KLTH (106.7

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 ...

"The Eagle") 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

Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the ...

, and serving the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...

. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a classic hits

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, ...

. Specialty programs on KLTH include

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

's " American Top 40: The 70s" on Saturday mornings and " American Top 40: The 80s" on Sunday mornings. Sundays also feature " Yacht Rock". KLTH's studios and offices are located on SW 68th Parkway in

Tigard, Oregon Tigard ( ) is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 54,539 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Oregon, 12th most populous city in Oregon. Incorporated in 1961, the city i ...

. The

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 located on SW Barnes Road in the Tualatin Mountains. KLTH covers much of Northwestern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and Southwestern Washington.

History

KQIV

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

for the first time at 10:15 p.m. on September 15, 1972, as KQIV. It was a short-lived but popular

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

station. KQIV was owned and operated by Willamette Broadcasting Company, Inc., with Walter J. M. Kraus serving as president. The station also called itself "KQ4" and "FM 107". The original KQIV offices and studios were located at the Lake Oswego

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

Lodge (#2263). Members of this historically conservative organization frequently crossed paths with the station's

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

s and creative staff. The KQIV transmitter was located between Oregon City and Carver. An American Electronic Laboratories (AEL) FM-25KD transmitter fed 24,000

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 into a Jampro JSCP eight element antenna yielding an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000 watts. The antenna was mounted on a 200-foot tower based at an elevation of 800 feet in

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT). Both the "Q" and "IV" in the station's call sign alluded to four-channel

quadraphonic sound Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic, also called quadrasonic or by the neologism quadio formed by analogy with "stereo"">portmanteau.html" ;"title="/nowiki>portmanteau">formed by analogy with "stereo" sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 s ...

. KQIV was reported in the local press to be the second quadraphonic radio station in the world. and the first to be designed and built to be quadraphonic, But those reports were based on erroneous information. KQIV established its quadraphonic identity and "Rockin' in Quad" branding in anticipation of being selected as the exclusive FM station in the Portland radio market to field test the Dorren Quadraplex System, invented by audio engineer

Louis Dorren Louis Dorren (1948 – October 26, 2014), commonly referred to as Lou Dorren, was an American sound engineer, music producer and inventor. He was also the owner of Bay Sound Records. In 1969 Dorren invented the Quadraplex system of single stati ...

. About a month before KQIV went on the air, the FCC suspended further testing of Quadraplex due to a concern that the system used a subcarrier component not permitted under its regulations. KQIV continued to identify itself as a quadraphonic station in the hope that Quadraplex testing eventually would be permitted. Meanwhile, the station broadcast music from

phonograph records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

encoded in various quadraphonic matrix formats. In 1974, operation of KQIV was turned over to Brotherhood Broadcasting Company, with Roy Jay as president. Brotherhood changed the station's music format to

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

, branded as "Soul 107". In 1975, the KQIV offices and studios were moved to Milwaukie. But the station's ratings failed to improve. Ongoing financial difficulties led to the court-ordered

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

of KQIV, which went off the air on June 18, 1976.

KMJK

KQIV remained silent for nearly 14 months. On August 1, 1977, Communico Northwest Corp. began operating the station, using the same license as KQIV. 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 ...

switched to KMJK, using the moniker "Magic 107" and playing

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

. The offices and studios moved to "Magic Manor" in Lake Oswego and the transmitter was relocated to Portland. On June 29, 1979, KMJK changed its format to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

, but still called "Magic 107". The contemporary hit format failed to catch on, and in July 1981, KMJK changed back to

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

music, still using the "Magic 107" moniker. In August 1982, KMJK switched back to Top 40, while retaining the "Magic 107" name. On April 13, 1987, at 6 a.m., after a 12-hour

stunt A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...

, KMJK changed its format to classic hits, now calling itself "Classic Hits 106.7". On September 1, 1989, KMJK shifted its format to

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

, calling itself "Classic Rock 106.7". On February 19, 1990, KMJK changed to

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

as "106.7 Magic FM".

KMXI, KKBK and KKJZ

On January 25, 1991, the station rebranded and changed call letters to "Mix 106" KMXI, while continuing its hot AC format. On December 30, 1991, KMXI changed its format to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

as "Oldies 106.7". In 1993, KMXI was bought by BayCom Partners for $2.6 million. On July 7, 1993, 106.7 flipped to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

as "K-Bach" KKBK. While the format was popular with mostly older listeners, the station struggled to attract advertisers. In less than a year, management decided to try a different unique format that was catching on in many cities,

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

. On March 17, 1994, the station became KKJZ, and rebranded as "Smooth Jazz 106.7".

KLTH

In 1998, KKJZ was acquired by

Infinity Broadcasting Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Im ...

, which later was merged into CBS Radio. On February 1, 2002, CBS changed the station's call sign to KLTH, and flipped back to soft AC as "Lite Rock 106.7, K-Lite". On January 9, 2006, KLTH changed its format to 1960s and 1970s oldies as "106.7 K-Hits". Over time, KLTH expanded its scope to cover the 1980s as well. Its competition was adult hits KYCH, which was previously KKSN, Portland's outlet for the oldies format prior to KLTH's debut. The debut of “K-Hits” was quite successful, capitalizing on the oldies/classic hits vacuum left by KKSN. Programmed by Dennis Constantine and Creative Imaging by John Hugill, K-Hits was a top 3 contender until KQOL changed to classic hits and competed directly. On April 1, 2009, CBS Radio sold KLTH to

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

along with KXJM. The sale made KLTH and KQOL sister stations. Both co-existed until May 6, 2009, when KQOL flipped to classic rock as KFBW. Previous KQOL listeners were redirected to KLTH, which aired the message "Welcome 105.9 listeners." Weekend specialty programs on KLTH included "Saturday Night Fever", a weekly classic

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

show. Shortly after the move, on August 17, 2009, the name was changed to "Oldies 106.7" with a logo identical to CBS Radio's WODS in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. This was later replaced by a more modern logo. In the May 2011

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

PPMs, KLTH became the number one station in the Portland area radio rankings, overtaking the market's usual top station, co-owned KKCW, which plays

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, sou ...

. On August 1, 2014, at 5 p.m., KLTH shifted its format to classic hits and rebranded as "106.7 The Eagle". Most listeners did not notice much of a change, since KLTH had already been cutting back 1960s titles and focusing mostly on the 70s and 80s hits.

KLTH-HD2

In 2010, KLTH began broadcasting in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

format. On June 4, 2010, KLTH-HD2 signed on a 1950s-1960s oldies format branded as "Real Oldies". On April 17, 2015, KLTH-HD2 switched to iHeartMedia's "My 60s" format, featuring the hits of the 1960s (now known as "iHeart '60s").

KLTH-HD3

In December 2018 KLTH began airing "The Breeze" soft adult contemporary format on its HD3 subchannel. It has since been removed.

References

External links

KQ4 Rockin' in Quad
Former KQIV engineer and others document the history of KQIV
106.7 The Eagle website
{{IHeartMedia LTH Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1972 Lake Oswego, Oregon 1972 establishments in Oregon IHeartMedia radio stations Quadraphonic sound