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Radio station in Colorado, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
KRGS (690 AM) was a radio station licensed to Rifle, Colorado, United States. The station was owned by Western Slope Communications, LLC. In 2019 the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to move to a new transmitter site, increase day power to 2,300 watts and increase night power to 16 watts. It expired in 2022 without being built.[2][3]
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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 |
KAYW, KAVP, KWGL, KZKS | |
History | |
First air date | June 9, 1967 (as KWSR at 810) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies | 810 kHz (1967–1995) |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 71960 |
Class | D |
Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 39°32′56″N 107°46′11″W |
Translator(s) | 98.9 K255CB (Rifle) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | ESPN Radio 690 |
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, the owner of KRGS, Steven 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 KRGS 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] The stations were sold again in 1991 for assumption of debts[20] and 1993; the new owners, Canterbury Broadcasting,[21] changed KKGD's call sign on April 21, 1994, to the current KRGS.[22]
The Federal Communications Commission cancelled the station’s license on July 24, 2024.[23]
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