spokane

[watza222]

how come spokane still hasn't gotten a new top 40 or hip hop station. the radio stations around there aren't very good. i used to listen to wired 96.9 over the internet and it was one of the best stations i ever heard.

 

[radiojjh]

I disagree IF you are saying the Spokane stations aren't very good....many of them are VERY GOOD---including the one I do my on-air work for "Lite Rock KISS 98.1," we have many top-notch personalities that could hold their own in most major markets.

Now---if your gripe is a lack of a CHR(Top-40) or a hip-hop station, and you can't find anyone that plays that particular kind of music....that may be a valid complaint...but just saying "stations are there aren't very good" is VERY short-sighted and simply WRONG. They have tried some hip-hop/rap and CHR stations, but they simply don't attract enough of an audience, which is why they don't continue to exist and thrive. It's all about the $$$$$'s, and if you're not attracting the right demo's and not bringing in the $$$$$'s it's "so long...." Plus Spokane doesn't have much of a minority population, 3% hispanic(16,000) and 2% black(8,300). It's more diverse here than it used to be....but still a very caucasian market of the 510,000 people in Spokane County.

You may want to rephrase your comment......

 

[watza222]

oh i guess i have never listened to the station that you work at. i have to admit though, that the rock station in spokane is pretty good. what ever happened to kqqb? i noticed that kazz is back on the air. is kqqb going to come back?

 

[radiojjh]

KQQB & KAZZ were co-owned for awhile...they had a good idea(visible studios to the public in downtown Spokane)...but their signals--even with boosters----just didn't(and still KAZZ doesn't)penetrate office buildings for that critical in-office listening. I think KQQB licensed to Newport around 50 miles north of Spokane is being returned to the original owners and I'm not sure how long they can continue to remain off the air, before the license is back in the hands of the FCC. That's why KAZZ returned to the air.....they are playing "one million songs in a row," and since they don't have any advertisers that I've heard that can be a fairly expensive proposition just playing music with no income...not even to pay for the electricity for the studio and transmitter. I'm sure as time goes on something will have to be done with 104.5.

It was Pro-Active Communications that screwed things up and failed miserably.

here's what Wikipedia says about the station:

KQQB-FM (104.5 FM) was a radio station licensed to serve the community of Newport, Washington, USA. The station was owned by Proactive Communications, licensed to Radio Station KMJY, LLC, and broadcast to the greater Spokane, Washington, area. The station's programming was also rebroadcast in Spokane on a booster, KQQB-1.

Originally assigned KMJY-FM in 1989 and receiving its broadcast license in 1990, this station was assigned the KQQB-FM call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on December 21, 2005.[1]

At first, KQQB was one of two Rhythmic Contemporary outlets serving the Spokane area when it signed on in December 2005 (KEZE was the other). In December 2006 they re-imaged themselves as "Live 104.5" and shifted away from their Rhythmic lean for a somewhat more mainstream direction.


On June 5, 2008, the on-line website All Access reported that KQQB and KAZZ were taken off the air. No reason was given for the abrupt sign-off, but whatever issue took the stations dark is now "in court," although there are no details as to what those issues are. According to messages posted at Radio-Info.com, there were issues detailing the sale of both stations that resulted in former owners Radio Station KMJY, LLC going to court to regain control after Proactive Communications defaulted on paying the final $1 million of a six million deal. Radio Station KMJY, LLC then obtained a court order to seize the equipment from the studio and the station tower.

According to the FCC database, the station went silent on June 4, 2008, and on June 16, 2008, applied for special temporary authority to "remain silent" which was granted on August 27, 2008.

The reason given in the application was "A secured creditor has seized transmitting equipment necessary to the operation of the station." This special temporary authority was scheduled to expire on February 24, 2009.

The FCC accepted an application for an extension of this stay-silent authority on February 2, 2009.

Per the FCC notification, the broadcast license of KAZZ will automatically expire as a matter of law if broadcast operations do not resume by 12:01 a.m. on June 5, 2009.

Ownership

In July 2005, Radio Station KMJY, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station to Proactive Communications, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 1, 2005, and the transaction was consummated on September 28, 2005.

Proactive Communications, the station's licensee at the time this station went silent, also owned and operated 1970s Oldies-formatted KAZZ which was in the same studio in downtown Spokane.

In July 2008, Proactive Communications, Inc., reached an agreement to return the broadcast license for this station to Radio Station KMJY, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 10, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on the same day.


That's all I could find on line about the 2 stations.

We do have some great rock stations in Spokane 98.9/KKZX is the heritage rocker, and then 94.5/KHTQ "rock 94 and a half" has a good-sized audience as well. And then there's 105.7 "The Peak" they can't seem to find their "niche" and just don't show much in the ratings, almost a waste of 100,000 watts. But you never know what can happen in the future.

Happy Listening!!!

 

[bossbill]

I understand that Earl Kazmark (KAZZ) has passed away.

 

[radiojjh]

Earle is indeed gone....

