KSKI was an AM radio station at 1340 kHz in

Hailey, Idaho Hailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 7,960 at the 2010 census, up from 6,200 in 2000.KSKI-FM KSKI-FM (94.5 FM Broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station located in Sun Valley, Idaho. The station was assigned the KSKI-FM call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on June 2, 1980. History KSKI-FM went on the air August 3, ...

, which remains on the air. It ceased broadcasting due to economic difficulties spurred by the launch of radio station KECH-FM, which was KSKI-AM-FM's first competitor in the Sun Valley area.

History

KSKI signed on the air on November 17, 1960. The station was initially licensed to Sun Valley and gave the

resort town A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

its first full-time radio service, broadcasting from studios located in the Sun Valley Lodge at the resort and a transmitter in

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Places United States * Ketchum, Idaho, a city * Ketchum, Oklahoma, a town * Lake Ketchum, Washington, a census-designated place Antarctica * Ketchum Glacier * Ketchum Ridge Other uses * Ketchum (surname), a surn ...

. The original owner was Radio Sun Valley, Inc., with Roger Hagadone as president. It was not long before KSKI sought to move from Sun Valley. In 1963, it filed its first application to relocate its studio base and transmitter to Hailey; later that year, it went silent for what turned out to be two years while the station made the move. ( Guide to reading History Cards) The FCC granted the application on September 8, 1965; while KSKI was to go on air from Hailey on December 1, it did not sign on until February 10, 1966. On February 1, 1969, Kent Frandsen became KSKI's general manager; four years later, he bought the station from Hagadone under the name Sun Valley Radio, Inc., for $1 plus the assumption of more than $41,000 in liabilities. Frandsen's ownership of KSKI saw the station apply in 1974 for a new FM station on 93.5 MHz, which would transmit from Bald Mountain and bring with it an expansion of the studios in Hailey. The FCC finally granted the

KSKI-FM KSKI-FM (94.5 FM Broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station located in Sun Valley, Idaho. The station was assigned the KSKI-FM call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on June 2, 1980. History KSKI-FM went on the air August 3, ...

application in January 1977, and the station went on the air that August 3. KSKI AM simulcast its new FM sister from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and again from 7 p.m. to midnight. KSKI-AM-FM were known for their eclectic mix of music programming, aiming to serve listeners in a market that had no other radio stations; the pair also gained a small but devoted audience in the larger Twin Falls area. The AM station changed its call letters to KNRC on December 2, 1985, but changed back to KSKI on July 1, 1987. The station was airing a crossover country format by 1989. In November 1989, KSKI-AM-FM was sold to Silver Creek Communications, a company of businessman

John McCaw, Jr. John McCaw Jr. (c. 1951) is a businessman who formerly partly owned McCaw Cellular in Seattle, Washington and a former part-owner of the Vancouver Canucks NHL franchise, with Francesco Aquilini. Education A graduate of the Lakeside School, he ...

, for $950,000; while McCaw owned cable systems and was in the middle of acquiring TV station group

LIN Broadcasting LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the television in the United States#Major broadcast networks, six major U.S. television networks. One of the re ...

, his other radio holdings were all in Alaska. The AM station continued to operate until late 1992. Economic difficulties in the local advertising market caused by the launch of competing station KECH-FM, which had taken to the air in 1988, prompted Silver Creek to shutter the AM station and send the license to the

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 ...

for cancellation. Not long after, Silver Creek converted the operations of KSKI-FM to an automated service known as "The Mountain", programmed specifically for ski resort areas with special Sun Valley-specific inserts from its base at

KZYR KZYR (97.7 FM, "The Zephyr") is a radio station broadcasting an Alternative Rock music format. Licensed to Avon, Colorado, United States, the station is currently owned by Steve Leigh, through licensee KNS Broadcasting, LLC. History KZYR signe ...

in Colorado.

References

{{Twin Falls (Sun Valley) Radio

SKI Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

Defunct radio stations in the United States 1960 establishments in Idaho 1992 disestablishments in Idaho Radio stations established in 1960 Radio stations disestablished in 1992