KBPS (AM)

Last updated

KBPS
KBPS Logo 1923.jpg
Frequency 1450 kHz C-QUAM AM Stereo
BrandingAM 1450 KBPS
Programming
Format
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
March 23, 1923;101 years ago (1923-03-23) [1]
Former call signs
KFIF (1923–1930)
Call sign meaning
Benson Polytechnic School
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 4782
Class C
Power 1,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
 45°31′38″N122°39′3″W / 45.52722°N 122.65083°W / 45.52722; -122.65083
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.pps.net/Page/5380

KBPS (1450 AM) is a high school radio station in Portland, Oregon, owned by Portland Public Schools, and run by Benson Polytechnic High School students enrolled in its radio broadcasting program. From its founding the station has been based on the Benson campus and staffed by its students.

Contents

As part of its standard transmission, KBPS broadcasts in AM Stereo.

History

In May 1921, the Benson Polytechnic School received a government license to operate a "Technical and Training School" station with the call sign 7YK. [3] This station used a spark transmitter, which was limited to Morse code dot-and-dash transmissions. In the early 1920s broadcasting was introduced, and arrangements were made to establish a school station. Equipment previously used by a short-lived station, KYG, [4] was purchased by the student body in March 1923, and an application filed for a new broadcasting station to be operated by the students under the direction of teacher Fred Brainard. [5]

The first broadcasting station license, with the call letters KFIF, was issued on March 23, 1923, to the Benson Polytechnic Institute. [6] Equipment tests were begun in April, [7] followed by an informal debut broadcast at 6:00 p.m. on May 4, 1923. [8] A more formal station introduction, coinciding with the start of the fifth annual Benson Technical Show, was broadcast from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m on May 9, with scheduled addresses by school director W. F. Woodward, Benson principal C. E. Cleveland, and student body president Bill Norvell, plus singing by Marguerite Carney. [9] [10]

KFIF's initial assignment was for broadcasting on a wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz), a shared "entertainment" wavelength that required allocating timeslots to individual stations in order to avoid interference. In late 1924 KFIF was reassigned to 1210 kHz, [11] which was followed by assignments to 1400 kHz in 1927, [12] and to 1310 kHz in early 1928. [13] On November 11, 1928, under the provision of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, KFIF moved to a "local" frequency of 1420 kHz. [14]

The school's original application requested reassignment of the KYG call letters, [5] however the station was instead randomly assigned KFIF from an alphabetical roster of available call signs. In March 1930 the call letters were changed to KBPS (for Benson Polytechnic School), with the station's William Allingham explaining that "the letters KFIF were difficult to utter over the radio... and they were harder still to understand". [15]

During the 1933-1934 school year, programming was added intended for local elementary school students. KBPS was transferred from the school to the School District in the fall of 1939. As of 1942, KBPS was on the air every school day from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 3:15 to 5:00 pm. Several of the city schools had radio production instruction, and would prepare special broadcasts for the station. [16]

In March 1941, with the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, most of the stations on 1420 kHz, including KBPS, moved as a group to 1450 kHz. In 1929, KBPS had begun timesharing with another Portland station, KXL. After KXL moved to 750 kHz in October 1941, KBPS had unlimited broadcasting hours, but because it did not have enough programming to fill the available time, it was licensed with a reduced schedule as a "specified hours" station.

As of 1947, the station was broadcasting six hours each day. Patricia Green Swenson took over as general manager at this point, a post which she held until 1994. [17] By 1954, the station's schedule was 9 a.m. to 9 pm. Monday to Friday, which was sometimes extended for late running sports events. [18]

Beginning in 1994, a student group at Portland State University began leasing time on the station, to provide college radio-style programming over KBPS for 59 hours each week, from 5 p.m. until midnight on weekdays and noon to midnight on weekends. The contract arrangement was terminated on June 25, 2010, a week before its intended conclusion, due to KBPS management concerns that some of the programming was inappropriate for a high school station. [19]

On July 1, 2012, KBPS suspended operations for the summer due to budget cuts, but returned to the air later that year. [20]

Related Research Articles

<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.

KXLY 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.

High school radio are radio stations located at high schools and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision. The oldest extant high school AM radio station is AM 1450 KBPS in Portland, Oregon. Portland radio station KBPS, first licensed in 1923, is the second oldest radio station overall in the city of Portland. The student body of Benson Polytechnic High School purchased the transmitter and other equipment from Stubbs Electric in Portland for $1,800. Money for the purchase of the station came from student body funds. On March 23, 1923, the student body of Benson was licensed by the federal government to operate a radio station using 200 watts of power on 834 kilocycles. The first call letters of the station were KFIF. The station made its formal debut on the air and was officially dedicated in early May 1923, between the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., on the opening night of the 5th annual Benson Tech Show. In spring of 1930, the callsign changed from KFIF to KBPS, for Benson Polytechnic High School. In 1941 KBPS stopped sharing its frequency with other stations and moved to 1450 AM on the dial where it remains today. In 1971 the FCC gave the station permission to increase daytime transmitting power to 1,000 watts. Nighttime power was 250 watts. KBPS is now licensed for 1,000 watts 24 hours a day. The KBPS studios, transmitter and 200–foot self-supporting steel tower are located at the rear of the Benson campus. AM 1450 still broadcasts 24/7/365 and the KBPS Radio Broadcasting program at Benson High School still teaches today's students about radio broadcasting and audio content creation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benson Polytechnic High School</span> Technical, public school in Portland, , Oregon, United States

