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KOBB (AM)
Encyclopedia
KOBB is a radio station
licensed
to serve Bozeman, Montana
, USA. The station is owned by Reier Broadcasting Company
, Inc., which operates as the KBOZ Radio Stations Group.
The offices and all the studios are located southwest of Bozeman at "Radio Ranch", 5445 Johnson Road. KOBB's transmitter is on the south side of Bozeman, on West Kagy Blvd.
of the ESPN Radio
network. KOBB also airs the syndicated The Dan Patrick Show
on weekday afternoons. The station also broadcasts play-by-play for the Belgrade Bandits, an American Legion Baseball
team, as well as Belgrade High School Panther football and boys and girls' basketball.
, with 250 watt
s of power on a frequency of 1230 kHz. The station was assigned the KBMN call sign
by the Federal Communications Commission
. Under the ownership of the Penn Engineering Company, KBMN was led by G. Norman Penwell as company president, Gerald E. Tyo as program director
, and Jack Penwell as chief engineer
.
The original KBMN radio studios were located in a building in the northern part of Bozeman next to its original broadcast tower site on North 7th Avenue. The original tower was torn down in 1992 and the studio building now serves as a small casino
.
while Harold "Hal" Phelps took over both program director and news director
duties at KBMN. In 1962, the FCC granted the station authorization to increase the strength of its daytime signal to 1,000 watt
s while keeping the nighttime signal at the previous 250 watts.
Penn Engineering sold KBMN outright to William A. Merrick who formed a new company called KBMN, Inc., to serve as the license holder. Merrick served as company president and general manager of KBMN while Ray Styles assumed the program director role. Hal Phelps stayed on as news director and had regained the program director duties by the end of the 1960s.
Throughout the 1970s, KBMN broadcast a mix of middle of the road and contemporary music. The station was acquired by Western Media, Inc., in a transaction that was consummated on September 1, 1975. Len Kehl became the station's general manager while Don Tuggle handled both program director and music director
duties.
Just over one year after that, Robert Pipinich and Cathryn Pipinich agreed in July 1991 to transfer the broadcast license
for KBMN to Buz Cowdrey's Cowdrey Broadcasting Company. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 20, 1991, and the transaction was consummated on August 27, 1991. This change would also be short-lived as in February 1993 the Cowdrey Broadcasting Company contracted to sell this station to Reier Broadcasting Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 28, 1993, and the transaction was consummated on June 21, 1993.
After more than 43 years as KBMN, the station was assigned the new call sign KZLO by the FCC on March 22, 1993. The change accompanied a format change to adult standards
and a branding as an "older oldies" station. The station was assigned the call sign KOBB by the FCC on September 15, 1994. This matched a branding shift to "Bob, Sr." while maintaining the "older oldies" adult standards format. By 2004, the station had shifted to a more modern soft adult contemporary format under the name "Lite 1230" that persisted until 2008.
, airing a sports talk format.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, USA. The station is owned by Reier Broadcasting Company
Reier Broadcasting Company
Reier Broadcasting Company is a radio broadcasting company, located in Bozeman, Montana. Started in 1975, it is owned by the Reier Family; Bill Reier is the president...
, Inc., which operates as the KBOZ Radio Stations Group.
The offices and all the studios are located southwest of Bozeman at "Radio Ranch", 5445 Johnson Road. KOBB's transmitter is on the south side of Bozeman, on West Kagy Blvd.
Programming
KOBB broadcasts a sports talk format as a nominally full-time affiliateAffiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
of the ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
network. KOBB also airs the syndicated The Dan Patrick Show
The Dan Patrick Show
The Dan Patrick Show is a syndicated sports talk show hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by DirecTV Sports Group and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. The three-hour program broadcasts live every day beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern/6 a.m. Pacific time on Fox...
on weekday afternoons. The station also broadcasts play-by-play for the Belgrade Bandits, an American Legion Baseball
American Legion Baseball
American Legion Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played by teenage boys in 50 states in the USA. More than five thousand teams participate each year. The American Legion Department of South Dakota established the program in 1925 at Milbank, South Dakota...
team, as well as Belgrade High School Panther football and boys and girls' basketball.
Beginning
The station began regular operations on September 14, 1949, broadcasting to Bozeman, MontanaBozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, with 250 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power on a frequency of 1230 kHz. The station was assigned the KBMN call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
by the Federal Communications Commission
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...
. Under the ownership of the Penn Engineering Company, KBMN was led by G. Norman Penwell as company president, Gerald E. Tyo as program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
, and Jack Penwell as chief engineer
Broadcast engineering
Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering, and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology, which deals with radio and television broadcasting...
.
The original KBMN radio studios were located in a building in the northern part of Bozeman next to its original broadcast tower site on North 7th Avenue. The original tower was torn down in 1992 and the studio building now serves as a small casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
.
New owners
Dale G. Moore acquired Penn Engineering, license holder of KBMN, in June 1958. Moore served as the station's general managerGeneral manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
while Harold "Hal" Phelps took over both program director and news director
News Director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
duties at KBMN. In 1962, the FCC granted the station authorization to increase the strength of its daytime signal to 1,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s while keeping the nighttime signal at the previous 250 watts.
Penn Engineering sold KBMN outright to William A. Merrick who formed a new company called KBMN, Inc., to serve as the license holder. Merrick served as company president and general manager of KBMN while Ray Styles assumed the program director role. Hal Phelps stayed on as news director and had regained the program director duties by the end of the 1960s.
Throughout the 1970s, KBMN broadcast a mix of middle of the road and contemporary music. The station was acquired by Western Media, Inc., in a transaction that was consummated on September 1, 1975. Len Kehl became the station's general manager while Don Tuggle handled both program director and music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
duties.
Decade of change
In June 1989, Western Media agreed to sell the station to Tony Kehl and general manager Leonard Kehl. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 21, 1989, and the transaction was consummated on November 16, 1989. One year later, in June 1990, Leonard Kehl and Tony Kehl, doing business in partnership as Western Media, announced a deal to sell this station to Robert F. Pipinich and Cathryn L. Pipinich, a joint proprietorship. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 26, 1990, and consummated on the same day.Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
for KBMN to Buz Cowdrey's Cowdrey Broadcasting Company. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 20, 1991, and the transaction was consummated on August 27, 1991. This change would also be short-lived as in February 1993 the Cowdrey Broadcasting Company contracted to sell this station to Reier Broadcasting Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 28, 1993, and the transaction was consummated on June 21, 1993.
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
and a branding as an "older oldies" station. The station was assigned the call sign KOBB by the FCC on September 15, 1994. This matched a branding shift to "Bob, Sr." while maintaining the "older oldies" adult standards format. By 2004, the station had shifted to a more modern soft adult contemporary format under the name "Lite 1230" that persisted until 2008.
KOBB today
In 2008, the station dropped its soft adult contemporary music format to become a full-time affiliate of ESPN RadioESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
, airing a sports talk format.