KKOB (AM)
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| City of license | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
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| Broadcast area | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Branding | 770 KKOB-AM |
| Slogan | The Talk Monster |
| Frequency | 770 kHz |
| First air date | April 5, 1922 (in Las Cruces, moved to Albuquerque in 1933) |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 11251 |
| Callsign meaning | Extra K to KOB |
| Former callsigns | KOB (1922–1986) |
| Affiliations | ABC News |
| Owner | Cumulus Media |
| Sister stations | KTBL, KNML, KKOB-FM, KRST, KMGA, KDRF |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 770kkob.com |
KKOB (770 AM) is an AM radio station operating out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the oldest in the state. It operates on 770 kHz with 50,000 Watts of power and is owned by Cumulus Media. The station's format is talk radio. Its brand is "News Radio 770 KKOB."
During the day, KKOB's signal reaches most of New Mexico's populated area, as well as parts of Colorado and Arizona. At night, it can be heard across much of the western half of North America.
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[edit] Other stations known as KKOB
KKOB-FM is one of its sister stations in the Albuquerque radio market. KOB television, also in Albuquerque, is still commonly confused with the two radio stations because it was co-owned with them for many years. Despite their different ownership, KKOB-AM currently has a news partnership with KOB-TV.
[edit] Programming
KKOB is the local outlet for nationally syndicated talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Red Eye Radio, Moneytalk with Bob Brinker and The Mutual Fund Show with Adam Bold as well as Mike Huckabee. It also features local hosts Bob Clark in the morning and Jim "Noochie" Villanucci in the afternoon and a sports talk program with Scott Stiegler in the evening. It also provides local news and weather updates every half hour 24-hours a day and national news updates from ABC News hourly. KKOB-AM also broadcasts University of New Mexico basketball and football games. Their play-by-play team is longtime broadcaster Mike Roberts and Joe O'Neill (who only does play-by-play for basketball games). Some other Lobo sports can also be heard on sister sports station KNML-AM 610.
[edit] History
The station was founded at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now New Mexico State University) by Ralph Willis Goddard, and began broadcasting tests in 1919 under the call letters 5XD. On April 5, 1922 the station began regular operation as KOB, a callsign which had belonged to marine radio aboard the Princess Anne before its February 2, 1920 shipwreck on Rockaway Shoals, Long Island.[1] New Mexico A&M sold the station after Goddard was electrocuted while adjusting the transmitter on December 31, 1928. In 1933 the station moved to Albuquerque, and were later bought by the Albuquerque Journal.
In 1948, Tom Pepperday, owner and publisher of the Journal, signed on KOB-TV, the first television station between the Mississippi River and the West Coast. The stations passed to Time-Life in 1952 and to Hubbard Broadcasting in 1957. Hubbard Broadcasting sold the radio stations in 1986. In order to trade on the well-known KOB calls, the new owners simply added an extra "K" to the radio station's call letters.
KOB was involved in a 38-year-long dispute with New York City station WABC (originally WJZ) over the use of the 770 kHz frequency. KOB was moved there from 1030 to make room for WBZ in Boston. While the Federal Communications Commission requested that WJZ install a directional antenna to allow the stations to interoperate over large areas, the station refused to comply, encroaching on the range KOB was intended to cover. Only after reaching the U.S. Supreme Court was the issue settled, when the FCC assigned KOB to a new license class. KKOB and WABC became sister stations when Citadel Broadcasting purchased ABC Radio in 2007; Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[2]
[edit] Hot Air Balloon Accident
On October 9, 2004, a Smokey Bear hot air balloon participating in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta collided with one of KKOB's transmitter towers. Three people on that balloon—Albuquerque pilot Bill Chapel and young passengers Aaron Whitacre of Tucson, Arizona and Troy Wells Rio Rancho, New Mexico -- climbed down the tower to safety. KKOB signed off the air and shut down its transmitter following the accident in order to enable the passengers to climb down safely—the tower was energized and could have led to electrocution once the passengers set foot on ground.[3]
The accident was featured on the December 26, 2010 episode of the Travel Channel series, When Vacations Attack.
[edit] Awards Won
- On September 24, 2009; KKOB won a Marconi Award for excellence in radio broadcasting.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ http://earlyradiohistory.us/1928past.htm
- ^ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2011/09/16/cumulus-now-owns-citadel-broadcasting.html. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Associated Press, via Albuquerque Journal: "Final Day of Fiesta Ends With Dramatic Balloon Accident", October 10, 2004.
- ^ "KKOB, Albuquerque (770) wins this year's Marconi for "Legendary Station"". Radio-Info.com. September 24, 2009. http://www.radio-info.com/news/kkob-albuquerque-770-wins-this-years-marconi-for-legendary-station.
[edit] External links
- KKOB AM home page
- Query the FCC's AM station database for KKOB
- Radio-Locator Information on KKOB
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for KKOB
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