Bill you are indeed correct...Earl passed away on Thursday July 23rd. I met Earl when i returned to Spokane in 1998. A buddy of mine was going to buy KAZZ in 1998, but before the deal was consumated, Earl upped the price and my buddy couldn't quite put the financing together. Seeing the signal problems the station has--even with a booster, it's probably better that the deal didn't go through. I was going to run the station, and even though we would have done a Hot A/C format....the signal just isn't there to cover Spokane good enough. It was at that time that I went to work at KISS-FM here in Spokane and have been there ever since. Can't believe I've been there over 11 years...my longest run at any one station in my entire career. Great people to work with, creative environment, and I do love what I do....It is pretty cool with his name being Kazmark that he was able to do the call letters KAZZ for his station. Nice for a guy who loved the business.

Earl was a good guy, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet him and his late wife Barbara. He was a real radio guy for sure. ...if you do a google search under his name......you'll find this tribute form his family:




January 2, 1934 - July 23, 2009.
Earle T. Kazmark, 75, died Thursday, July 23, 2009 in Spokane, Washington.
Born the oldest child to Cynthia (Tuininga) and Vincent Kazmark on January 2, 1934 in Spokane, Washington.

Earle graduated from John R. Rogers high school in 1951, he was an all city football player for the Pirates. He attended the University of Montana on a football scholarship. He finished his education at Eastern Washington State College in the school of Radio and Television.

Earle was a prominent business man. He owned and operated several businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest including KLFF radio in Spokane, KAPA radio of Raymond, WA and KAZZ radio station in Deer Park, WA.

He leaves behind his children, Linda Albers (Joe), Earle Kazmark Jr. (Lorry), Patricia Alton (Troy), Dixie DeRocher (Brent), Jason Kazmark (Kim), ten grandchildren, his mother Cynthia Tuininga and siblings Marlyn Romaro, John Tuininga, Ross Tuininga plus numerous other relatives and friends.

Please feel free to express your feelings by leaving a comment below.

Thank you,

The Kazmark family

 

[bossbill]

I never met Mr. Kazmark, but did have a few conversations with him in the early nineties regarding KAPA, which was off air after the people Earle had sold the station to had filed bankruptcy and walked away.

I offered Earle something for the license, but Earle did not feel it was enough. He later turned his license in to the FCC. Later, an Olympia area AM station changed frequency to the former KAPA frequency.

Re: the couple that had bought the station, after they filed personal and corporate backruptcy, they were driving out of town in separate vehicles and the wife was killed in an auto accident within an hour of leaving.

That couple, while operating KAPA, had filed application for a new FM signal on 105.7. The commission had not acted on it, and at one point I started watching it. After over a year, my Washington attorney asked the commission to please dismiss the application, as the applicant's company no longer existed, one of the principals had died, and the other had moved away.

Eventually, the commission dismissed the application and opened a "one-day" window, basically first-come first-served. Having followed it, I promptly filed an application on the day it opened, and it remains as one of my stations which I operate here on the coast.

 

[e-dawg]

I wonder if 105.7 going to change formats to CHR?

The only station that you can pick up CHR format is KZFN Moscow, Idaho. If you have a really good long antenna. What I missed when I went to WAZZU back in the days are picking up 3 CHR station in a tiny town of 25,000 in the middle of wheatfields. KZZU 92.9 93 zoo-fm[now modern AC], KHTR 104.3 [now alternative, used to be Hot 104.3] and KZFN 106.1 [Z-FUN 106.1].

 

[watza222]

i think it would be good to see a new chr station in spokane since they don't already have one. however, kzzu does play a lot of top 40 music from 7-midnight. i think that kzzu might eventually switch back to chr/top 40 in the near future...

 

[jockeyjohn]

e-dawg... KHTR is no longer "border 104" they have changed to a "classic hits" presentation and calling themselves "hit radio 104 point 3" They have a new sales manager...came up from KMOK in Lewiston...they also have another guy from down in the "hole" Darrin...he is there too.

Back in 87 you had FOUR top 40's to choose from Zfun, KHTR, KMOK, and Zoo. Rock it was either KOZE, KKZX, KEZE...then KRAO (the crow, Colfax) came on. In later years...in my apartment up by Campus Commons North...I could pick up KXRX from Walla Walla.

 

[e-dawg]

Speaking of Spokane radio. Should 92.9 ZZU-FM flip back to CHR/Top-40 from Hot AC and 99.9 The River flip back to AC. Ever since 99.9 THe River sign on their ratings seem to be lower than their old format Classy 99.9.

 

[radio_photos]

Speaking of Spokane radio. Should 92.9 ZZU-FM flip back to CHR/Top-40 from Hot AC and 99.9 The River flip back to AC. Ever since 99.9 THe River sign on their ratings seem to be lower than their old format Classy 99.9.

First off, 99.9 is not "The River." It's "Spokane's River."

That housekeeping item being taken care of, their 12+ diary numbers are of little consequence, nor are they any indication of the actual performance of the station. The only numbers that matter are the numbers in their target demographic, which I assume are pretty good. Other than that the only other important number is the almighty dollar that comes in each month.

AAA stations tend to bill pretty well, and have higher TSL numbers in most cases than many other formats. I'm willing to bet that Spokane's River is doing just fine in all the important areas.