Good friend and retired public broadcaster “Biker Bill” Campbell was moved to e-mail us the other day about a radio station he found in Minnesota while motoring from California to Chicago. Not just any station, but a real radio station – with live local announcers and some great music from the 1940s and ‘50s. It’s KNXR, 97.5 FM in Rochester, Minnesota. Bill said he enjoyed the station until the he lost the signal when I-90 dropped off the plains into the Mississippi River valley.
There was a time when getting excited about good radio stations was almost a non-event. Back when local stations strived to provide local services. These days, that’s an exceptional station! Of course, we old retired broadcasters like to think that we’re more discerning (wink).
Another such station – and one I’ve been intending to write about – is “Studio 1430,” KEZW in Denver.
For the past few years as we’ve made frequent treks to Denver from our Black Hills home, I’ve always looked forward to tuning the car radio to AM 1430 when we reach the Denver metro area. For quite some time, I thought it was “my little secret,” until I returned to Spearfish and learned that ham radio friend Bob Weaver had been listening to Studio 1430 on-line for quite some time. I must confess that KEZW Studio 1430 has been a bit of a surprise, since it is not a locally-owned station (few are, these days!) It's just one of more than 100 stations owned by media giant Entercom, which made an unsuccessful bid a few years ago to buy up ABC O & O stations. Nonetheless, they seem to be doing it right with this Denver outlet.
While at our son's home in Wheat Ridge, the radio remains on 1430. Great music selections, local weather, good local news, traffic reports, gardening shows, restaurant conversations – all typical fare of good local stations like Studio 1430, where Rick Crandall’s Breakfast Club is one of my favorites. Almost like Breakfast with the Boys on KCSR in Chadron back in the ‘50s. Truth of the matter is, it’s likely better, simply because of the excellent resources they dedicate towards making the station top notch.
There was a time when getting excited about good radio stations was almost a non-event. Back when local stations strived to provide local services. These days, that’s an exceptional station! Of course, we old retired broadcasters like to think that we’re more discerning (wink).
Another such station – and one I’ve been intending to write about – is “Studio 1430,” KEZW in Denver.
For the past few years as we’ve made frequent treks to Denver from our Black Hills home, I’ve always looked forward to tuning the car radio to AM 1430 when we reach the Denver metro area. For quite some time, I thought it was “my little secret,” until I returned to Spearfish and learned that ham radio friend Bob Weaver had been listening to Studio 1430 on-line for quite some time. I must confess that KEZW Studio 1430 has been a bit of a surprise, since it is not a locally-owned station (few are, these days!) It's just one of more than 100 stations owned by media giant Entercom, which made an unsuccessful bid a few years ago to buy up ABC O & O stations. Nonetheless, they seem to be doing it right with this Denver outlet.While at our son's home in Wheat Ridge, the radio remains on 1430. Great music selections, local weather, good local news, traffic reports, gardening shows, restaurant conversations – all typical fare of good local stations like Studio 1430, where Rick Crandall’s Breakfast Club is one of my favorites. Almost like Breakfast with the Boys on KCSR in Chadron back in the ‘50s. Truth of the matter is, it’s likely better, simply because of the excellent resources they dedicate towards making the station top notch.
It’s like being transported back to an era when radio was……good! Perhaps you have a favorite, too?
1 comment:
While returning to the Black Hills from our trek to the Smokies, we happened upon Omaha's "Magic 1490," KOMJ.
Owned by Cochise Broadcasting, their audio processing sounds inferior to "Studio 1430" in Denver -- and they don't seem to have very robust news/information programming either.
But they do good music!
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