KBLE
Catholic radio | |
Affiliations | EWTN |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | Sacred Heart Radio |
KBUP | |
History | |
First air date | February 1948 |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "Cable Radio", after the former cable car system in the city |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 33667 |
Class | B |
Power | |
Transmitter coordinates | 47°33′41″N 122°21′34″W / 47.56139°N 122.35944°W |
Translator(s) | 100.3 K262CX (Shoreline) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | sacredheartradio |
KBLE (1050
KBLE has been on the air since 1948. It was established in Kirkland but moved to Seattle in 1963, the same year it adopted its present call sign and daytime power of 5,000 watts. For almost all of its history, the station has been associated primarily with religious broadcasting,
History
Early years
F. L. Thornhill, trading as the East Side Broadcasting Company, applied for a construction permit to build a new 250-watt, daytime-only radio station in Kirkland on October 8, 1946. Originally specifying 860 kHz, the application was amended to 1050 kHz before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted it on June 3, 1947.[2] The station went on the air on February 24, 1948, under the call sign KRKL,[3] and in 1950, the station was sold to Lamar N. Ostrander and W. A. Chamness.[2]
In 1954, KRKL was approved to increase its power from 250 to 1,000 watts, remaining a daytime-only station.[2] After the power increase, the station changed its call sign from KRKL to KNBX on December 1, 1954 (beginning to use them on the air on December 13); the renamed station's programming continued to consist of "quality music, weather reports and the broadcast of leading gospel programs".[4] Wilson replaced Chamness as owner in two transactions between 1958 and 1959.[2]
Meanwhile, in 1956, KRKL filed to move from Kirkland to Seattle proper.
While KBLE continued to be dominated by Christian religious programming for the next 36 years, it also aired several brokered-time programs that were not religious in nature. In 1980,[8] a Seattle radio fixture, the weekend Scandinavian Hour, landed at KBLE, airing its 2,000th episode in 1998.[9] Broadcasting was also extended to nighttime at 440 watts on October 1, 1986, after a relaxation of rules governing clear-channel frequencies like 1050 kHz.[10]
Sacred Heart Radio
In 2000, Ostrander and Wilson sold KBLE to HHH Broadcasting for $2.85 million.[11] HHH turned around and sold the station just two months later to Sacred Heart Radio as its first station.[12] The ownership change displaced all of the existing programming on the station, including the Scandinavian Hour.[8]
Catholic radio programming from Sacred Heart Radio began in 2001. The ministry has since expanded its reach with AM stations and FM translators serving Tacoma (KLAY (1180 AM)), Olympia (KBUP (1240 AM)), Spokane (KTTO (970 AM)), Yakima, Washington (KYTR (88.1 FM)), and Kodiak, Alaska (KBKO (88.3 FM)). Ten hours a day of Sacred Heart's output is live, mixing local and EWTN programs.[13]
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KBLE". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b c d e f FCC History Cards for KBLE
- East Side Journal. February 12, 1948. p. 1.
- ^ "Kirkland Radio Station Changes Call Letters". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. December 12, 1954. p. V:2.
- ^ Banel, Feliks (August 5, 2020). "Unwinding the history of the old Yesler Cable Car". MyNorthwest.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ a b "KBLE, Former Kirkland Station, Becomes Seattle's New 'Cable Line'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. January 19, 1964. p. Television 15.
- ^ "KBLE—Seattle's 'International' FM Station". The Seattle Times. November 29, 1964. p. TV 14.
- ^ a b Virgin, Bill (October 12, 2000). "'Scandinavian Hour' moving". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. E4.
- ^ Virgin, Bill (June 18, 1998). "Like its hosts, 'Scandinavian Hour' just keeps on". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. D2.
- ^ Stredicke, Victor (September 21, 1986). "Classical-music folk kick up their heels". The Seattle Times. p. Arts & Entertainment 2.
- ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. September 15, 2000. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2022 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "Sacred Heart Radio Buys Its First Station" (PDF). Radio & Records. December 8, 2000. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2022 – via World Radio History.
- ^ Whalen, Nathan (April 1, 2020). "'People are tuning in for Mass': Sacred Heart Radio adds 10th station". Northwest Catholic. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
External links
- KBLE in the FCC AM station database
- KBLE in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- K262CX in the FCC FM station database
- K262CX at FCCdata.org
- Information for KYTR: Public file • LMS