KWDP (820 AM) is an American

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) 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 party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

Waldport, Oregon Waldport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,033 at the 2010 census. The city is located on the Alsea River and Alsea Bay, south of Newport and north of Yachats. History Settlement of Waldport began in ...

, United States. The station, which began broadcasting in 1988, is currently owned by David J. Miller 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 vary ...

is held by Yaquina Bay Communications, Inc. The station, which had been temporarily

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low l ...

for financial reasons, returned to the air simulcasting

KBCH KBCH (1400 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Lincoln City, Oregon, United States. The station, which began broadcasting in 1955, is currently owned by Yaquina Bay Communications and the broadcast license is held by Pacific West Broadcastin ...

(1400 AM,

Lincoln City, Oregon Lincoln City is a city in Lincoln County on the Oregon Coast of the United States, between Tillamook and Newport. It is named after the county, which was named in honor of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The population was 9,815 at the 20 ...

) in May 2011.

Programming

This station long broadcast an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

music format under the "KORC"

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 assig ...

until the station fell silent on April 1, 2009, due to "financial difficulties". After a sale to new owners was consummated in January 2010, KORC returned to the air with a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

music format branded as "The Crab" on March 10, 2010. KORC fell silent again on November 1, 2010. After another new owner for the station was found, the station returned to the air as "KWDP" on May 2, 2011, simulcasting KNPT, Newport from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. weekdays. The rest of the day, the station airs an adult standards format plus local news and sports including Waldport High School sports,

Oregon State Beavers football The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Jonathan Smith has been the h ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

basketball.

History

The beginning

This station received its original

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

on April 1,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

. The new AM station was authorized to broadcast with 250

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of 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 quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power, daytime-only, on a frequency of 850

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

to serve

. The new station was assigned the call letters KBBM by the FCC on April 23, 1986. KBBM received its license to cover from the FCC on November 21, 1988.

Sold

In November 1989, owner Edward C. McElroy, Jr., filed an application with the FCC to transfer the

for KBBM to a new company owned by James Girard called KBBM Radio, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 29, 1989, and the transaction was consummated on February 1, 1990. The new owners immediately applied for new call letters and the station was assigned KDRC by the FCC on March 6, 1990. This change lasted just over a year as the station applied for another new, but similar,

and was assigned KORC on April 25, 1991. In April 1992, Rod Wolfe, acting as executor of the estate of James Girard, the now-deceased owner of KBBM Radio, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Jarvis Communications, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 21, 1992, and the transaction was consummated on August 3, 1992.

Move to 820

The FCC authorized KORC to add nighttime operation, albeit with just 10 watts of power, with a construction permit issued on April 22, 1993. Less than three weeks later, the station applied for further authorization to change frequencies to 820 kHz, increase its daytime signal power to 1,000 watts, and boost its nighttime signal (which is limited to protect

clear-channel station A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

WBAP, also on 820 kHz) to 15 watts. In November 2002, Jarvis Communications, Inc. (Matt Jarvis, owner/general manager) announced an agreement to sell this station to Total Access, Inc., for a reported sale price of $185,500. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 30, 2002, and the transaction was consummated on January 1, 2003.

The Profitt era

This ownership change would prove short-lived as Total Access, Inc., reached an agreement in August 2003 to sell this station to Larry D. and Margaret E. Profitt, a General Partnership, for $185,000, just $500 short of the price they paid at the beginning of the year. The Profitts bought the station after Larry Profitt retired as the

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

Rio Vista, California Rio Vista (Spanish: ''Río Vista'', meaning "River View") is a city located in the eastern end of Solano County, California, in the Sacramento River Delta region of Northern California. The population was 7,360 at the 2010 census. Geography Ri ...

, and the couple took a vacation trip through Oregon. At the time of the sale, the KORC was broadcasting an

music format. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 30, 2003, and the transaction was consummated on October 7, 2003. In December 2007, the station added an emergency generator to its studio facilities. This gasoline-powered equipment allows the station to continue broadcasting during a

power outage A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electrici ...

