Monday, February 6, 2017

Duke FMs

The name "Duke" automatically conjures up visions of John Wayne and nomadic, gunslinging cowboys.  So when a radio station brands itself "Duke" it couldn't be anything but Classic Country. 

WGEE / WDKF - New London/Sturgeon Bay/(W)GrEEn Bay, Wisconsin

WDKW - Maryville/Knoxville, Tennessee



WWDK - Jackson/Lansing, Michigan

All three of these stations are operated by Midwest Communications whose owner is named Duke Wright.  Coincidence?

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Super Bowl LI / WGST

Tonight's Super Bowl pits the Atlanta Falcons against the New England Patriots.  As a long-suffering Bills fan, I will of course be rooting for Atlanta to beat the Brady/Belichick monster and give the Falcons their first-ever Lombardi Trophy.  My hatred for Tom Brady has evolved from a burning detestation into a begrudging respect.  He is close to being the best quarterback to ever play and a win tonight would clearly launch him to Greatest Of All Time status.  Having said that...GO FALCONS!!

Atlanta, Georgia's WGST (W Georgia School of Technology) began broadcasting in 1925 at 1110 AM.  They spent time at 890 AM before another move to 920 AM took place in 1941.  WGST now lives at 640 AM and carries a Talk format.  The sticker depicts a red Atlanta Falcons helmet like those used from the team's inception in 1966 until 1989.  WGST also carried Falcon's games the first time they went to the Super Bowl in 1999.

Anybody know what the NR/bird logo was from?  Just a fancy News/Radio thing?

UPDATE:  The Patriots won (of course) 34-28 in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.  Tom Brady immediately announced his retirement after hoisting the championship trophy and shockingly died later that night after choking on a chicken wing.

Deadspin compiled some pretty great media calls including home radio announcers from both the Pats and Falcons as well as BBC Radio 5 and Westwood One Radio.  Listen here.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Steep Canyon Rangers / WNCW

Tonight, my wife and I went to Dayton's historic Victoria Theatre to see the Steep Canyon Rangers.  I know zilch about bluegrass music and had no idea what to expect as we took our seats way up in the balcony.  I did a quick Wikipedia search on the band before the show and found out that they were Grammy winners and frequent collaborators with comic Steve Martin who is an accomplished banjo player.  Apparently, SCR are considered non-traditional bluegrass (because they have a percussionist?)  I don't care...they had me hooked from the first note--in no small part to the fact that they opened with the super catchy title track to their 2015 album Radio.  This nostalgic tune looks back to a time when discovering new music on the radio was exciting enough to make you want to call a friend to say "look what I found!"  It evens name checks Casey Kasem who was heard after "riding home from Sunday school."  American Top 40 aired on Sunday mornings where I lived too so I totally relate.  The concert was great from start to finish including a fantastic encore of The Band's "The Weight".







88.7 FM WNCW is a public radio station owned by Isothermal Community College in Spindale, North Carolina.  Steep Canyon Rangers, from nearby Asheville, NC, have performed live at WNCW's Studio B and multiple members have been guest DJs on the station.

Friday, February 3, 2017

The University of Northwestern Stations

The University of Northwestern - St. Paul in Roseville, Minnesota owns a series of Christian radio stations in about 8 cities throughout the upper midwest.  

"Life 96.1" KNWM - Ames/Madrid, Iowa

"Life 107.1" KNWI - Des Moines/Osceola, Iowa


"Life 97.9" KFNW - Fargo, North Dakota

W230AN - Hayward, Wisconsin


"Life 102.5" WNWC - Madison, Wisconsin





"Life 101.9" and "Faith 1090" KNWS - Waterloo, Iowa.  Also heard on translator 96.9 FM K245AZ in Dubuque, IA.


"Life 96.5" and "Faith 1270" KNWC - Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Northwestern owned 89.1 FM WSMR in Sarasota, Florida from 1991 until 2010.

