Radio complex knows. Any potential move won't happen until the FCC signs off on it, and who knows how long that'll take.

 

[MoreMusic101]

Many people probably don't remember that Fred actually owned and operated KKEG 92.1 in Fayetteville for a brief time in the 1970's. It was not successful and for whatever reason the station was divested pretty quickly. He has owned two translators of KISR in the Fayetteville market, one at 103.1 and the other at 95.9 for a number of years, and tried to break into the market that way as well. The Fort Smith market has been very good to KISR, but it may increase the stick value as an exit strategy to cover both markets better.

You can count me on that one. I was never aware of Fred owning KKEG. I knew Big Chief/KTCS owned it and KFAY at one time, but I was never aware of Fred having it. I also knew KKEG applied for the 100,000 watt signal at 107.9 only to have it be awarded to someone else and becoming KEZA. I also remember KEZA being even softer and easier than Tulsa's KBEZ in the mid-80's when it was still easy listening.

I remember hearing KISR had a large translator network at one time, but I never got a chance to enjoy it. When I lived in Tulsa, I never got the Broken Arrow, OK translator at 101.7 (KEOK overpowered it every time if it was ever even on-air), and I never heard the 103.1 and 95.9 translators in Fayetteville. I'm thinking I briefly heard the 103.1 translator only to find it aired religious programming, and 95.9 was always KKBL from Monette.

He hasn't been afraid to venture outside of his own market. He put a 100,000 watt country station at Wichita Falls on the air in the late 80's, but wasn't able to make it go. KISR has been very successful in Fort Smith due to the longevity of his manager Gary Keifer in sales, and Fred's brilliance in executing promotions. It doesn't seem that the magic has worked elsewhere.

Which station did he have in Wichita Falls? KLUR 99.9 has been the country leader there for decades, and the other two 100,000 watt FM's in the late 80's were KKQV 103.3, which was owned by Sunburst and ran top-40 only to become oldies KWFS in '90, and KNIN 92.9, which ran CHR/Top-40 and was run by RJ Moran. KYYI 104.7 is a class C1 station that started out doing country but has been classic rock for years since. I believe it signed on in the early 90's.

KYYI licensed to Burkburnett was the one that Fred put on the air. And of course, the day he put it on the air, the Wichita Falls metro area went under a tornado warning. #fitting

 

[bchristi]

Is his station so terrible that he has to try and move it into another area for a higher success rate? I've been listening to 102.7 The Vibe and it sounds 100% better than anything KISR has to offer. Music, Imaging, and Overall Sound wise.

102.7 The Vibe is a Cumulus station and it seems to lean more towards older music from the mid-2000s through 2010 than today's hits, much like all Jan Jeffries stations do.  KISR is a great CHR in my opinion.  It stays current and since its independent they choose what they play.

 

[bchristi]

In the mid-80's, Fred tried to buy KMCK 105.7. The deal was filed with the FCC but still fell through. I always thought he must've been just a little upset when Tate pulled off a 97.9/105.7 combo a few years later. Maybe this move makes sense from a business standpoint. Fayetteville is growing faster than Ft. Smith and isn't growing older with every passing day.

Love it or hate it, KISR has always done top-40 its own way.

Agreed. I wonder if the fact more and more of Fort Smith's young people (Top 40's core demographic) are moving to Fayetteville has anything to do with it. I am sure people living in Fayetteville who grew up in Fort Smith will be very happy to be able to listen to KISR.