AM 550 Blaine FCC History Cards

mikec says:
December 16, 2016 3:41 pm at
Jason – these are an incredible find & my thanks for posting them. Are these going to be archived on the site & if so, where?? There’s lot to go through & it will take some time to read all of these.

Fascinating to learn that the original KARI application in 1956 was for 930 kc/s with 5 kW daytime only. This frequency would end up being issued shortly after to new Bellingham-Ferndale daytimer KENY which I think came on air in 1958. KARI signed on with 500 watts daytime on 550 kc/s 7 would eventually receive fulltime authority plus a few power increases. Country KENY would end up becoming KBFW, now KBAI. SOMEWHERE in this basement exists a cassette clip I recorded winter 1968 on my first reel-to-reel machine of KBFW signing on at 8am. At that time, it did not have PSA authority & was strictly sunrise-sunset operation. The sign-on uses Buck Owens’ instrumental “Buckaroo” for a music bed. Now that Steven Smith is a participant here, I’m making an effort to find this so it can be posted for Steven to acquire. (ps – also busy reading & readying a reply to his fascinating KPUG thread just started on RadioWest). Over to you Steven…

pugetsound says:
December 16, 2016 10:27 pm at
Eventually, these will be archived, likely on History Cards page yet to come. I will be posting the I-5 corridor stations and then moving out toward the coast. This will be followed by Eastern Washington AM stations and then FM statewide. Not all station have these cards, as some stations do not have deep roots, years of history.

mikec says:
December 18, 2016 11:30 am at
great stuff Jason! I need to spend some more time with this history card – so far I cannot find one entry I had hoped to examine: back when KARI was still a daytimer with 500 watts, the purpose was to protect KOAC 550 Corvallis owned/operated by the U of Oregon. Typical of most campus stations at that time, on Sundays KOAC was off air all day & evening. Although a daytimer, KARI acquired permission for operation past sunset on Sundays. They broadcast programming Sunday evenings, notably church services & religious programs plus a bit of the regular country music format that dominated the station at that time. A missing entry?

pugetsound says:
December 18, 2016 11:15 pm at
The History Cards are not a complete history of the stations obviously and leave a lot of questions unanswered. But the answer is out there. Possibly in old Broadcasting yearbooks or magazines.

Steven Smith says:
December 19, 2016 8:35 am at
Mike,
As I recall, when Fred Danz of SRO took over the station they forgot to renew the pre-sunrise authority. It had pre-sunrise authority under Haveman, but when it came back on the air they had to operate for awhile as a true daytimer. Before too long they got that authority back. I may have that old Western Union from the FCC granting such authority. I know I did have it, but I have been trying to figure out what to keep and not. I would love to hear the aircheck. I was a kid and listened back then so would probably recognize the announcer. A guy named JJ Brown was engineer and operations manager in the early SRO days. He did about everything, so it may be him.

mikec says:
December 19, 2016 3:22 pm at
Hi Steven – thanks for the info but posted to KARI – not KBFW! 🙂 As you’re now a participant here, I’m renewing my efforts to try & find the cassette this is stored on. I’ve commented on this under KENY/KBFW. Catching the sign-on came as a total surprise: I had my little reel-to-reel cued up hope hoping to catch the sunrise sign-on of co-channel KSWB Seaside (now on 840) but instead got KBFW!

Jason – agree that not all info is in these cards. I have spent plenty of time on David Gleason’s excellent site trying to find KARI’s authority to broadcast post-sunset. Quite by accident, I discovered I have access to all of these History cards for every US broadcast station. I was looking up the night-time coverage map of KGA Spokane yesterday & found that station’s card. What I would like to find however, is the History cards for deleted stations with no connection to future licensees on a given frequency. KXPA 1540 is a good example: their card only goes back to KFKF & starts on 1330. No references to previous occupants KBVU Bellevue or daytimer KGIB Bremerton (1948-52)