More stickers from sister-station KTIS can be seen here.  And one from KDNI here.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

WKTK


98.5 WKTK is an Adult Contemporary station licensed to Crystal River, Florida.  The call letters stand for (W) Koast To Koast because their 100,000-watt signal reaches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.  Okay, that's not really true anymore.  Apparently, before their signal was downgraded in 19??, WKTK could be heard from Tampa to Orlando to Jacksonville and even parts of Alabama.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

WGGC


95.1 FM WGGC is a 100,000-watt Country station licensed to Bowling Green, Kentucky.  They are now branding themselves as "Goober 95.1"

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Radio Garden / KSID

I first heard about Radio Garden late last year from a column written by radio observer Sean Ross.  The website allows you to navigate the earth which is quickly covered with "sprouting" green dots representing radio stations.  Click on a dot and you're instantly listening to that station's live stream.  On my first try, Radio Garden must have known my location as it settled on a station in Sidney, Ohio about 40 minutes from where I live.  The problem being that 98.7 FM KSID is from Sidney, Nebraska about 1000 miles away from Sidney, Ohio.  Oh well....that glitch aside, when something comes along that combines two of my favorite things--radio and geography--I can't complain too much.  While typing this post I heard Lil Wayne & Wiz Khalifa on Top FM in the Azores, NEIKED on Sweden's Sveriges Radio P4 and Michael Bolton, who still gets airplay on Ceria FM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  I took a quick listen to KSID FM again tonight as well and heard the end of a boys high school basketball game (Leyton vs Sedgwick County--Go Warriors!)




1340 KSID plays Country music as "The Fort" while the other half, "Sky FM," seems to play a mix of Classic Hits/Classic Rock and Top-40.  Both are licensed to Sidney, Nebraska (nowhere near Sidney, Ohio.)

Monday, January 30, 2017

WBUL

"98.1 The Bull" is one of four Country music stations currently broadcasting in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

KUPH


KUPH "96.9 The Fox" is a 50,000-watt Top-40 station licensed to Mountain Home, Missouri.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Three Hots and a KOT

"Hot 99.9" WHXT was a short-lived CHR station licensed to Easton, Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1991.

 "Hot 100" KRBV was a Rhythmic-leaning Top-40 station in Dallas, Texas from 1998 to 2001.


 "Hot 103" CHTT played Top-40 music in Victoria, British Columbia from 2000 to 2004.

102.1 WKOT is a low power FM, community station licensed to Wimauma, Florida.  They went on the air in 2014 with a Religious format.

Friday, January 27, 2017

KIQX

KIQX plays a mix of music from the 60s to today along with 13 daily local newscasts.  They are licensed to the city of Durango in southwestern Colorado.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

KCCL


"Kool 101.9" was an Oldies station licensed to Shingle Springs, California.  KCCL now broadcasts at 101.5 FM and has evolved into a Classic Hits station branded as "K-Hits".  They are now licensed to the Sacramento suburb of Woodland, CA.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

CFGT

"Planète 104.5" is an Adult Contemporary station licensed to Alma, Quebec.  CFGT went on the air in 1953 at 1270 AM and converted to FM in 2010.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Mystery Magnet - Y95

Anybody know where this "Y95" magnet is from?  Years ago I asked about this logo on a radio message board.  One guess was KHYI in Dallas, Texas which is a Country station and used to be branded as "Y95" but I can't confirm it (at least not with a Google image search.)  Another person thought it might be KCXY in Arkansas but I can't find a logo match there either.

Monday, January 23, 2017

KTIS







KTIS AM/FM are Religious stations in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  900 AM went on the air in 1949 and broadcasts a Christian Talk and Teaching format branded as "Faith Radio."  98.5 FM plays Contemporary Christian music with 100,000-watts of power.  Both are operated by the University of Northwestern - St. Paul, a private, evangelical college located in Roseville, MN.