About 5 years ago I took a vacation to visit a bunch of Low Power FM stations and stopped in to visit KSOW 106.7 in Cottage Grove. KSOW was fairly new at the time and Don was running the station from his house outside of town.
There were a few long form programs on the station, but at that time, it was music about 22 hours a day with a few volunteer-run shows each week. The music was best described as Americana and fairly eclectic, but I thought a very good format for my personal taste in music.
Don estimated he had about 250 listeners at the time.
Not long after he was up to 4 underwriters and likely was able to pay the bills.
What happened beyond that is not clear to me. I understand there was a split in the board with some wanting the station to take a left-wing approach and load up on syndicated programs (heavy on the Pacifica offerings) while the others wanted KSOW to be a community oriented station that welcomed everyone.
What I heard was the station pretty much went from Don's control to the board, moved to town and was more left-leaning. Then it went silent. As I understand it, the station is dark and it might fade away.
Does anyone have the details?
I know Don got the station on the air with his own money and generous friends he knew. His vision was a station that reflected life in the local area but also, equally important, would offer views/opinions not expressed on other local stations.
I never met anyone but Don, but I thought he was an exceptionally nice guy with a sincere desire to serve his community. I just wondered how things ended up.
There were a few long form programs on the station, but at that time, it was music about 22 hours a day with a few volunteer-run shows each week. The music was best described as Americana and fairly eclectic, but I thought a very good format for my personal taste in music.
Don estimated he had about 250 listeners at the time.
Not long after he was up to 4 underwriters and likely was able to pay the bills.
What happened beyond that is not clear to me. I understand there was a split in the board with some wanting the station to take a left-wing approach and load up on syndicated programs (heavy on the Pacifica offerings) while the others wanted KSOW to be a community oriented station that welcomed everyone.
What I heard was the station pretty much went from Don's control to the board, moved to town and was more left-leaning. Then it went silent. As I understand it, the station is dark and it might fade away.
Does anyone have the details?
I know Don got the station on the air with his own money and generous friends he knew. His vision was a station that reflected life in the local area but also, equally important, would offer views/opinions not expressed on other local stations.
I never met anyone but Don, but I thought he was an exceptionally nice guy with a sincere desire to serve his community. I just wondered how things ended up.