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The LES SMITH empire: KS Studios, KJR, KISW, BProgramming, etc.

L

LITTLEBOYBLUE

Starting this thread to encourage "systemdump" to share stories of his involvement with Sentry! Also for anyone else to jump in and share history of those entities, sale, etc.


For example...decking out the KJR building (first renovation in years) for the big visit by Sinatra (at time of '62 Worlds Fair) only to have Frank blow off the visit and make the renovation meaningless.

... or the demise of the same building after the 2001 quake forced the process of moving the tower along at lightning speed. Until that quake the Port was waiting impatiently for the tenants to move out so the building could be leveled ... that while tower move down the Duwamish (contested) then to KTAC/KHHO site in Tacoma was underway. Big hassle as Port wanted the space...but couldn't force it as long as federally-controlled station with EAS capability was still part of the mix.


Others??
 
One that pre-dates the Les Smith empire was when KISW was still in original digs on Roosevelt ... they were classical. One of the "hosts" died while on his shift and no one noticed for awhile. That's when you know your station doesn't have the BEST ratings in town....
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
One that pre-dates the Les Smith empire was when KISW was still in original digs on Roosevelt ... they were classical. One of the "hosts" died while on his shift and no one noticed for awhile. That's when you know your station doesn't have the BEST ratings in town....
Click to expand...

I think KISW's specialty during it's classical run was chamber music. When it signed on in 1950, it ran evenings only (They didn't go 24 hours until the late '60s, I'm told.)

After they took the rock crown from KOL-FM in the early '70s, didn't they have a duck mascot for a while?
 
I don't recall them "taking the rock crown". KOL-FM went down because of a purchase of KOL AM and FM by Manning Slater (Hercules Broadcasting), the AM became KMPS (country), the FM KEUT (elevator music) (that's cute). Both formats mirrored the formats in Sacramento at KRAK and KEWT.
 
Bill Wolfenbarger said:
I don't recall them "taking the rock crown". KOL-FM went down because of a purchase of KOL AM and FM by Manning Slater (Hercules Broadcasting), the AM became KMPS (country), the FM KEUT (elevator music) (that's cute). Both formats mirrored the formats in Sacramento at KRAK and KEWT.
Click to expand...

My bad. I should have said "inherited".
 
From my recollection it was a new AOR format that Seattle had not seen until the 70's.. KISW ROCK AND ROLL AIRFORCE was their calling card, I suppose that maybe before they said "Seattle's best rock". It was a new format nationwide at that time
 
I grew up listening to KJR in the 60s and always wanted to work for Les. I jumped at the chance to join Broadcast Programming which was on 5th Avenue, right across the alley from Kaye-Smith Studios. In fact we had started BP in Seattle working out of some office space at Kaye Smith. The first time I met Les he asked me about my background. I told him I had worked in a few markets and had "been around Washington a little bit." He misunderstood me and thought I was saying I had "been around (radio)." "Been around?" he gruffed, "You haven't been around. I've got cigars older than you!"
 
Same here, KJR was an awesome station when it played music, I grew up in the 60's wanting to work there, or Kaye smith studios after a school field trip to what is "bad animals" studio now on 4th (Kaye/Smith). I wanted to start my own station. Started volunteering at KRAB, went to the FCC to get the paper work necessary to make a radio station, at least a foot high, they suggested I go to KNHC to learn. I ended up graduating the high school it was in, and went to Montana. In Helena I worked at KCAP, KBLL, moved to Wenatchee WA and helped transition a warn out Beautiful music/Christian station into KYSN. The PD & possibly GM came from KYSS in Montana, and we changed it into one of the top rated stations there. I moved to Seattle again and started at Broadcast Programming, mastering those 10" reels. At the same time was programming "Urban Contemporary" from Drake Chenault buyout. Then I moved upstairs to Sentry Systems where I assembled the FS-12, and the interfaces for the pioneer 6 pack cd players. DS1 and 2, 386 PC with a hard drive so you could start recording the the news at the top of hour, but let the music end naturally, then play the news (at the same time it was still recording). It only would work in DOS as windows would hinder the multitasking. After a while Les was getting up in his years and started selling everything off, So Sentry Systems & BP were purchased by Broadcast Electronics of Quincy IL. If you still have a Sentry FS-12, I have come up with other uses, like a burglar alarm that talks.
 
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