KXLY (AM)

Last updated

KXLY
Broadcast area Spokane metropolitan area - Eastern Washington
Frequency 920 kHz
Branding920 News Now
Programming
Format News/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KEZE, KHTQ, KXLX, KXLY-FM, KXLY-TV, KXMN-LD, KVNI, KZZU-FM
History
First air date
1922 (as KFDC)
Former call signs
  • KFDC (1922–1923)
  • KFPY (1924–1946)
Call sign meaning
Part of the "XL Network"
Technical information
Facility ID 61947
Class B
Power 20,000 watts day
5,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
 47°36′31″N117°22′25″W / 47.60861°N 117.37361°W / 47.60861; -117.37361
Translator(s) 100.7 K264CH (Spokane)
Links
Webcast Listen Live
Website kxly920.com

KXLY (920 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Spokane, Washington. It broadcasts a news/talk radio format with the branding "920 News Now". The station is owned by QueenB Radio, with its license held by Morgan Murphy Media.

Contents

Studios and offices are on West Boone Avenue in Spokane. [1] KXLY uses a non-directional antenna, from a transmitter site off South Regal Street in Spokane. [2] By day it operates with a power of 20,000 watts, which is reduced to 5,000 watts at night in order to protect other stations on 920 AM from interference.

Programming is also carried on 250 watt FM translator K264CH at 100.7 MHz. [3]

Programming

Weekdays on KXLY begin with a four-hour block of news and information, 920 News Now with Dave Spencer. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of nationally syndicated shows: Dan Bongino, The Ramsey Show, Ben Shapiro, Lars Larson, Mark Levin, Markey, Van Camp & Robbins and Bloomberg Radio. Weekends feature shows on money, health, home improvement, technology, the outdoors and wine.

KXLY is the flagship station of The Cougar Sports Radio Network, which carries Washington State Cougars football and men's basketball games. [4] It is also the alternate affiliate of the Seattle Mariners Radio Network baseball. KXLY 920 has a news sharing arrangement with co-owned KXLY-TV Channel 4 and also carries ABC News Radio world and national news.

History

From 1912 to 1927 radio communication in the United States was regulated by the Department of Commerce, and originally there were no formal requirements for stations, most of which operated under Amateur and Experimental licenses, making broadcasts intended for the general public. In order to provide a common standard, the department issued a regulation effective December 1, 1921, requiring that broadcasting stations would now have to hold a Limited Commercial license that authorized operation on two designated broadcasting wavelengths: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather reports". [5]

The first two Spokane broadcasting station authorizations were issued to the Doerr-Mitchell Electric Company on March 23, 1922, for KFZ, [6] and to the Spokane Chronicle on April 12, 1922, for KOE, [7] both for operation on 360 meters. Because there was only the single entertainment wavelength, stations in a given region had to develop timesharing arrangements for broadcasts on the shared 360 meter wavelength.

KFDC

In 1922, 17-year-old Edmund B. Craney was an employee at the Radio Supply Company in Spokane, which was owned by Thomas W. Symons, Jr. [8] Craney was a member of the North Central High School radio club. In the summer of 1921 physics teacher Arthur L. Smith had arranged for the school to be issued a "Technical and Training School" station license, with the call sign 7YL. [9] In addition, Craney held a license for amateur station 7AEG. [10]

Craney convinced his employer that the Radio Supply Company should operate a broadcasting station, in order to promote sales. The December 1, 1921, regulations that had established the broadcasting service required that station operators had to hold a "commercial second-class license or higher", [5] and Craney arranged to take the training for the needed qualification. [11] On November 21, 1922, a broadcasting station license with the call sign KFDC was issued in the name of "Radio Supply Co. (E. B. Craney)", [12] for operation on 360 meters, although Craney later reported that broadcasts originating from Radio Supply had started on October 18, 1922. [11] The KFDC call letters were randomly assigned from an alphabetical roster of available call signs. The station's history makes it the oldest surviving Spokane radio station. (KHQ, now KQNT, was first licensed earlier, on February 28, 1922, but didn't move to Spokane until 1925. KFIO now KSBN, first licensed on May 22, 1923, has a slightly longer continuous history, because unlike KXLY it was never deleted and relicensed.)

Although initially licensed to broadcast on 360 meters, Craney later reported that technical issues meant that the station had difficulty maintaining its assigned wavelength. [11] In mid-1923 KFDC was reassigned to 1060 kHz. [13]

Deletion and revival as KFPY

KFDC suspended operations and was deleted on September 19, 1923. [14] However, the station was revived the next year, and was relicensed on April 23, 1924, to the Symons Investment Company, again on 1060 kHz, with the sequentially assigned call letters of KFPY. [15] KFPY was housed in the Symons Building on 7 South Howard Street in Spokane. Beginning in 1925, audience members were welcomed to view live broadcasts—usually music programs or dramas—at "The Golden Concert Studios of KFPY" on the second floor, which boasted a curtain, a stage and seating for 150. On the stage were two grand pianos and a Wurlitzer Organ. It was through these facilities that Bing Crosby, then an unknown Gonzaga University student, made his radio debut. Decades later, Crosby would partner with the station to launch KXLY-TV. [8] Other future stars who performed at the Golden Studios include Bob Crosby and Patrice Munsel.

