KRGS

Radio station in Colorado, United States

KRGS

* Rifle, Colorado
* United States

Broadcast area| Grand Junction, Colorado
Frequency| 690 kHz
Branding| ESPN 690 AM/98.9 FM
Programming
Format| Defunct (was sports)
Affiliations| ESPN Radio
Ownership
Owner| Western Slope Communications, LLC

Sister stations

| KAYW, KAVP, KWGL, KZKS
History

First air date

| June 9, 1967 (1967-06-09) (as KWSR at 810)

Last air date

| July 2022 (2022-07)

Former call signs

* KWSR (1967–1985)
* KDBL (1985–1987)
* KWWS (1987–1989)
* KKGD (1989–1994)

Former frequencies

| 810 kHz (1967–1995)
Technical information[1]

Licensing authority

| FCC
Facility ID| 71960
Class| D
Power|

* 900 watts day
* 12 watts night

Transmitter coordinates

| 39°32′56″N 107°46′11″W﻿ / ﻿39.54889°N 107.76972°W﻿ / 39.54889; -107.76972
Translator(s)| 98.9 K255CB (Rifle)
Links

Public license information

* Public file
* LMS

KRGS (690 AM) was a radio station licensed to Rifle, Colorado, United States. The station was owned by Western Slope Communications, LLC.[2][3] It went on the air in 1967 as KWSR; after nearly losing its license in the 1970s, it became KDBL in 1985, KWWS in 1987, KKGD in 1989, and KRGS in 1994, before ceasing operations in 2022.

## History

[edit]

On July 6, 1965, the Oil Shale Broadcasting Company applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to build a new 1,000-watt, daytime-only radio station on 810 kHz in Rifle. The commission granted the permit on December 2, 1966,[4] and the station began broadcasting in 1967. The manager was Jimmy Seany, a former promotions manager for Denver's KWGN-TV;[5] studios were in the Winchester Hotel.[6]

The FCC designated the renewal of KWSR's broadcast license for hearing in November 1974[7] on the basis of complaints made by a former employee.[8] In January 1976, FCC administrative law judge Walter C. Miller issued an initial decision to deny the renewal. The major issue in the license renewal proceeding was that the station rigged a "Turkey Shoot" contest. He preselected winners, one of them an advertiser on KWSR, so as to avoid an imbalance in geography; the rigging was carried out by a young staffer, according to owner Norm Price.[9] Miller also cited other misrepresentations in the station's operating logs and said that although unfortunate, the station's misdeeds merited a temporary loss of radio service in Rifle.[10] Upset listeners in the Rifle area and nearby Grand Junction mounted a letter-writing campaign to the commission in protest of Miller's initial decision.[11] Oil Shale Broadcasting Company appealed, and the full FCC granted a one-year license renewal and assessed a $200 fine.[12]

KWSR was sold to Susan and Stephen Hughes in 1985. Hughes owned Rifle FM station KDBL,[13] and the stations became KDBL and KDBL-FM.[14] This was the first in a series of sales over the next decade. Servant Communications, a group with broadcast interests in Oklahoma, acquired the KDBL stations in 1987 and changed the call letters on AM to KWWS.[15][16] Within a year, Servant sold the pair to companies owned by Steven Humphries; by this time, KWWS was airing a country music format. In 1988, Humphries was involved in a dispute with the then owners of KKOB and KKOB-FM in Albuquerque. The owner of those stations, Fairmont Communications corporation, disputed Humphries' acquisition of KNMQ out of Santa Fe. At the time, Humphries also owned 100% of the share of Sun Media of Colorado. Sun Media was operating KWWS at the time.[17] Sister station KZKS, then known as KWWS-FM, was involved in the dispute as well.[18] Its call sign changed to KKGD in 1989,[19] ahead of a format change to oldies.[20] The stations were sold again in 1991 for assumption of debts;[21] the new owners, David Smith's Western Media, sold them to Canterbury Broadcasting for $20,000 in 1993.[22] Canterbury, in turn, sold KKGD and KZKS to Western Slope Communications for $30,000 in 1994.[23]

