KGMI
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KGMI (790 AM) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
licensed to
Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...
. The station is owned and operated by Saga Broadcasting, dba Cascade Radio Group. It airs a
news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. KGMI serves Northwest Washington with a signal that reaches into much of Southwestern
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, including
Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...
and Victoria. The signal also reaches into
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
's northern suburbs, as well as the
Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula in Western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...
. Its
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is off Yew Street Road in Bellingham. By day, the station transmits with 5,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s. To protect other stations on AM 790, it reduces power at night to 1,000 watts and uses a
directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...
after sunset. Programming is also heard on a 250-watt FM translator station, K243BX, on 96.5
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
.


Programming

Weekdays begin with a local news and information show, ''The KGMI Morning News'' featuring Dianna Hawryluk and Adam Smith. There is also a news hour during afternoon
drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
, anchored by Jason Upton. Joe Teehan hosts ''KGMI Konnects'', a live call-in show, ahead of the evening news hour. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of syndicated talk programs, including ''Markley, Van Camp, and Robbins, The Lars Larson Show, The Dennis Prager Show, CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor,
Coast To Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 198 ...
with
George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...
'' and '' This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal''. Weekends feature shows on money, health, gardening, farming, car repair, home repair, real estate and technology, some of which are paid
brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot com ...
. Weekend syndicated programs include '' The Kim Komando Show, Rich DeMuro on Tech, The Larry Kudlow Show, CBS News Weekend Roundup'' and '' Rudy Maxa World Travel''. Most hours begin with an update from
CBS News Radio CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
.


History


Early years

The station was first licensed in 1926. It originally broadcast from
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
using the
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
KVOS, and was owned by Lou Kessler. The station moved to Bellingham a year later, making it the second oldest Washington radio station north of Seattle, after KRKO in Everett. In 1928,
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
businessman Rogan Jones bought the station.Southcott, Bonnie Hart
Radio battled for access to news
.
The Bellingham Herald ''The Bellingham Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Bellingham, Washington, in the United States. It was founded on March 10, 1890, as ''The Fairhaven Herald'' and changed its name after Bellingham was incorporated as a city in 1903. '' ...
, January 9, 2008.
In 1933, Jones began airing news bulletins from the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
under the moniker "Newspaper of the Air". The AP obtained a restraining order, but federal judge John Clyde Bowen refused to grant a permanent injunction, saying that news reports belong to the public. Bowen's decision was reversed on appeal, prompting Jones to appeal to the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. In 1936, the Supreme Court threw out the restraining order on the grounds that since the AP was a nonprofit organization, it could not incur damages. The case established that radio (and later, television) stations had the same right to news reports as newspapers. The station broadcast on several different frequencies during its early years. In 1935, it was located on 1200 kilocycles, transmitting with 100 watts, the only radio station between Everett and Vancouver. In 1941, the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...
(NARBA) established new frequencies for many of the early radio stations. KVOS moved to its current frequency of 790 kHz, with 250 watts.


TV and FM stations

In 1953, Jones signed on the area's first television station, KVOS-TV. He sold it in 1962, but kept the radio station. Due to
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) rules at the time regarding separately owned stations not sharing the same call letters, the TV station remained KVOS-TV, while the radio station changed its call sign to the current KGMI. In March 1960, Jones added an FM station on 92.9 MHz, KGMI-FM, which is now KISM. Jones remained the owner until his death in 1972. In 1998, Saga Communications purchased KGMI and KISM for $9.8 million.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-477
/ref>


Translator


References


External links

* * *
FCC History Cards for KGMI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kgmi GMI News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1926 1926 establishments in Washington (state)