KUGN

Infobox Radio station
name = KUGN


city = Eugene, Oregon
area = Eugene and Vicinity
branding = News Talk 590
slogan = Home of the Oregon Ducks
airdate =July 4, 1946
frequency = 590 (kHz)
format = News/Talk
power = 5,000 watts
class = B
facility_id = 12506
callsign_meaning = e U G e N e
former_callsigns =
owner = Cumulus Media
licensee = Cumulus Licensing, LLC
sister_stations = KSCR (AM)
webcast = [http://live.cumulusstreaming.com/KUGN-AM Listen Live]
website = [http://www.kugn.com/ www.kugn.com]
affiliations =

KUGN (590 AM, "News Talk 590") is a radio station primarily broadcasting talk radio. Licensed to the city of Eugene, Oregon, it serves the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media, and affiliated with ABC Radio News. KUGN is the flagship radio station in the Oregon Sports Network, and broadcasts University of Oregon football and basketball games. On weekdays, KUGN airs Dr. Laura, Clark Howard, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly, among others.

KUGN first took the air in the summer of 1946 as the second radio station in Eugene, after KORE. KUGN was originally affiliated with the ABC radio network, but switched to NBC during the mid-1950s. The station dropped the longtime NBC affiliation for CBS in December 1977.

During its first four decades, KUGN was best known for its eclectic, personable announcers, as well as for their longevity. The careers of such veterans as Duke Young, Dick Cross, Russ Doran, Skip Hathaway, Webb Russell, Wendy Ray and Dale "Uncle Fuzzy" Reed spanned the period from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.

The "old" KUGN, which Ray unabashedly called "the best radio station in the world," is best remembered for its popular "Morning Show." Reed, KUGN's resident Renaissance Man, teamed with Ray and news director Fred Webb for a much beloved program that was a "must hear" in the Eugene area throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

"The Morning Show" entertained "The Listener" with such lighthearted semi-regular features such as Ray's "Ball Score Boogie," the "Poet's Nook" starring Webb as the high-buttoned poetry devotee "Charles," and "Gridpute," a tongue-in-cheek Friday morning football preview featuring Ray and a clanking, cantankerous "computer." Ray and Webb also teamed up on Eugene's top-rated morning newscasts, twice hourly between 5:30 and 10 a.m. D.J.-anchor "Uncle Fuzzy" knit it all together with his wry commentary and savvy music choices (adult contemporary with a fair amount of jazz), delivered in a voice that was airwave-polished, yet that of Everyman.

In 1957, KUGN became the first flagship station of the University of Oregon sports radio network, with play-by-play announcer John Tasnady serving five seasons as the "Voice of the Ducks." Ray, already a veteran sportscaster, took the microphone in 1962 and called Duck football and basketball until the end of the 1969 football season. Ray, who also served as public address announcer for Oregon track and field meets, returned for one season (1974-75) as KUGN's football and basketball announcer.

Other KUGN "voices" of University of Oregon sports were Mike Guldager (1969-73), Bud Sobel (1973-74), Ralph Petti (football, 1975), Mike Stone (1975-80), Warren Swain (1980-82), Bill Johnson (1982-84) and Hal Ramey (1984-87).

KUGN lost the broadcast rights to Duck sports in 1987, when the University of Oregon athletic department set up its own in-house radio network. The university put the network's flagship status up for bidding, and local rival KPNW won out over KUGN. Eight years later, KUGN regained the broadcast rights to Duck sports. Play-by-play announcer Jerry Allen, employed by the U of O athletic department, moved from KPNW to KUGN at that time. Allen, a veteran among Northwest sportscasters, will begin his 22nd season as "Voice of the Ducks" in the fall of 2008.

Programming

Notable weekday programming includes Jerry Doyle, Doug Stephan, "KUGN Morning News" with Jerry Allen, Al Kline, and Dan Mullin, Dr. Laura, Paul Harvey's Noon Report, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, "KUGN 5 O'Clock News", "The Writer's Block" with "The Register Guard"'s George Schroeder, Clark Howard, and Rusty Humphries.

External links

* [http://www.kugn.com KUGN official website]