The call sign was changed to KRGS on April 21, 1994.[24] The station, which had been silent, returned to the air that September carrying country music from Jones Satellite Networks.[25] KRGS moved from 810 to 690 kHz in 1995,[26] and switched to oldies, also provided by Jones, in September 1997.[27]

The FCC cancelled the station’s license on July 24, 2024,[28] as it had been off the air since July 2022 and did not respond to an FCC letter.[29] KRGS had left the air due to a transmitter failure; by then, it had become a sports radio station affiliated with ESPN Radio.[30]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KRGS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. ^ "KRGS Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
3. ^ "KRGS Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
4. ^ "History Cards for KRGS". Federal Communications Commission.
5. ^ Hoff, Hollis (July 21, 1967). "Sight 'n' Sound". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Fort Collins, Colorado. p. 7. Retrieved November 4, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Some Won't Believe It, But Rifle Has Women Disc Jockeys". The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Colorado. November 1, 1971. p. 1-A. Retrieved November 4, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "In contest". Broadcasting. November 18, 1974. p. 74\. ProQuest 1016882878.
8. ^ Georgeson, Carolyn; Boland, Mary (January 23, 1976). "'Turkey shoot,' irregularities cited: Rifle radio station fails to get license renewal". The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Colorado. p. 1. Retrieved November 4, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ Boland, Mary (September 26, 1975). "FCC makes a mountain out of a turkey". The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Colorado. p. 1. Retrieved November 4, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ "FCC Judge KOs KWSR License". Variety. January 28, 1976. p. 39\. ProQuest 1286113187.
11. ^ "Residents backing Rifle radio station". The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Colorado. February 17, 1976. p. 13. Retrieved November 4, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
12. ^ "In contest". Broadcasting. March 27, 1978. p. 84\. ProQuest 1014689606.
13. ^ "For the Record". Broadcasting. March 11, 1985. p. 81\. ProQuest 1014708757.
14. ^ "Call Letters". Broadcasting. May 20, 1985. p. 101\. ProQuest 963247304.
15. ^ "For the Record". Broadcasting. February 23, 1987. p. 76\. ProQuest 1016914707.
16. ^ "Call Letters". Broadcasting. April 20, 1987. p. 80\. ProQuest 1016915325.
17. ^ Rick Nathanson (September 27, 1988). "Petition 'Sour Grapes,' says KNMQ-FM owner". Albuquerque Journal. p. 9-B - via Newspapers.com.
18. ^ "Transactions". Radio & Records. May 27, 1988. p. 8\. ProQuest 1017207150.
19. ^ "Call Letters". Broadcasting. October 23, 1989. p. 96\. ProQuest 1014732522.
20. ^ "Format Changes". The M Street Journal. November 6, 1989. p. 1.
21. ^ "Ownership Changes". Broadcasting. February 4, 1991. p. 48\. ProQuest 1014743698.
22. ^ "Transactions". Radio & Records. August 27, 1993. p. 6\. ProQuest 1017262550.
23. ^ "Emmis Doubles At Home With $26 Million For Indy Combo". Radio & Records. April 22, 1994. p. 6.
24. ^ "KRGS Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
25. ^ "Format Changes & Updates". The M Street Journal. September 14, 1994. p. 1.
26. ^ "Facilites/Parameters: Grants". The M Street Journal. July 19, 1995. p. 4.
27. ^ "Format Changes & Updates". The M Street Journal. September 10, 1997. p. 1.
28. ^ "License Cancelled". Federal Communications Commission Licensing and Management System. July 24, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
29. ^ Venta, Lance (July 28, 2024). "FCC Report 7/28: Pair Of Translators Fined For Very Late License Renewals". RadioInsight. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
30. ^ Venta, Lance (August 7, 2022). "FCC Report 8/7: FCC Selects 27 Tentative Non-Comm MX'd Filings". RadioInsight. Retrieved December 30, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Facility details for Facility ID 71960 (KRGS) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
* KRGS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
* Facility details for Facility ID 41272 (K255CB) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
* K255CB at FCCdata.org

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