KBZY (1490 AM) 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

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

, United States. The station, established in 1957, has been owned by Louis Risewick since 2020 and broadcasts an oldies format.

History

This station was first licensed August 21, 1947, and held the call sign KOCO.History Cards for KBZY
fcc.gov. Retrieved September 23, 2019. It ran 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 ...

and was owned by B. Loring Schmidt. In 1957, its call sign was changed to KBZY. KBZY increased its daytime power to 1,000 watts in 1961. The station played a rock-leaning

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

format through the 1960s and 1970s. After more than a quarter-century of continuous ownership, Salem Broadcasting reached an agreement in September 1980 to sell KBZY to Friendship Communications Company. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 16, 1981. This change would prove short-lived as Friendship Communications Company agreed in April 1982 to sell this station to Capital Broadcasting, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 15, 1982. In October 1985, James J. Opsitnik contracted to sell KBZY license holder Capital Broadcasting, Inc., to Leroy W. Dittman. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 26, 1985, and the transaction was consummated on January 22, 1986. , Leroy Dittman was the sole voting shareholder in Capital Broadcasting, Inc. In August 2011, the construction of a KinStar antenna was completed and the transmitter was moved to a new location and put into service. Rick Allen and CE Ron Dot'o built the transmitter plant over the Summer. Effective December 7, 2020, following the death of Leroy Dittman, Capital Broadcasting sold KBZY to Louis Risewick's Rise 95, LLC for $50,000.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KBZY

Selection of KBZY music surveys, 1963-1971
{{Oldies Radio Stations in Oregon BZY Oldies radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1947 Mass media in Salem, Oregon 1947 establishments in Oregon