KGA

This article is about a radio station. For King's Gambit Accepted, see King's Gambit Accepted.
KGA
City Spokane, Washington
Broadcast area Spokane, Eastern Washington, Northwestern Idaho
Branding Sports Radio 1510
Slogan Everything Sports
Frequency 1510 kHz
First air date February 4, 1927
Format Sports
Power 50,000 watts (daytime)
15,000 watts (nighttime)
Class B
Facility ID 11234
Affiliations Fox Sports Radio
Owner Mapleton Communications
(Mapleton License Of Spokane, LLC)
Sister stations KBBD, KDRK, KEYF-FM, KFIO, KJRB, KZBD
Webcast Listen Live
Website 1510kga.com

KGA (1510 kHz) is an AM All-Sports radio station based in Spokane, Washington. It is owned by Mapleton Communications and airs programming from the Fox Sports Radio Network as well as several sports talk shows from 710 ESPN Seattle. KGA carries play by play from the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team, the Spokane Chiefs junior ice hockey team, and teams fielded by Gonzaga University. It's three-letter Call sign indicates it was one of the earliest radio stations in Washington, going on the air in 1927. Its studios and offices are located on East 57th Avenue and its transmitter site is in Spangle, Washington.

History

KGA was first licensed on February 4, 1927, by original owner Louis Wasmer. KGA's first studios were in the old Radio Center Building across the street from the Davenport Hotel and its transmitter was on the northside of Spokane where the Lidgerwood Elementary School is now located. KGA was a successful Country music outlet from the 1969 until 1994, when it switched to a news/talk format. KGA's former owners also established a short lived, lower powered Country Music station based in Kirkland, Washington (near Seattle) called KGAA (now KARR). Also in the history of KGA were the Top 40 years, from January 1968 until June 1969, featuring disc jockeys Shane Showtime and Joe Fiala.

From 1994 until 2008, KGA relied mostly on nationally syndicated talk shows from commentators such as Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage, along with several local programs. Former Los Angeles police detective and author Mark Fuhrman, who lives in nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, hosted a local morning show on weekdays until his program was discontinued in November 2007. In April 2008, KGA's news/talk format moved to sister station 970 KJRB, with KJRB's sports format switched to KGA.

Although KGA has had several owners (including Gonzaga University), has changed frequency several times, and has had its studio and transmitter site relocated over the years, it has retained the same set of call letters from its founding. In fact, the call sign KGA has been continuously used in Spokane longer than any other set of call letters.

Power reduction

KGA was a 50,000 Watt Clear-channel station Class A for most of its life, and could be heard after sunset around the Pacific Northwest, plus part of Western Canada. On July 15, 2008, KGA reduced its nighttime power from 50,000 watts to 15,000 watts, changed its status from Class A to Class B and changed its directional antenna system. (Class A stations have the widest coverage areas and best protection from interference from other stations.) All of this was done so that its sister station, KSFN in Piedmont, California, could increase its nighttime power to 2,400 watts, up from 230 watts. The justification for this change was gaining several hundred thousand potential listeners in the San Francisco Bay Area while sacrificing KGA's smaller potential audience in the Pacific Northwest.

Previous logo

(KGA's logo under previous talk format)

References

    1. Harms, William. Radio Station KGA. 2005. http://spokane.philcobill.com/kga/index.php
    2. Scott, Xen. Transcription of FCC microfiche files KGA, November 11, 1994.
    3. McGoldrick, Jim. Early Memories of Radio in Spokane; letter to Thorwald Jorgenson, about 1981. Used by permission of Dean Carriveau, Spokane, Washington

    External links

    Coordinates: 47°30′08″N 117°23′06″W / 47.50222°N 117.38500°W / 47.50222; -117.38500

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