KDUN
Broadcast areaReedsport, Florence, Coos Bay, Eugene, Roseburg, Myrtle Creek, Tri-City, RIddle, Grants Pass, Bandon, North Bend
Frequency1030 kHz
BrandingDune Radio
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
June 2, 1961 (as KRAF at 1470)
Former call signs
KRDP (1961-1961)
KRAF (1961-1970)[1]
KDUN (1970-1997)
KLLU (1997-2002)[1]
Former frequencies
1470 kHz (1961-1998)
Call sign meaning
K DUNe "Oregon Dunes"
Technical information
Facility ID33779
ClassB
Power50,000 watts day
Transmitter coordinates
43°44′17″N 124°4′30″W / 43.73806°N 124.07500°W / 43.73806; -124.07500
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitekdunradio.com

KDUN (1030 AM, "Dune Radio") is a radio station in Reedsport, Oregon. Owned by Big Shoes Productions, a company owned by nationally-syndicated radio host Delilah, the station carries an adult contemporary format serving Reedsport and its surrounding communities.

KDUN broadcasts at 50,000 watts in the daytime, the maximum power output permitted by the FCC for AM stations.

History

Launch as KRAF

A construction permit was filed in September 1958 by Oregon Coast Broadcasters for a new standard broadcast station licensed to Reedsport, Oregon with transmitter and studios located on Bolon Island. The construction permit was granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in March 1960 for a new daytime-only AM station, assigned call letters KRDP, broadcasting with 5,000 watts of power on a frequency of 1470 kHz.[2] A request was made and granted in April 1961 to change to KRAF. Then on June 2, 1961, KRAF began regular broadcasting with Walter J. Kraus as the president and owner of Oregon Coast Broadcasters and Gless Connoy as the station's general manager.[3] The KRAF callsign represented the "Reedsport and Florence" coverage area of the station.[4] The station was marketed with the slogan, "Listening is heavenly on 1470".[4] The KRAF call letters were first filed for in 1936 by Edwin A. Kraft and licensed to KRAF in Fairbanks, Alaska.

In 1966, Gless Connoy purchased the station outright from Kraus.[5] Wayne A. Moreland bought KRAF from the Connoy family on July 1, 1968.[6]

Becoming KDUN

Wayne A. Moreland filed for and was granted a call letter change to KDUN in September 1969. Then Moreland's ownership of KRAF would prove short-lived.[6] Brothers Steve and Jerome Kenagy's and J. Westley Morgan of Communications Broadcasting, Inc. were granted transfer of control on February 11, 1972.[7] The new owners implemented a "middle of the road" music format. The KDUN call letters have a rich history as they were first assigned in 1921 as the radiotelegraph call sign aboard the ship "Ripple" owned by James T. McAllister.(Radio Service Bulletin, Volume 11). The Kenagy brothers shifted ownership of KDUN in March 1972 to a new company named KDUN Radio, Inc.[8] The brothers maintained the "middle of the road" music format through the rest of the 1970s.

In August 1973, KDUN was granted a construction permit to move the studio and transmitter site from Bolon Island (located on the site of the former drive-in movie theater) to Lower Smith River Road, its current transmitter location and the studios moved from the transmitter site into town in the early 1980s.

Move to 1030

In March 1982, the station applied to the FCC for authorization to change their broadcast frequency from 1470 kHz to 1030 kHz, increase daytime signal power to 10,000 watts, and make a few technical changes in their antenna system.[9] The FCC finally granted the station a construction permit to make those changes on May 7, 1987.[9] KDUN began broadcasting at the lower frequency and higher power in February 1998 and received their license to cover the upgrades on April 18, 1998.[10]

In April 1982, the Kenagy brothers applied to the FCC to transfer ownership of KDUN Radio, Inc., to their now-larger software company, Custom Business System, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on April 23, 1982.[11] In November 1985, CBSI announced that it was selling KDUN Radio, Inc., to Lyle and Eleanor A. Irons so that it could focus on the traffic and billing business.[12] The deal was approved by the FCC on February 11, 1986, and the transaction was consummated on April 23, 1986.[13]

The KLLU years

After a quarter-century of continuous corporate ownership, KDUN Radio, Inc., reached an agreement in June 1997 to sell this station to Shae Partners, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 5, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on September 15, 1997.[14] The station's callsign was changed to KLLU on November 21, 1997.[1]

In July 1999, Shae Partners, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station to the F & L Broadcast Development Corporation for $200,000.[15] The deal was approved by the FCC on August 24, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on August 29, 1999.[16] Less than two weeks later, in early September 1999, F & L Broadcast Development Corporation reached an agreement to sell this station to Pamplin Communications Corporation subsidiary Pamplin Broadcasting-Oregon, Inc., for $350,000.[17] The deal was approved by the FCC on October 29, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on November 1, 1999.[18]

Back to KDUN

The station was granted a new construction permit in August 2000, this time to increase the daytime signal to 50,000 watts. [19] KLLU began broadcasting at the higher power in March 2001 and the station received its license to cover the changes on June 18, 2001.[20] The station was reassigned its heritage KDUN call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on September 25, 2002.[1]

In January 2006, Pamplin Broadcasting-Oregon, Inc., CEO Robert Boisseau Pamplin Jr. reached an agreement to sell this station to Bill Schweitzer, doing business as WKS Broadcasting, Inc., for a cash price of $220,000.[21][22] The deal was approved by the FCC on June 5, 2006, and the transaction was consummated on August 29, 2006.[23] At the time of the sale, KDUN was broadcasting a country music format.[21]

KDUN went temporarily silent on November 27, 2007, when the station's owners were unable to pay their electricity bill due to "financial problems with its operations".[24] According to their April 2008 filing with the FCC, new owners for KDUN were being sought.[24]

In May 2008, WKS Broadcasting, Inc., reached an agreement to sell the station to Sand & Sea Broadcasting, LLC.[25] The deal was approved by the FCC on June 23, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on August 6, 2008. On September 1, 2013, KDUN was sold to Post Rock Communications, LLC.

