Wow. Kolorful KOL's mighty transmitter once hummed and crackled from a ship cocked over there, but did you know Fisher Communications once had its flour mills on Harbor Island? (Bet they wish they had a few flour mills to fall back on at the moment) Check that out at HistoryLink.
Here are more arcana from one of our favorite radio sites: Jose Friotz's Arcane Radio Trivia:
Up in the Northwest they say that the constant overcast weather makes peopel depressed, ill-tempered even. It might be an aggravating factor in this case. Well, doubtlessly it was another 
crappy rainy day when 1300 KKOL-AM owners were informed this March by Coast Guard that they needed to shut off their radio station. This was another painful notch in the history of a station that somone was clearly trying to kill for nearly a century.
crappy rainy day when 1300 KKOL-AM owners were informed this March by Coast Guard that they needed to shut off their radio station. This was another painful notch in the history of a station that somone was clearly trying to kill for nearly a century.The irony here is that back in 2002, KKOL became the only US radio station operating from a ship. That january they'd been approved to operate at 1000 watts with temporary facilities to be installed aboard the 175 foot cargo ship, the "Coastal Ranger," in Seattle’s Elliott Bay.
KKOL-AM, first went on the air back in the 1920’s as KOL-AM. One of the first radio stations in Seattle. In the begining the 
station’s studio and transmitter were located on Harbor Island, just south of downtown Seattle near the ports shipyards. Fifty years later the station left there Harbor Island studios for the Northern Life Tower, downtown Seattle and dropped their historic KOL call sign. But they continued to transmit from the 400-foot tower on the Island.
station’s studio and transmitter were located on Harbor Island, just south of downtown Seattle near the ports shipyards. Fifty years later the station left there Harbor Island studios for the Northern Life Tower, downtown Seattle and dropped their historic KOL call sign. But they continued to transmit from the 400-foot tower on the Island.In the 90’s, the Port began expanding their shipping operations as they "containerized" the port. This expansion on Harbor Island encroached on and eventually occupied by the transmitter and tower facilities. In the summer of 2001, the Port came to an agreement with KKOL to abandon the Harbor Island transmitter facility hence the Coastal Ranger install... It was to be temporary, An application was filed with the FCC for a new 50,000 Watt replacement facility about 15 miles south of the Harbor Island site. In 2003 a pier fire nearly took them out again.
Fast forward to today. KKOL-AM finally moves off the boat. Alan Cabodi, VP of Manufacturing for U.S. Oil said in a statement to the FCC that that refinery is now investigating reports of sparks while working with cranes.and that they blame these on the proximity to KKOL's brand new 50k signal. He also said that KKOL-AM was only AM radio station in North America that was operating at high power near a refinery. KKOL retorts that that previously KJR-AM had operated within a couple of miles of the refinery for over two years with its blanketing contour over the refinery with no ill effects other than some telephone interference. More here.
At the request of the FCC, KKOL continues to operate at 25 kW using their nighttime pattern to reduce the signal at the tanker dock while a permanent solution is found. U.S. Oil says they remain unsatisfied with the KKOL owner’s response to the risk of a potential catastrophe and the corresponding hazard to the public safety. More here. The local SBE has a little to say as well.
The KOL survey (above) was from 1968, and had nothing whatever to with KKOL, which arrived on the scene decades later.
The "arcane" Friotz is dead wrong about one important fact: KOL moved FROM downtown's Northern Life Tower TO Harbor Island (1100 SW Florida Street), not the other way around. It was after KOL had changed ownership and morphed into country-formatted KMPS that the station moved from Enchanting Harbor Island to new studios near the Pike Place Market.
Posted by: WJE | May 14, 2011 at 08:17 AM
WJE beat me to the punch on the location correction and the insertion of the KMPS calls and country format, which 1300 KHz carried before (in the '70s) and for many years after KMPS established itself on FM instead.
However, s/he is wrong that KOL has "nothing to do" with KKOL. Different ownership and formats, sure, but it's the same license, the same 1300 KHz facility. The power's been bumped up thanks to deregulation, but they still have to protect the same co-channel stations (most directly, one in Lewiston, ID), so their directional antenna requirements, and thus the limitations on their antenna siting, are still pretty much the same.
On another topic, can Friotz find an editor? The misspellings are embarrassing.
Posted by: Pete | May 14, 2011 at 06:52 PM