KKOL (AM)
| File:KKOL-AM logo.png | |
| City of license | Seattle, Washington |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Seattle metropolitan area |
| Branding | AM 1300 Business Radio KKOL |
| Frequency | 1300 kHz |
| First air date | 1922 (as KOL) |
| Format | Business News/Talk[1] |
| Power | 50,000 watts (day) 47,000 watts (night) |
| Class | B (regional) |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Former callsigns | KOL, KMPS |
| Owner | Salem Communications (Inspiration Media, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KNTS, KGNW, KKMO, KLFE |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | 1300kol.com |
KKOL AM 1300 is a commercial radio station located in Seattle, Washington. KKOL airs business news/talk programming branded as "AM 1300 Business Radio KKOL".
History
The original call letters were KOL (which were the letters used during its days as a top 40 station), which changed to KMPS (for "Kountry Music Puget Sound", featuring a country/western format), then later to KKOL. In the early 1960s KOL was owned by television producers and game show moguls Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. In the 1960s and early 1970s, KOL battled KJR as the Number 1 top 40 station in Seattle. Also, during its days as KMPS, it simulcasted KMPS-FM/94.1.
In 2002, due to losing its broadcast location, KOL installed a temporary 1000-watt transmitter on a moored boat and began to broadcast from a 175-foot/61-meter ship in one of the waterways in Seattle. This was the only floating radio station in the US. In 2007 the station has a new broadcast facility with a 50,000-watt transmitter and is dedicated to news/talk.[2]
There was a complaint from a nearby U.S. Oil and Refining petroleum facility about the station's new location[citation needed]. It has alleged, based on industry-published safety recommendations, that the station's signal strength exceeds safe limits at the loading docks, creating a potential source of ignition for the combustibles handled there. A spark caused by the flow of RF energy (a high-frequency alternating current) from the cranes (which act as antennas, exactly like the station's mast radiator) to other objects could trigger an explosion].
The U.S. Coast Guard has said that materials may not be handled with a signal strength of greater than 0.7 volts per square meter (700mV/m²), while the industry recommendation is 0.5V/m². U.S. Oil's request is for the station to introduce a null in the direction of the facility, however this is also the direction of downtown Seattle. For this, the station needs a waiver of the regulation which otherwise requires it to cover its city of license with a grade A "city-grade" signal. Doing so would reduce the audience for the radio station by 700,000 listeners.[3]
The case is a rarity in broadcast engineering, though a similar situation regarding fuel occurred at KIQI AM.[citation needed] The case went (as of November 2007[update]) before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[4]
On November 3, 2008, KKOL switched from its news/talk format to all-business radio.[1] A portion of the station's programming is derived from Bloomberg L.P. and CNBC.
Programming
KKOL airs popular business content such as Phil Grande of The Phil's Gang Radio Show and Ray Lucia.
