KBKR (1490 AM, "Supertalk 1490") is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Baker City Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward D. Baker, the only U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat. The population was 10,099 at the time of the 2020 census. History Pla ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The station is owned by the Pacific Empire Radio Corporation. All five stations owned and operated by Pacific Empire Radio Corporation share a radio studio building in

La Grande, Oregon La Grande is a city in Union County, Oregon, United States. Originally named "Brownsville," it was forced to change its name because that name was being used for a city in Linn County. Located in the Grande Ronde Valley, the city's name comes ...

, located at 2510 Cove Ave.

Programming

KBKR broadcasts a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format in simulcast with

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

KLBM KLBM (1450 AM, "Supertalk 1450") is a radio station in La Grande, Oregon. KLBM is simulcast with KBKR in Baker City, Oregon. It is owned by Pacific Empire Radio Corporation. All five stations owned and operated by Pacific Empire Radio Corporatio ...

. Local programing includes a "swap and shop" show called ''

Tradio Tradio is a type of talk radio show format, though now considered archaic, where listeners call in to buy or sell items. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midwest. "Tradio" is a p ...

'' every weekday morning, a weekday interview show called ''Your Voice'', plus a weekend cooking show called ''Cooking Outdoors With Mr. BBQ''.

Syndicated programs

Syndicated weekday programs include ''

Daybreak USA USA Radio Network is an American mass media company, specializing in long-form spoken word (talk radio) and radio newscasts, produced and distributed with a generally conservative focus. USA Radio Network produces and distributes 24-hour news, n ...

'' hosted by Scott West, talk shows hosted by

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

Lars Larson Lars Kristopher Larson (born March 6, 1959)"Lars Kristopher Larson". ''Who's Who in the West'', 26th ed. Accessed June 17, 2013 via LexisNexis. is an American conservative talk radio show host based in Portland, Oregon. Larson worked in televis ...

Laura Schlessinger Laura Catherine Schlessinger (born January 16, 1947) is an American talk radio host and author. ''The Dr. Laura Program'', heard weekdays for three hours on Sirius XM Radio, consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal adv ...

Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...

, and

Jerry Doyle Jerry Doyle (July 16, 1956 – July 27, 2016) was an American talk radio host, right-libertarian political commentator, television actor and founder of the content platform EpicTimes. His nationally syndicated talk show, ''The Jerry Doyle Sho ...

, plus ''

Coast To Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 1 ...

'' hosted by

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...

. Notable weekend syndicated programs include ''

The Kim Komando Show Kimberly Ann Komando (born 1967) is the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websites, smartphone apps, and internet security. ...

'', '' The Financial Safari'' hosted by Peter D'Arruda, ''The Weekend'' hosted by Mike McConnell, ''Gun Talk'' with Tom Gresham, and blocks of

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

from Fox Sports Radio.

Sports programs

KBKR and KLBM broadcast the men's basketball and women's basketball games, home and away, of the

Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University (EOU) (officially designated as Oregon’s Rural University) is a public university in La Grande, Oregon. It was formerly part of the Oregon University System, since dissolved. EOU was founded in 1929 as a teacher’ ...

Mountaineers. Beginning with the 2009 season, the stations will broadcast the school's

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

games as well.

History

The beginning

This station began broadcasting on 1500 kHz in 1939. The station was assigned the KBKR

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

. Starting in early 1941KBKR was broadcasting with 250

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power on a frequency of 1490

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

under the ownership of the Baker Broadcasting Company which was in turn owned and operated by Glenn McCormick. McCormick also served as the station's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

while Kenneth B. Lockwood was the commercial manager. In 1949 KBKR was sold to Inland Radio, Inc., which was in turn owned by broadcasting pioneer Gordon Capps. Lee W. Jacobs was the company president while Kenneth B. Lockwood served as

. On June 1, 1955, KBKR was acquired by Kenneth B. Lockwood and his wife Barbara L. Lockwood operating as the Oregon Trail Broadcasting Company. Kenneth Lockwood continued to serve as the station's general manager, a role he would hold until he sold the station in 1988. The station received authorization from the FCC in 1962 to increase its daytime signal power from 250

s to 1,000 watts. The nighttime signal stayed at the previous 250 watt output. KBKR maintained its middle of the road music format through the 1970s.

Grande Radio

In March 1988, the Oregon Trail Broadcasting Company reached an agreement to sell this station to Grande Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 26, 1988, and the transaction was consummated on May 16, 1988. A full decade later, in May 1998, Grande Radio, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Vista Grande, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 6, 1998, but the transaction was not consummated and control of KBKR remained with Grande Radio. In March 2000, Grande Radio, Inc., reached a new agreement to sell KBKR, this time to Horizon Broadcasting Group, LLC (William Ackerley, CEO) as part of a four-station deal valued at $1.7 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 25, 2000, but once again the transaction was not consummated and Grande Radio retained the KBKR broadcast license. At the time of the aborted sale, KBKR aired a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format.

KBKR today

In June 2004, Grande Radio, Inc., contracted to sell this station to the Pacific Empire Radio Corporation (Mark Bolland, president/CEO) as part of a four-station deal valued at $1.9 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 19, 2004, and the transaction was consummated on September 3, 2004. At the time of the sale, KBKR broadcast a

format. The station still utilizes a "shunt fed" style antenna.

Station alumni

Robert Lindahl, the recording engineer on

The Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the '' Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ...

's famous version of "

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and ...

", worked as a weekend

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

for KBKR for a short time in 1941. Lindahl says he was let go, not for anything he did on the air, but because he refused to empty the tank on the station's

chemical toilet A chemical toilet collects human excreta in a holding tank and uses chemicals to minimize odors. They do not require a connection to a water supply and are used in a variety of situations. These toilets are usually, but not always, self-containe ...

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KBKRKBKR official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kbkr BKR News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1939 La Grande, Oregon Baker City, Oregon 1939 establishments in Oregon