Benson Polytechnic High School is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. It is temporarily located in Portland's Lents neighborhood while a renovation project is underway at its 9-acre (3.6 ha) campus in the Central Eastside commercial area of Portland, Oregon, United States. Students are given a special emphasis in a technical area. The school is a member of SkillsUSA and Health Occupations Students of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTEL (AM)</span> Radio station in Philadelphia

WTEL — branded "Philadelphia's BIN 610" — is a commercial all-news AM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, the station is currently operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. as part of their Philadelphia cluster under a long-term local marketing agreement. The station services the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area as the market affiliate of the Black Information Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOAI (AM)</span> Clear-channel news/talk radio station in San Antonio

WOAI is a commercial AM radio station in San Antonio, Texas, which airs a news/talk format. It is owned and operated by locally based iHeartMedia, Inc., and is that company's flagship station. Studios are located in the Stone Oak neighborhood in Far North San Antonio. Its non-directional antenna transmitter site is off Santa Clara Road in Zuehl, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDAY (AM)</span> Radio station in Fargo, North Dakota

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.

KKOL is an AM radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Salem Media Group. It airs a conservative talk radio format, branded as "1300 The Answer," featuring nationally syndicated Salem Radio Network hosts including Dennis Prager, Mike Gallagher, Sebastian Gorka, Hugh Hewitt, Brandon Tatum and Charlie Kirk. The radio studios and offices are on Fifth Avenue South. KKOL is the oldest radio station in Seattle, first licensed on May 23, 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KUFO</span> Radio station in Portland, Oregon

KUFO is a commercial radio station licensed to Portland, Oregon. The station, owned by Alpha Media, calls itself "Freedom 970" and airs a talk radio format. KUFO's offices and studios are on Southwest 5th Avenue in Portland.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPOJ</span> Radio station in Portland, Oregon

KPOJ is a radio station serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon and neighboring Washington. It airs a sports format, and is affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Its transmitter is located in Sunnyside, Oregon, and its studios are in Tigard, Oregon. The station is owned by iHeartMedia.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDRC (AM)</span> News/talk radio station in Hartford, Connecticut

WDRC is a commercial AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It is owned by Red Wolf Broadcasting and airs a talk radio format. The studios and transmitter site are located on Blue Hill Avenue in Bloomfield, Connecticut, with other radio stations.

WKAR is an non-commercial public AM radio station, licensed to the trustees of Michigan State University (MSU) at East Lansing, Michigan. It is part of MSU's Broadcasting Services Division, along with WKAR-FM and WKAR-TV. Studios and offices are in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building, at the southeast corner of Wilson and Red Cedar Roads on the MSU campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFXD</span> Radio station in Idaho. United States

KFXD is a commercial radio station, owned by Townsquare Media, which airs a rhythmic contemporary format branded as "Power 105.5". The station is licensed to serve Boise, Idaho.

KKSU was an AM radio station in Manhattan, Kansas, that broadcast from 1924 to 2002. The station was owned by Kansas State University (KSU) and operated by K-State Research and Extension, with studios and transmitter on KSU's campus in Manhattan. At the time it ended operations, it was one-half of one of the last shared-time frequencies in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "City of Portland Proclamation". pps.net. City of Portland. March 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KBPS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "New Stations" (Special Land), Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1921, page 3. The "7" indicated that the station was located in the 7th Radio Inspection District, and the "Y" specified that the station was operating under a "Technical and Training School" authorization.
  4. ↑ KYG in Portland had been licensed to Willard P. Hawley, Jr. from March 28, 1922, until October 13, 1922, and then briefly continued under a temporary authorization by the Radio Service Bureau.
  5. 1 2 "KYG Radio Set Now Owned by Benson Tech", Oregon Sunday Journal, March 18, 1923, Section 3, page 3.
  6. ↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 2, 1923, page 8.
  7. ↑ "In Portland's Schools: Benson" by Paul Brunner, Oregon Daily Journal, April 29, 1923, Section 5, page 4.
  8. ↑ "'Tech' Radio Concert", Oregon Daily Journal, May 4, 1923, page 11.
  9. ↑ "In Portland's Schools: Benson" by Paul Brunner, Oregon Sunday Journal, May 6, 1923, Section 5, page 4.
  10. ↑ "Fifth Technical Show at Benson To Open Tonight", Oregon Daily Journal, May 9, 1923, page 12.
  11. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, January 2, 1925, page 7.
  12. ↑ "Broadcasting Stations by Wavelength" (effective June 15, 1927), Radio Service Bulletin, May 31, 1927, page 10.
  13. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, February 29, 1928, page 5.
  14. ↑ "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 212.
  15. ↑ "Station's Call Changed", Morning Oregonian, March 18, 1930, page 9.
  16. ↑ "Portland, Oregon 1933 to Date", Public School Broadcasting to the Classroom by Carroll Atkinson, 1942, pages 68-71.
  17. ↑ Carlin, Peter Ames (January 10, 2010). "Patricia Swenson, longtime manager of Benson radio station KBPS, dies at 93". The Oregonian . Retrieved January 10, 2010.
  18. ↑ "High School Radio" (correspondence from Melvin Rydman), Radio World, December 7, 2016, page 30.
  19. ↑ "KPSU loses AM signal" by Corie Charnley, Portland State University Vanguard, June 28, 2010.
  20. ↑ Anderson, Jennifer (February 7, 2013). "Changes, donations keep KBPS on air". Portland Tribune . Retrieved February 8, 2013.

Further reading

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.