Crawford Broadcasting
Encyclopedia
Crawford Broadcasting is a family-owned media company based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
. Crawford Broadcasting primarily owns radio stations mostly with Christian
and Oldies
/Nostalgia
formats.
.
In 1958, Crawford devised a strategic business plan for the purchase and acquisition of seven radio stations, and through 1960, the seven stations in Miami, Florida
(WHYI
)1; Buffalo, New York
(WDCX); Des Moines, Iowa
(KHKI
)2; Portland, Oregon
(KPDQ
)3; Chicago, Illinois (WPWX
); Lancaster, Pennsylvania
(WDAC
) and Detroit, Michigan
(WMUZ
) were either purchased or had construction permit
s issued by the FCC
. That same year, Dr. Crawford died and family business was carried on by his wife, Ruth Crawford Porter and his son Donald B. Crawford. Between 1968 and 1979 the company expanded by acquiring stations in Birmingham, Alabama
(WDJC-FM
); Dallas, Texas
(KAAM
, operated under call letters KPBC at AM1040 but later moved to AM770); and Oklahoma
(since divested).
In 1980, Crawford Broadcasting purchased a radio station in Los Angeles
(KBRT
) to further expand its portfolio, and the company launched a further expansion of its station base in 1991. Crawford's rapid growth has been accomplished almost entirely through its own resources and its considerable ability to generate cash flow.
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Blue Bell is a census-designated place in Whitpain Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 6,067....
. Crawford Broadcasting primarily owns radio stations mostly with Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and Oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
/Nostalgia
Old-time radio
Old-Time Radio and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s...
formats.
History
The company was founded in 1959 by evangelist Dr. Percy B. Crawford. In 1949 Crawford produced his first Christian television broadcast, which aired on the fledging ABC Television NetworkAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
In 1958, Crawford devised a strategic business plan for the purchase and acquisition of seven radio stations, and through 1960, the seven stations in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
(WHYI
WHYI
WHYI-FM, better known as Y-100, is a heritage FM Top 40 contemporary hit radio station that broadcasts at 100.7 MHz. Its city of license is Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Y-100 broadcasts at an effective radiated power of 98,000 watts from its 1,005 foot transmitter, which is located on the...
)1; Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
(WDCX); Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
(KHKI
KHKI
KHKI is a country music radio station located in Des Moines, Iowa, broadcasting on 97.3 FM. The station's studios are in Urbandale, Iowa, with Cumulus Media's other Des Moines stations: KJJY, KGGO, KWQW, and KBGG.-Programming:...
)2; Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
(KPDQ
KPDQ (AM)
KPDQ is a radio station broadcasting a religious radio format. Licensed to Portland, Oregon, USA, it serves the greater Portland metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Salem Media of Oregon, Inc. and features programing from Salem Communications.-External links:...
)3; Chicago, Illinois (WPWX
WPWX
WPWX is a mainstream urban radio station that serves the Chicago area. WPWX is owned by Crawford Broadcasting, and broadcasts at 92.3 megahertz...
); Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
(WDAC
WDAC
-External links:...
) and Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
(WMUZ
WMUZ
WMUZ is an FM radio station in the United States serving the Detroit, MI market at 103.5 MHz. The station has a contemporary Christian music and Christian talk format, known on the air as The Light...
) were either purchased or had construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
s issued by the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. That same year, Dr. Crawford died and family business was carried on by his wife, Ruth Crawford Porter and his son Donald B. Crawford. Between 1968 and 1979 the company expanded by acquiring stations in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
(WDJC-FM
WDJC-FM
WDJC-FM is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. The station was one of the first commercial FM radio stations in the United States to exclusively feature Christian programming. Today the station programs contemporary Christian music. Crawford Broadcasting Company owns...
); Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
(KAAM
KAAM
KAAM, known as "K-Double-A-M", is an AM radio station broadcasting in the Dallas/Fort Worth "Metroplex" with a format of oldies/standards, and program length commercials...
, operated under call letters KPBC at AM1040 but later moved to AM770); and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
(since divested).
In 1980, Crawford Broadcasting purchased a radio station in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(KBRT
KBRT
KBRT is a Christian radio station. It airs Christian talk radio programming from Santa Catalina Island to Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. The station broadcasts at 10,000 Watts sunrise to sunset at 740 kHz from the hill above Avalon on Catalina Island...
) to further expand its portfolio, and the company launched a further expansion of its station base in 1991. Crawford's rapid growth has been accomplished almost entirely through its own resources and its considerable ability to generate cash flow.
Markets with Crawford-owned stations
- Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
- Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
- Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
- Chicago, Illinois
- Rockford, IllinoisRockford, IllinoisRockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
- St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
- Detroit, MichiganDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
- Albany, New YorkAlbany, New YorkAlbany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
- Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
- Rochester, New YorkRochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
- Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...