Missing from the KARI records are the formal objections to their license renewal sometime in the early 70’s. At least one Bellingham based group filed an objection that KARI had become a full-time syndicated religion station & NOT a Whatcom County focused country music station as they claimed. Also attempting to object to this renewal was one Vancouver radio broadcaster who complained about KARI taking advertising from the Canadian side of the border; also the fact it was essentially a Vancouver/Fraser Valley focused broadcaster. (KARI even maintained a business/sales office in nearby White Rock BC for many years.) This attempt failed as there is no provision for international complaints under FCC rules. However, the Vancouver station owner did complain to the CRTC in Canada, but got nowhere with it. Ironically, the CRTC would soon set it’s sights on “Vancouver station” KVOS-TV ch 12 poaching advertising from Canada

pugetsound says:
December 20, 2016 11:10 pm at
mikec – Right! Some of the cards for deleted stations would be quite a find. Once these are all filed, we will do further digging.

mikec says:
December 21, 2016 3:32 pm at
I too will keep a vigilant eye out for access to history cards for deleted stations. Here’s a tentative target list…I’m sure I’ll miss something: Roy Ohmstead’s original station KFQW 1420 (although this may appear on KXRO’s record) KREN 1420, KEVE 1460/1400 Everett, KGIB 1540 Bremerton, KBVU 1540 Bellevue, KURB/KKNW 1510, the original Sumner 1560 (KDFL?), KFHA/KOOD 1480 Lakewood, KAPY 1290 Port Angeles

pugetsound says:
December 21, 2016 10:21 pm at
Thanks for the list. Requests help in compiling notes for future searches… AND If you come up with any others, please post a comment.

mikec says:
December 22, 2016 3:06 pm at
will do Jason & always available to help do research…

Steven Smith says:
December 23, 2016 9:53 am at
I was looking at these history cards that are available at the FCC website. I was doing that in the summer and spoke with one of the fellows who runs their website. They told me that anything old, that they have, is online with the cards. I did find online sources for really interesting old articles and photos. The best stuff I found was in a Broadcasting Mag search. They had lots of info about the unauthorized control complaint that shut KENY down in the mid-sixties. It told the whole story with names, fines, etc. It also has a 1948 photo of the KPUG studio and pictures of the two women who were instrumental in founding it.

mikec says:
December 23, 2016 3:23 pm at
Fascinating stuff Steven – so there is an interesting tale to go with KENY’s shutdown mid-60’s?? If you haven’t perused David Gleason’s excellent ‘AmericanRadioHistory’ site, the URL is: http://www.americanradiohistory.com/ and he has an extensive collection of Broadcasting mag issues & these are searchable. I do plan to try that & will enter ‘KENY’ into the search criteria to see what comes up. Although I can’t recall the publications, I’ve seen a few articles on KPUG co-founder Jessica Longston along with pics somewhere on David’s site

Steven Smith says:
December 23, 2016 6:55 pm at
Mike..That is one site I have used. It is very good. Broadcasting magazine’s website also allows searching all their magazines by key word.

Steven Smith says:
December 23, 2016 7:09 pm at
Mike,
Yes, in the back of my mind I had remembered the unauthorized control issue. But others I talked to, from that era, did not. Then I found the story of the FCC unauthorized control matter and then the fines. It was rewarding to realize my faint memory was correct. Back in the sixties, the station shutdown. They did not have the funds to keep going, struggling financially already. That was the end of Tom Haveman’s ownership…he went to the TV station. It was Fred Danz of SRO who bought the station out of receivership.

mikec says:
December 23, 2016 8:12 pm at
I was a teen “DXer” at the time growing up in Vancouver & was surprised by KENY’s disappearance in the mid-60’s. 3 years later, KBFW would show up on 930 & at first ran an adult contemporary format for a brief period before switching to country for it’s long run at that format. These history cards only tell part of the story. I did find the references to the fines issued by the FCC for attempts at unauthorized control of KENY in Broadcasting, doing the dedicated search on AmericanRadioHistory.com

1 thought on “AM 550 Blaine FCC History Cards”

Jason Remington says:

June 2, 2021 3:16 pm at

mikec says:
December 16, 2016 3:41 pm at
Jason – these are an incredible find & my thanks for posting them. Are these going to be archived on the site & if so, where?? There’s lot to go through & it will take some time to read all of these.

