Omni Broadcasting was a small-market radio broadcasting company that operated for 25 years from headquarters in
Bemidji, Minnesota
Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, Minnesota, Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the ci ...
. Organized in 1988, the company was owned and operated by Louis H. Buron Jr., and Mary Campbell. They relocated from the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...
to Bemidji, where, in 1989, the company acquired its first two stations, Paul Bunyan Broadcasting Company's
KBUN and
KBHP(FM). The offices and studios were located at 502 Beltrami Avenue in Bemidji.
Hubbard Broadcasting
Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard.
The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri ...
announced on November 13, 2014, that it would purchase the Omni Broadcasting stations.
The sale was completed on February 27, 2015.
Awards
The Omni Broadcasting stations won many industry awards for community service over the company's quarter-century of broadcasting.
KBHP(FM), Bemidji, won the
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...
' Crystal Award five times, in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2007, and 2010.
WJJY-FM, Brainerd, won NAB Crystal Awards in 2001, 2003, and 2007.
In 2008, Omni Broadcasting was a winner of the 10th annual Service to America awards. In partnership with Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota, each December the company's stations broadcast an annual 24-hour "Radiothon to End Child Abuse." In 2007, Omni stations provided free airtime valued at $276,000. The 2007 radiothon raised over $220,000. More than $2 million had been raised since the partnership began in 1989, at the time of the company's recognition for its service in 2008.
In 2011, in recognition of its long-term commitment to community service, KBHP(FM) was awarded the NAB's Crystal Heritage Award, only the second broadcast station to have been thus honored, from the time of the award's inception in 2008.
In October 2007, Omni President Louis H. Buron Jr., was inducted into the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame in Golden Valley, MN.
Death
Lou Buron died on January 23, 2017, at age 73.
Stations
At the time of its sale to Hubbard, Omni Broadcasting owned and operated sixteen stations in four different markets across Minnesota:
Bemidji
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KBUN AM 1450 (
Sports
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
)
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KKZY FM 95.5 (
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 ...
)
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KLLZ-FM FM 99.1 (
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 ...
)
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KBHP
KBHP (101.1 FM, "KB101") is a radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve the community of Bemidji, Minnesota, which is located in northwestern Minnesota. KBHP plays country music and is owned and operated by ...
FM 101.1 (
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
)
*
KBUN-FM 104.5 (
Sports
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
)
Brainerd/Baxter
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KVBR AM 1340 (
Business News/Talk)
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KLIZ AM 1380 (
Sports
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
)
*
KBLB FM 93.3 (
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
)
*
KUAL-FM 103.5 (
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 ...
)
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WJJY-FM 106.7 (
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 ...
)
*
KLIZ-FM 107.5 (
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 ...
)
Wadena
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KWAD
KWAD (920 AM, "Classic Hit Country") 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 b ...
AM 920 (
Classic Country)
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KNSP AM 1430 (
Classic Country)
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KKWS FM 105.9 (
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
)
Alexandria
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KULO FM 94.3 (
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 ...
)
*
KIKV-FM FM 100.7 (
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
)
References
{{Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.
Defunct radio broadcasting companies of the United States
Beltrami County, Minnesota
Hubbard Broadcasting
1988 establishments in Minnesota
2015 disestablishments in Minnesota