Falling silent

Owners Larry D. and Margaret E. Profitt put KORC up for sale in early 2008 for an asking price of $285,000 with plans to use the money for their retirement. When no deal could be reached they dropped the asking price first to $199,000 then finally to $129,000 in March 2009. On March 30, 2009, KORC management informed the FCC that the station would go

on April 1, 2009, and applied for temporary authority to remain silent for up to six months. The reason stated in the application was "financial difficulties". Just before the station was to fall silent, a tentative purchase deal was reached with Georgia Triangle Broadcasting. They operated the station with a

hard rock music Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

format with

shock jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor and/or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative o ...

programming as the "Rocket Radio Network" for a short time before deciding not to complete the transaction. The station fell silent on May 16, 2009, and a new application for remain-silent authority, again citing financial reasons, was accepted for filing on June 8, 2009. The Commission granted this temporary authority on January 6, 2010, with a scheduled expiration of May 17, 2010—at which time the station would have been off the air for a full year and their license subject to automatic forfeiture.

Reed-Nickerson era

Unable to sell the station or resume broadcasting, the Profitts had planned to have the broadcast tower disassembled on October 31, 2009, until a new ownership group made a successful bid to acquire the station. KORC filed an application with the FCC on November 23, 2009, to transfer the broadcast license for this station to KORC, Inc., for a reported total of $33,000. KORC Radio, Inc., is wholly owned by Leighton M. Reed-Nickerson and Joan M. Reed-Nickerson. The Commission approved this application on January 7, 2010, and the transaction was consummated on January 25, 2010. The station returned to the air on March 10, 2010, with a

music format branded as "The Crab". On March 11, 2010, KORC Radio, Inc., filed an application with the FCC for a daytime power increase to 5,000

s. The FCC granted a new

for this change on July 28, 2010, with a scheduled July 28, 2013, expiration date. Also in March 2010, the KORC studios were moved to a larger facility at 140 Verbina Street in Waldport. A new transmitter building was constructed and a new generator and

uninterruptible power supply An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power syste ...

were installed. On April 19, 2010 KORC began an affiliation with the

CBS Radio Network 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. ...

. The station fell silent on November 1, 2010, for "financial reasons" and applied to the FCC for special authority to remain silent until economic conditions improve. The FCC granted this authority on December 9, 2010, with a scheduled expiration date of June 7, 2011. Even with this authority, the station's broadcast license would have expired automatically if KORC did not resume normal broadcast operations before November 2, 2011. The Reed-Nickersons, the station's current owners, announced to the press that they intended to disassemble the

broadcast tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-mad ...

for use at another location. They hoped to sell the station's license and remaining assets for $35,000 before the license expired.

New owners

In April 2011, KORC Radio, Inc., found a buyer in David J. Miller of Newport, Oregon. He agreed to purchase the station with his wholly owned Yaquina Bay Communications, Inc., as the

holder. The FCC accepted the station's filing on April 18, 2011, and approved the sale on June 21, 2011. The transaction was formally consummated on July 25, 2011. Yaquina Bay Communications holds the licenses for KNPT and

KYTE Kyte are an electronic indie pop group, from Leicestershire, England. Kyte comprise Nick Moon (vocals), Tom Lowe (guitars and keyboards), Scott Hislop (drums and percussion).Gourlay, Dom (2008)DiScover: Kyte", Drowned in Sound Their earlier m ...

plus owner David J. Miller's Pacific West Broadcasting, Inc., is the licensee for

, KCRF-FM, and KNCU. On May 2, 2011, the station returned to the air as a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simult ...

(1400 AM) in

. The station returned with a new

as well, switching to "KWDP" on April 19, 2011, just one week shy of a 20-year run as "KORC".

References

External links

KWDP official websiteFCC construction permitYaquina Bay Communications
{{AM station data, KWDP WDP Radio stations established in 1988 Lincoln County, Oregon 1988 establishments in Oregon Adult standards radio stations in the United States