Fascinating to learn that the original KARI application in 1956 was for 930 kc/s with 5 kW daytime only. This frequency would end up being issued shortly after to new Bellingham-Ferndale daytimer KENY which I think came on air in 1958. KARI signed on with 500 watts daytime on 550 kc/s 7 would eventually receive fulltime authority plus a few power increases. Country KENY would end up becoming KBFW, now KBAI. SOMEWHERE in this basement exists a cassette clip I recorded winter 1968 on my first reel-to-reel machine of KBFW signing on at 8am. At that time, it did not have PSA authority & was strictly sunrise-sunset operation. The sign-on uses Buck Owens’ instrumental “Buckaroo” for a music bed. Now that Steven Smith is a participant here, I’m making an effort to find this so it can be posted for Steven to acquire. (ps – also busy reading & readying a reply to his fascinating KPUG thread just started on RadioWest). Over to you Steven…

pugetsound says:
December 16, 2016 10:27 pm at
Eventually, these will be archived, likely on History Cards page yet to come. I will be posting the I-5 corridor stations and then moving out toward the coast. This will be followed by Eastern Washington AM stations and then FM statewide. Not all station have these cards, as some stations do not have deep roots, years of history.

mikec says:
December 18, 2016 11:30 am at
great stuff Jason! I need to spend some more time with this history card – so far I cannot find one entry I had hoped to examine: back when KARI was still a daytimer with 500 watts, the purpose was to protect KOAC 550 Corvallis owned/operated by the U of Oregon. Typical of most campus stations at that time, on Sundays KOAC was off air all day & evening. Although a daytimer, KARI acquired permission for operation past sunset on Sundays. They broadcast programming Sunday evenings, notably church services & religious programs plus a bit of the regular country music format that dominated the station at that time. A missing entry?

pugetsound says:
December 18, 2016 11:15 pm at
The History Cards are not a complete history of the stations obviously and leave a lot of questions unanswered. But the answer is out there. Possibly in old Broadcasting yearbooks or magazines.

Steven Smith says:
December 19, 2016 8:35 am at
Mike,
As I recall, when Fred Danz of SRO took over the station they forgot to renew the pre-sunrise authority. It had pre-sunrise authority under Haveman, but when it came back on the air they had to operate for awhile as a true daytimer. Before too long they got that authority back. I may have that old Western Union from the FCC granting such authority. I know I did have it, but I have been trying to figure out what to keep and not. I would love to hear the aircheck. I was a kid and listened back then so would probably recognize the announcer. A guy named JJ Brown was engineer and operations manager in the early SRO days. He did about everything, so it may be him.

mikec says:
December 19, 2016 3:22 pm at
Hi Steven – thanks for the info but posted to KARI – not KBFW! 🙂 As you’re now a participant here, I’m renewing my efforts to try & find the cassette this is stored on. I’ve commented on this under KENY/KBFW. Catching the sign-on came as a total surprise: I had my little reel-to-reel cued up hope hoping to catch the sunrise sign-on of co-channel KSWB Seaside (now on 840) but instead got KBFW!

Jason – agree that not all info is in these cards. I have spent plenty of time on David Gleason’s excellent site trying to find KARI’s authority to broadcast post-sunset. Quite by accident, I discovered I have access to all of these History cards for every US broadcast station. I was looking up the night-time coverage map of KGA Spokane yesterday & found that station’s card. What I would like to find however, is the History cards for deleted stations with no connection to future licensees on a given frequency. KXPA 1540 is a good example: their card only goes back to KFKF & starts on 1330. No references to previous occupants KBVU Bellevue or daytimer KGIB Bremerton (1948-52)

