KTHH (990 AM, "Comedy 990") is a

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 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

to serve

Albany, Oregon Albany ( ) is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the 11th most populous city in the state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton count ...

, United States. The station, which began broadcasting in 1959, is currently owned by Bicoastal Media and the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

is held by Bicoastal Media Licenses V, LLC.

Programming

KTHH broadcasts a

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

format to the greater

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Oregon, Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton Co ...

, area. In addition to its usual music programming, KTHH airs

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

games as a member of the Seattle Mariners Radio Network.

History

Launch as KABY

This station began regular broadcast operations on January 16, 1959, with 250

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 of power, daytime-only, on a frequency of 990

kHz 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 uni ...

. KABY was owned by the Albany Broadcasting Corporation with Chet Wheeler serving as president and general manager. Just over three years after the station was launched, in May 1962, it was sold to Radio Station KNND, Inc., and W. Gorden Crockett took over as general manager.

Change to KRKT

The new owners had 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 ...

changed to KRKT later in 1962. In 1963, the name of the license holding company was changed to Radio Stations KNND & KRKT, Inc. to reflect the

duopoly A duopoly (from Greek , ; and , ) is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market, and most (if not all) of the competition within that market occurs directly between them. Duopoly is the most commonly ...

ownership. In 1966, Peter J. Ryan and Milton A. Viken were acting as co-general managers of the station but by 1967 Ryan would be full in charge as the station's sole general manager. The company named was changed again in 1968, this time to the more general Interstate Broadcasters, Inc., while Peter J. Ryan remained the GM. Robert Esty joined the station in 1971 overseeing its

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

format as general manager, promotions manager, and vice president of the company. In 1972, Harry Gilt took over the general manager and promotions manager jobs as the station shifted its format slightly to a

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

mix. Robert Esty returned in early 1973 when his Linn-Benton Broadcasters, Inc., purchased the station from Interstate Broadcasters, Inc., in a transaction that was consummated on May 1, 1973. The company name represented the two Oregon counties served by this station's broadcast signal:

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Carl Linnaeus, abbreviated as Linn. * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Place ...

and Benton. Esty resumed his general manager duties while Harry Gilt remained with the station as the program director overseeing the new

country & western Country (also called country and western) is a music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is primarily focused on singing sto ...

music format. The station would stay a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

outlet through the rest of the 1970s and well beyond. In April 1998, Robert A. Esty & Marianne Esty applied to the FCC to transfer control of KRKT to the Robert & Marianne Esty Charitable Remainder Trust. The transfer was approved by the FCC on May 19, 1998. In June 1998, the Robert & Marianne Esty Charitable Remainder Trust reached an agreement to sell this station to Jacor Communications. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 18, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on September 15, 1998. KRKT owner Jacor Communications, Inc., was acquired by

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 ...

in May 1999. In December 2000, as part of a reorganization after the merger, the KRKT

was transferred from Jacor Broadcasting of Oregon, Inc., to Citicasters Licenses, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on January 4, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on June 19, 2001.

Switch to KTHH

The station dropped its classic country music programming for a

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as ...

format, primarily programming from

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left–wing alternative to coun ...

, branded as "990 The Truth", beginning on October 4, 2004. To accompany the new branding, the station applied for and was assigned the KTHH

by the FCC on October 5, 2004. The station dropped the talk programming to return to a classic country music format branded as "The Legend" in late 2006. In May 2007,

subsidiary Citicasters Licenses, L.P., reached an agreement to sell this station to Bicoastal Media LLC as part of a 14-station deal valued at a reported $37.18 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 2, 2007, and the transaction was consummated on October 1, 2007. At the time of the sale, KTHH broadcast a

format. As part of an internal corporate reorganization, Bicoastal Media applied to the FCC in October 2007 to transfer the broadcast license for KTHH from its Bicoastal Willamette Valley, LLC, subsidiary to Bicoastal Media Licenses V, LLC. The transfer was approved by the FCC on October 29, 2007, and the transaction was consummated on the same day. KTHH aired the

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

games of the

Corvallis Knights The Corvallis Knights, founded as the Aloha Knights, are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Corvallis, Oregon. Founded in 1990 in Beaverton by Dan and his brother Joe Segel, the Knights moved to Corvallis from Gresham in 2007. They ...

in the 2007 and 2008 seasons before the games shifted to

KEJO KEJO (1240 AM, "1240 Joe Radio") is a commercial radio station licensed to Corvallis, Oregon, airing a sports radio format. It is owned by Bicoastal Media with the broadcast license held by Bicoastal Media Licenses V, LLC. The studios are on ...

for the 2009 season. On March 1, 2011, KTHH changed its format to comedy, branded as "Comedy 990".

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KTHH

Bicoastal Media - Albany/Corvallis
* * {{Eugene-Springfield Radio THH Radio stations established in 1959 Albany, Oregon 1959 establishments in Oregon Comedy radio stations in the United States