KRKO
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| City of license | Everett, Washington |
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| Broadcast area | Seattle metropolitan area |
| Branding | Fox Sports Radio 1380 |
| Frequency | 1380 kHz AM (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | August 17, 1922 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 62056 |
| Callsign meaning | Radio Keith Orpheum |
| Former callsigns | KFBL (1922-1938) KRKO (1938-1985) KBAE (1985-1986) KRFE (1986-1987)[1] |
| Former frequencies | 1340 kHz (1927-1929) 1370 kHz (1929-1941) 1400 kHz (1941-1949)[2] |
| Affiliations | Fox Sports Radio |
| Owner | S-R Broadcasting Co., Inc. |
| Sister stations | KKXA (1520 AM) |
| Website | krko.com |
KRKO (1380 AM, "Fox Sports Radio 1380") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Everett, Washington, USA. The station broadcasts an All Sports format to the Seattle metropolitan area. The station, established in 1922, is currently operated by S-R Broadcasting Co., Inc., a locally owned company.
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[edit] History
KRKO was the fifth radio station in Washington to receive a license from the Department of Commerce. The original license hangs on the wall in the station and is dated August 17, 1922. The Department of Commerce issued call sign KFBL to the radio station at the time. The license makes KRKO one of the oldest licensed radio stations in America. Otto and Robert Leese started the radio station in the second floor of their auto repair shop on 28th and Rucker in downtown Everett.[2]
The station has been locally operated since it was licensed in 1922. The Leese brothers transferred control of the station to their engineer, Ben Mudgett, in the 1930s, and Mudgett later transferred control to the Taft family in the late 1930s, whereupon the station remained under Taft family ownership until the late 1970s. The Taft's Washington, D.C. attorney, John Marple, operated KRKO with some investors for a few years, then in the early 1980s, an Everett area investment group led by local beer distributor, Niles Fowler, acquired control of the station. Control of KRKO was transferred back to a member of the Taft family following a sale of the station in the mid-1980s, but in 1987, new local investors Art Skotdal and Roy Robinson purchased the KRKO assets and the Skotdal family continues to operate KRKO today.[2]
On September 4, 2009, two of the station's four radio towers were toppled by vandals.[3][4][5] A sign left at the scene said the eco-terrorist group Earth Liberation Front was responsible.[3][6] The station transferred its radio transmission to a backup site and remained on the air at reduced power.[4] KRKO operated from the damaged site at full daytime power and reduced nighttime power until both of the destroyed towers were fully replaced on August 16, 2010.[7]
KRKO began its current sports talk format in 2000.
[edit] Format
KRKO is an affiliate of the Fox Sports Radio Network and broadcasts a sports-talk format. Live play-by-play affiliations include NASCAR (MRN Radio and PRN Radio), University of Washington Huskies football and basketball, NHL Vancouver Canucks, Everett AquaSox baseball (Seattle Mariners affiliate), and Everett Silvertips hockey. Hosts include Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, Steve Hartman, Pat O'Brien, Petros Papadakis, Matt "Money" Smith, and Tony Bruno.
[edit] References
- ^ "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=62056&Callsign=KRKO. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Station History". KRKO. http://www.krko.com/stationinfo/stationhistory/. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
- ^ a b "Activists topple towers, claim dangers of AM radio waves". Cable News Network. September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
- ^ a b Klass, Tim (September 4, 2009). "2 radio towers in Washington state toppled". Associated Press. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
- ^ "Everett radio station towers torn down". KIRO Radio. September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
- ^ Piercy, Rob (September 4, 2009). "ELF claims it toppled Everett radio station towers". KING 5 News. Retrieved September 4, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "KRKO-AM gets resurrected". Radio Business Report. August 14, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
[edit] External links
- Article on KRKO at HistoryLink
- Query the FCC's AM station database for KRKO
- Radio-Locator Information on KRKO
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for KRKO
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Coordinates: 47°52′33″N 122°04′40″W / 47.87583°N 122.07778°W