KFPY was reported to be transmitting on 1100 kHz as of December 31, 1926, [16] and in mid-1927 this was changed to 1220 kHz. [17] On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, KFPY was assigned to 1390 kHz on a timesharing basis with KWSC in Pullman, [18] which was changed to unlimited hours on 1340 kHz in August 1929. [19] In 1935 the station moved to 890 kHz.

KFPY was Spokane's CBS Radio Network affiliate from 1929 until the 1990s. During the Golden Age of Radio, the station carried CBS's dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts. [8] In March 1941, stations on 890 kHz were moved to KXLY's current frequency of 920 kHz, as part of the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement. [20]

KXLY

Craney left KFPY in 1927 to found KGIR in Butte, Montana. He returned to Spokane in 1945 to buy KFPY, which was renamed to KXLY on December 19, 1946. The new call letters reflected Craney's "XL Network", a chain of stations he also owned in Butte, Helena, Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula, all of which had call letters beginning with "KXL".

On February 22, 1953, the radio station expanded into television with the signon of KXLY-TV on channel 4; like its radio cousin, the TV station was an affiliate of the CBS network, but has been with ABC since 1976. That same year in November, Craney sold KXLY and KXLY-TV to the Northern Pacific Radio and Television Corporation, headed by Joseph Harris, Norman Eisenstein, and Richard E. Jones. Northern Pacific sold the KXLY stations (which now included KXLY-FM) in 1961 to the current owners, Morgan Murphy Media.

In September 1998, the CBS Radio Network affiliation moved to 1510 KGA. KXLY picked up ABC News Radio, matching its television counterpart's affiliation, which had made the switch 22 years earlier in 1976 after CBS ended its affiliation with the TV station.

On September 17, 2015, KXLY added an FM translator on 100.3 MHz. In April 2016, the translator moved to 100.7 FM.

Related Research Articles

WTVN – branded as "News Radio 610 WTVN" – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Columbus, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Columbus metro area. The WTVN studios area located in Downtown Columbus, and its transmitter site is near Obetz. In addition to a standard analog transmission, the station simulcasts over the HD digital subchannel of co-owned 93.3 WODC, and streams online via iHeartRadio. WTVN began broadcasting in HD Radio in June 2005, but the in-band on-channel subcarrier was discontinued by 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KJR (AM)</span> Sports radio station in Seattle

KJR is an all-sports AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia in Seattle, Washington. KJR is the Puget Sound region's home of Fox Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio, mostly carrying their national programming, while co-owned 93.3 KJR-FM has local sports talk shows during the day and evening. KJR-AM-FM are the flagship stations for Seattle Kraken hockey. During the Seattle Seahawks season, the stations use the slogan "Home of the 12th Man". The studios are in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood northwest of downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJR</span> Radio station in Michigan, United States

WJR is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan, owned by Cumulus Media, with a news/talk format. Most of WJR's broadcast studios, along with its newsroom and offices, are in the Fisher Building in Detroit's New Center area. A tower atop the Fisher Building relays WJR's audio to the transmitter site, and at one time WJR-FM also used this tower. There is an additional satellite studio in the Wintergarden of the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGY (AM)</span> Radio station in New York, United States

WGY is a commercial radio station licensed to Schenectady, New York, carrying a conservative talk format which is simulcast full-time over WGY-FM. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves Albany, Troy and the Capital District of New York, and is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range. WGY is one of the first stations in the United States and the oldest to operate continuously in New York State, having launched on February 20, 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFIL</span> Christian radio station in Philadelphia

WFIL is a radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Christian radio format consisting of teaching and talk programs. Owned by Salem Media Group, studios and transmitter facilities are shared with co-owned WNTP in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.

WWL is a U.S. AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station has a talk radio format with sports talk at night. Studios are at the 400 Poydras Tower in the New Orleans Central Business District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KQNT</span> Radio station in Spokane, Washington

KQNT is a commercial radio station licensed to Spokane, Washington. It is one of the oldest radio stations in Washington, going on the air in 1922 in Seattle. KQNT offers a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on East Sprague Street in Spokane.

WGR is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—utilized by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Hamburg.