Missing from the KARI records are the formal objections to their license renewal sometime in the early 70’s. At least one Bellingham based group filed an objection that KARI had become a full-time syndicated religion station & NOT a Whatcom County focused country music station as they claimed. Also attempting to object to this renewal was one Vancouver radio broadcaster who complained about KARI taking advertising from the Canadian side of the border; also the fact it was essentially a Vancouver/Fraser Valley focused broadcaster. (KARI even maintained a business/sales office in nearby White Rock BC for many years.) This attempt failed as there is no provision for international complaints under FCC rules. However, the Vancouver station owner did complain to the CRTC in Canada, but got nowhere with it. Ironically, the CRTC would soon set it’s sights on “Vancouver station” KVOS-TV ch 12 poaching advertising from Canada

pugetsound says:
December 20, 2016 11:10 pm at
mikec – Right! Some of the cards for deleted stations would be quite a find. Once these are all filed, we will do further digging.

mikec says:
December 21, 2016 3:32 pm at
I too will keep a vigilant eye out for access to history cards for deleted stations. Here’s a tentative target list…I’m sure I’ll miss something: Roy Ohmstead’s original station KFQW 1420 (although this may appear on KXRO’s record) KREN 1420, KEVE 1460/1400 Everett, KGIB 1540 Bremerton, KBVU 1540 Bellevue, KURB/KKNW 1510, the original Sumner 1560 (KDFL?), KFHA/KOOD 1480 Lakewood, KAPY 1290 Port Angeles

pugetsound says:
December 21, 2016 10:21 pm at
Thanks for the list. Requests help in compiling notes for future searches… AND If you come up with any others, please post a comment.

mikec says:
December 22, 2016 3:06 pm at
will do Jason & always available to help do research…

Steven Smith says:
December 23, 2016 9:53 am at
I was looking at these history cards that are available at the FCC website. I was doing that in the summer and spoke with one of the fellows who runs their website. They told me that anything old, that they have, is online with the cards. I did find online sources for really interesting old articles and photos. The best stuff I found was in a Broadcasting Mag search. They had lots of info about the unauthorized control complaint that shut KENY down in the mid-sixties. It told the whole story with names, fines, etc. It also has a 1948 photo of the KPUG studio and pictures of the two women who were instrumental in founding it.

mikec says:
December 23, 2016 3:23 pm at
Fascinating stuff Steven – so there is an interesting tale to go with KENY’s shutdown mid-60’s?? If you haven’t perused David Gleason’s excellent ‘AmericanRadioHistory’ site, the URL is: http://www.americanradiohistory.com/ and he has an extensive collection of Broadcasting mag issues & these are searchable. I do plan to try that & will enter ‘KENY’ into the search criteria to see what comes up. Although I can’t recall the publications, I’ve seen a few articles on KPUG co-founder Jessica Longston along with pics somewhere on David’s site

Steven Smith says:
December 23, 2016 6:55 pm at
Mike..That is one site I have used. It is very good. Broadcasting magazine’s website also allows searching all their magazines by key word.

Steven Smith says:
December 23, 2016 7:09 pm at
Mike,
Yes, in the back of my mind I had remembered the unauthorized control issue. But others I talked to, from that era, did not. Then I found the story of the FCC unauthorized control matter and then the fines. It was rewarding to realize my faint memory was correct. Back in the sixties, the station shutdown. They did not have the funds to keep going, struggling financially already. That was the end of Tom Haveman’s ownership…he went to the TV station. It was Fred Danz of SRO who bought the station out of receivership.

mikec says:
December 23, 2016 8:12 pm at
I was a teen “DXer” at the time growing up in Vancouver & was surprised by KENY’s disappearance in the mid-60’s. 3 years later, KBFW would show up on 930 & at first ran an adult contemporary format for a brief period before switching to country for it’s long run at that format. These history cards only tell part of the story. I did find the references to the fines issued by the FCC for attempts at unauthorized control of KENY in Broadcasting, doing the dedicated search on AmericanRadioHistory.com

Author: Jason Remington

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