KGA

Infobox Radio station
name = KGA-AM


city = Spokane, Washington
area = Spokane and Vicinity
branding =
slogan =
airdate = February 4, 1927
frequency = 1510 kHz
format = sports radio
power = 50,000 Watts
(applied to downgrade nighttime power to 15,000 W)
erp =
class = A
(applied to downgrade to Class "B")
facility_id = 11234
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
owner = Mapleton Communications
licensee = Mapleton License Of Spokane, LLC
webcast =
website = [http://www.1510kga.com/ 1510kga.com]
affiliations =
sister_stations = KBBD, KDRK, KEYF-FM/AM, KJRB, KZBD

KGA, is now (as of April 2008) a sports radio station based in Spokane, Washington. The Mapleton Communications, LLC outlet broadcasts at 1510 kHz with an ERP of 50 kW. It has switched formats with its sister station, KJRB, who was sports, and is now news-talk.

KGA's signals can be heard as far south as the greater Los Angeles area at night.

History

Licensed February 4, 1927, KGA was a successful country music outlet for most of its life until 1994, when it switched to a news talk format. KGA's former owners also established a short lived, lower powered Country Music station based out of Kirkland, WA (near Seattle) called, KGAA.

from 1994 until 2008, KGA relied on network shows from right-wing commentators Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage.

Former Los Angeles Police detective/best selling author Mark Fuhrman, who happens to live in nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, hosted a live and local morning slot weekdays until his firing in November 2007. No replacement was named.

Radio station KGA has a long history beginning in 1927 with its studios in the old Radio Center Building across the street from the Davenport Hotel and transmitter on the northside of Spokane where the Lidgerwood Elementary School is located when it was owned by Mr. Louis Wasmer to its current studio location on 57th Avenue on Moran Prairie and current transmitter site in Spangle under the ownership of Mapleton Communications.

Although the station has had several owners, notably Gonzaga University, has changed frequency several times, and has had its studio and transmitter site changed over the years, including the old insurance building on W. Riverside, which was being used by the Spokane Catholic Diocese in January 2007, it has retained the same set of call letters over the years. In fact, the call letters KGA have been continuously used on AM longer in Spokane than any other set of call letters.

On July 15, 2008, KGA reduced its nighttime power to 15,000 Watts so that its sister station KPIG-AM in San Francisco, California can increase its nighttime power to 2,400 Watts.

References

1. Harms, William. "Radio Sation KGA". 2005. http://spokane.philcobill.com/kga/index.php
2. Scott, Xen. Transcription of FCC microfiche files KGA, November 11 1994.
3. McGoldrick, Jim. Early Memories of Radio in Spokane; letter to Thorwald Jorgenson, about 1981. Used by permission of Dean Carriveau, Spokane, Washington

External links

* [http://www.1510kga.com/ Station website]
* [http://earlyradiohistory.us/3roll.htm List of license dates]
*AMQ|KGA
*AML|KGA
*AMARB|KGA