Long ago we had hopes that Everett's Andy Skotdal would make this a talk station, but the near demise of talk as a radio format put the schmutz on that.
It's “Classic Country 1520” KKXA. He told the Everett News “There will likely never be another all-new AM station in Western Washington.”
The FCC granted KRKO a permit to increase daytime power to 50,000 watts. The new station signed on at 4p Tuesday. As a sign of the times: They have no website- they went straight to Facebook.
This from the Everett Herald:
The call-sign is a tribute to the former KXA, Seattle, a station identified today as KTTH 770 and one of the oldest radio stations in Puget Sound. Call-sign KXA’s heritage (1927) dates back almost as far as KRKO 1380 AM (1922), but KXA also has a bit of a storied past as a station once owned by Roy Olmstead, Seattle’s most famous bootlegger. It is claimed that Olmstead’s wife used coded messages during her children’s story hour to signal offshore boats loaded with alcohol.
This is a big victory for the Skotdal family: they beat many years of resistance to the erection of their transmitter tower which included its destruction by vandals in 2009.
"...but KXA also has a bit of a storied past as a station once owned by Roy Olmstead, Seattle’s most famous bootlegger. It is claimed that Olmstead’s wife used coded messages during her children’s story hour to signal offshore boats loaded with alcohol."
Off loading in Birch Bay is the story I've heard.
Sad that it won't be a talk station.
Is there a good book out there on the economics of talk radio vs the music format?
What's interesting is the lack of website. Are websites that passe? I know email is old hat but websites are next?
Holy crap, I wonder how long before radio stations are passe and it's straight off the 'net. For music, Radio stations are just delivery systems at this point.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | October 12, 2011 at 11:45 AM
To BAD! KXA Seattle was a GREAT classical music station for many years.
Now I loss the 1520 khz station from the Portland area.
Also, stop refering this new
station as KXA, its
call sign is KKXA.
Again, to BAD!
Posted by: XA | October 12, 2011 at 03:25 PM
"Off loading in Birch Bay is the story I've heard."
Michael has asked that this kind of stuff stop.
Posted by: sparky | October 12, 2011 at 05:06 PM
Wow, total dud concept.
Listening for a while this afternoon, I heard mostly 70's/80's country crap.
Funniest thing was all the pre-recorded liners. One said something like "Local Staff, Local Music Director, Local Owner." But of course you could listen for 2 hours and not hear a single live or local word from anyone.
This is another perfect example of how government deregulation has screwed up the radio business. A local owner in a small market like Everett is running one station with all syndicated sports programming, nothing local. Now the government gives him a license to run a second station running all pre-recorded music, nothing local.
How is any of this serving the public? Answer: it's not. Like most of the slogans and jingoistic bullshit in the country, "serving the public" means another greedy multi-millionaire family gets to make even more money doing absolutely, fucking NOTHING.
Posted by: Itchy | October 12, 2011 at 06:19 PM
And Everett NEEDS another CW station! The Buzz In will probably love it.
Posted by: sparky | October 12, 2011 at 06:51 PM
And Everett NEEDS another CW station! The Buzz In will probably love it.
Posted by: sparky | October 12, 2011 at 06:51 PM
Nice that you stayed on topic this time, Michael's been asking that we keep on point.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | October 12, 2011 at 08:08 PM
Yes Puget, catch the spirit.
Posted by: Johnny Sombrerro | October 12, 2011 at 08:33 PM
btw, why all the references to "birch bay"
"i swear i am looking for someone from birch bay..."
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers October 09, 2011 at 11:52 AM
Posted by: Johnny Sombrerro | October 12, 2011 at 08:47 PM
"Off loading in Birch Bay is the story I've heard."
Michael has asked that this kind of stuff stop.
Posted by: sparky | October 12, 2011 at 05:06 PM
that's innocuous and rather funny - point of clarification - the only one who asked that here is Sparky.
Back to the topic at hand - C & W or any music seems to be more in vogue. The general mood seems to be music is less depressing than the menu of topics on talk radio as borne out by recent listenership.
Posted by: KS | October 12, 2011 at 10:02 PM
Talk radio in Everett? NEVER. If you have ever been in Everett, you know that verbal skills are not valued. Speaking as a Snohomish County resident, hopefully moving back to Seattle in the near future. It has been an experience.
Posted by: AprilMayJune | October 12, 2011 at 10:08 PM
Actually, this has been tried before - on 1510 KHz, licensed to Mountlake Terrace. A suburban station there in the late 70s/early 80s with a similar automated setup (calls I believe were KKNW, before those calls went to 1150) didn't last too long.
The only difference was that that was a standalone, where as this is part of a cluster; but there's still absolutely no clamor to advertise on such outlets.
Posted by: Pete | October 13, 2011 at 11:38 AM
Pete-
The "only difference"??
1510 KURB/KKNW/KKZU was an odd little duck of a station that never should have existed. It was a 1000 watt daytime only that was interference free for about 4 hours a day in the winter. It was almost comically broke pretty much all of the time.
KRKO has been successfully in operation since 1920 or so. If you listen you will hear a nice level of local spots. Some of these advertisers have been running spots for years. I assume there will indeed be some clamor for spots on 1520 as well- certainly enough to make a profit.
Posted by: Chico | October 14, 2011 at 09:35 PM
Since there's talk of a station at 740 AM in Redmond, it ought to be known as KKTW, in which it would be a tribute to the former KTW which was at 1250 AM, which is now KKDZ a.k.a. Radio Disney.
Posted by: 12th Man | October 20, 2011 at 09:49 PM