Acquisition by Delilah

On May 3, 2021, Big Shoes Productions, a company owned by station alumnus and nationally-syndicated personality Delilah Rene, acquired KDUN from Post Rock Communications. The purchase was consummated on June 23, 2021. KDUN announced that it would return to air on September 6, 2021, with an oldies format and focusing on local news and information.[26] A Reedsport native, Rene had originally worked at KDUN in the 1970s as her first job in radio,[27] and saw the purchase as an opportunity to "give back to the community where I grew up". New studios were built in her former fifth grade classroom at what is now the "Oregon Coast School of Arts" in Gardner, Oregon.[26][28]

KDUN carries the syndicated "Classic Hits" which is overseen by Smokey Rivers, who had served as program director and, alongside Delilah, an on-air personality, on Seattle's KSWD). On evenings, the station carries Delilah's adult contemporary program.[29]

Traffic and billing software

In 1975, KDUN's owners were frustrated by the volume of paperwork then required for scheduling advertising, billing advertisers, and producing each day's commercial lineup, they purchased a Wang Laboratories minicomputer and, along with engineer Wes Lockard, invented software to handle these traffic and billing tasks.[30] As the brothers took on these tasks for other stations in the area, they realized that a market for computerized traffic and billing existed and, in 1978, they founded Custom Business Systems, Inc.[30] At its peak in the mid-1990s, CBSI software was in use by roughly one-third of the commercial radio stations in the United States and by broadcasters in 24 other countries.[30] In 1999, it was described as the "world's largest supplier of business software for the radio broadcast industry".[12] CBSI and the Kenagy brothers sold their interest in KDUN in 1985. CBSI itself is now a part of Marketron Broadcast Solutions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. ↑ "Directory of AM and FM Radio stations in the U.S.". 1961-1962 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1962. p. B-138.
  3. ↑ "Directory of AM and FM Radio stations in the U.S.". 1963 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1963. p. B-151.
  4. 1 2 "Radio KRAF letterhead". Archived from the original (gif) on July 15, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Directory of AM and FM Radio stations in the U.S.". 1967 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1967. p. B-133.
  6. 1 2 "The Facilities of Radio". Broadcasting Yearbook 1969. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1969. p. B-140.
  7. ↑ "Directory of AM and FM Radio Stations in the U.S.". Broadcasting Yearbook 1972. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1972. p. B-172.
  8. ↑ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada". Broadcasting Yearbook 1979. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1979. p. C-182.
  9. 1 2 "Application Search Details (BP-19820305AV)". FCC Media Bureau. May 7, 1987.
  10. ↑ "Application Search Details (BL-19880222AD)". FCC. FCC Media Bureau. April 18, 1988.
  11. ↑ "Application Search Details (BTC-19820402GW)". FCC Media Bureau. April 23, 1982.
  12. 1 2 Kelly, Clint (Spring 1999). "A Matter of Honor". Response: The Seattle Pacific University Magazine.
  13. ↑ "Application Search Details ()". FCC Media Bureau. April 23, 1986.
  14. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19970620EA)". FCC Media Bureau. September 15, 1997.
  15. ↑ "Changing Hands - 1999-07-26". Broadcasting & Cable. July 26, 1999. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19990709GH)". FCC Media Bureau. August 29, 1999.
  17. ↑ "Changing Hands - 1999-11-15". Broadcasting & Cable. November 15, 1999. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19990910GE)". FCC Media Bureau. November 1, 1999.
  19. ↑ "Application Search Details (BP-19991222ABG)". FCC Media Bureau. August 4, 2000.
  20. ↑ "Application Search Details (BL-20010312AAR)". FCC Media Bureau. June 18, 2001.
  21. 1 2 "Deals - 2006-05-06". Broadcasting & Cable. May 6, 2006.
  22. ↑ Brown, Michael D. (February 2006). "PDX Radio Waves". Water Cooled. Society of Broadcast Engineers - Chapter 124. Archived from the original on 2007-08-18. Retrieved 2009-05-24. Back in Oregon, the flooded-and-still-silent remains of KDUN 1030 Reedsport have been sold by Pamplin Broadcasting to WKS Broadcasting of Palo Alto, CA, for $220k. The station ran at 50 kW days,ND
  23. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-20060123AEY)". FCC Media Bureau. August 29, 2006.
  24. 1 2 "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA (BLSTA-20080414AAB)". Federal Communications Commission. April 11, 2008.
  25. ↑ "Deals - 2008-05-24". Broadcasting & Cable. May 24, 2008.
  26. 1 2 "Delilah Documents KDUN Relaunch". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  27. ↑ Henry, Chris (February 28, 2008). "Yes, That Delilah Lives in South Kitsap". Kitsap Sun. She got her start in radio in junior high, thanks to a speech contest judged by two guys who owned the station in Reedsport. Delilah, then Delilah Luke, reported on school sports and news for "KSUN 1470, the voice of the Oregon dunes, 5000 watts of crystal clear air power!"
  28. ↑ News-Review, The. "Reedsport radio station KDUN set to return to the airwaves on Labor Day". nrtoday.com. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  29. ↑ "First Listen: Delilah's KDUN; 'Throwback' 24/7, WREO". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  30. 1 2 3 Kidd, Joe (May 3, 1995). "Oregon Software Firm Revolutionizes Talk-Radio Scheduling, Billing". Eugene Register-Guard.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.