WDAY is North Dakota's oldest radio station, having first signed on in 1922. WDAY is licensed to Fargo, North Dakota, owned by Forum Communications, and operated by Flag Family Media. The transmitter site is near 210th Street South in Barnesville, Minnesota, and studios are on 8th Street South in Fargo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KGNC (AM)</span> Radio station in Amarillo, Texas

KGNC is an AM radio broadcast station in Amarillo, Texas, United States with a news/talk format. The station is owned by Alpha Media LLC. Studios for KGNC and its partners are located in southwest Amarillo near the former Western Plaza shopping center. KGNC's programming is also broadcast on 97.5 FM by translator K248DE in Amarillo.

WHJJ is a commercial radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. It carries a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Oxford Street in Providence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJAG</span> Radio station in Norfolk, Nebraska

WJAG is a commercial radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. It is licensed to Norfolk, Nebraska, and covers parts of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. It was founded in 1922 by the Huse Publishing Company, publisher of the Norfolk Daily News, and since 1956 to a subsidiary, WJAG, Inc. The studios are at 525 Norfolk Avenue in the newspaper headquarters.

WHAZ is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Troy, New York, and serving New York's Capital District. The station is locally owned by the Capital Media Corporation and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. National religious leaders heard on WHAZ include Jim Daly, Charles Stanley, Joyce Meyer, Chuck Swindoll and David Jeremiah.

WEJL is a radio station broadcasting in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The station, known on-air as "Northeast PA's ESPN Radio", carries sports radio programming from ESPN Radio. WEJL is owned by Times-Shamrock Communications, publishers of Scranton's daily newspaper, The Times-Tribune.

KLZ is a commercial radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado and owned by Crawford Broadcasting. KLZ received its first broadcasting license on March 10, 1922. It is the oldest broadcasting station in the state of Colorado, and one of the oldest in the United States.

WCAO is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts an urban gospel radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It also airs some Christian talk and teaching programs. The studios and offices are located at The Rotunda shopping center in Baltimore.

KRKO is a commercial radio station licensed to Everett, Washington. The station broadcasts an oldies-classic hits-sports radio format to the Seattle metropolitan area. The station was established in 1922, and is currently operated by S-R Broadcasting Co., Inc., a locally owned company.

KWSU is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Pullman, Washington. The station is owned by Washington State University, and is the flagship of Northwest Public Broadcasting's National Public Radio News network. It airs a schedule of news and talk programming from NPR, American Public Media and Public Radio International, as well as locally produced offerings.

WDT was a short-lived AM broadcasting station licensed to the Ship Owners Radio Service in New York City, which was issued its first license in December 1921, and deleted two years later.

KOG was a short-lived AM broadcasting station, licensed to the Western Radio Electric Company in Los Angeles, California. It was issued its first license, as KZC, in December 1921, changed its call letters to KOG a few weeks later, and was deleted less than a year and one half after its start.

References

  1. ↑ "Station contact" (kxly920.com)
  2. ↑ "KXLY-AM 920 kHz" (radio-locator.com)
  3. ↑ "K264CH-FM 100.7 MHz" (radio-locator.com)
  4. ↑ "WSU Radio Networks". WSUCougars.com. October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
  6. ↑ "Radio Station KFZ" by Bill Harms (philcobill.com) Limited Commercial license, serial #556. KFZ was deleted on September 8, 1923.
  7. ↑ "High Expectations for New Radio Station" by Bill Harms (philcobill.com) Limited Commercial license, serial #632. KOE was deleted on October 7, 1922.
  8. 1 2 3 "Radio Days" by Jim Kershner, Spokane Spokesman-Review, October 5, 1992, pages B1, B8.
  9. ↑ "New Stations: Special Land Stations" Radio Service Bulletin, July 1, 1921 (No. 51), Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., page 4. The "7" in the call sign indicated that the station was located in the 7th Radio Inspection district, while the "Y" reflected that it was a Technical and Training School authorization.
  10. ↑ "Seventh District", Amateur Radio Stations of the United States (edition June 30, 1922), page 181. The fact that the "A" in 7AEG's call sign fell in the range A-W indicated that the station was operating under a standard Amateur radio license.
  11. 1 2 3 "KFDC: The Early Years - 1922 to 1928" by Bill Harms (philcobill.com).
  12. ↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1922, page 3.
  13. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1923, page 10.
  14. ↑ "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, October 1, 1923, page 7.
  15. ↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, May 1, 1924, page 3.
  16. ↑ "Broadcasting stations, alphabetically by call signals", Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1926, page 9.
  17. ↑ "Broadcasting Stations Alphabetically by States and Cities" [effective June 15, 1927], Radio Service Bulletin, May 31, 1927, page 9.
  18. ↑ "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928 to September 30, 1928, page 210.
  19. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, August 31, 1929, page 10.
  20. ↑ "United States Assignments", North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, 1941, page 1426.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.