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 ...
broadcasting a
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
format. Licensed to
Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1406 at the 2010 census, down from 1427 in 2000. Ketchum Radio was a partnership headed by local resident Chris Haugh, and staff members including Larry Mott, Michael Hess (aka Dallas Dobro), and others, with Gary Stivers handling the news duties. Disc jockeys included Rob Hunter, Sadie Word, and other local talent. The call letters were chosen as a result of a contest, where listeners were asked to pick the call sign for the station. One listener chose KECH (short for the neighboring town of Ketchum). The listener won an all-expenses-paid trip to Belize.
In 1994, Ketchum Radio sold the station to another local operator, Scott Parker's Alpine Broadcasting, Ltd., who owned/operated the station for ten years as its flagship (first) station. Alpine, also based in Ketchum, went on to grow to a-ten station group, then sold most of its stations to Chaparral Broadcasting, Inc.
Chaparral sold KECH-FM and seven other stations to Rich Broadcasting for $3.7 million; the transaction was consummated on April 1, 2013.
Rich Broadcasting sold KECH-FM, three other stations, and a translator to Richard Mecham's Magic Valley Media, LLC effective September 17, 2019 for $475,000.
"KECH-95", (as it is known locally) continues to be the leading station in the Wood River Valley (Blaine County, ID) with local personalities and its service to community affairs.