KUOW buys Tumwater station

KVSN's last day is today; Seattle-based station starts Thursday

By Rolf Boone
The Olympian
Oct 14, 2005

TUMWATER -- In an effort to improve its broadcast signal for Thurston County listeners, the nonprofit arm of Seattle's KUOW-FM has acquired a Tumwater radio station that previously carried a Christian format.

KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, the nonprofit company that operates National Public Radio affiliate KUOW-FM, announced Tuesday that it has purchased Tumwater-based KVSN-AM for $500,000.

KVSN, which broadcasts at 1340 on the AM dial, was operated by Evergreen Broadcasting Inc. A co-owner of that company, Larry Adams, could not be immediately reached to comment.

KUOW's general manager, Wayne Roth, said KVSN's broadcast will go off the air today and return Thursday. South Sound listeners will be able to tune in to KUOW's public radio programming starting Thursday, he said.

"It will be a simultaneous re-broadcast of KUOW," Roth said.

KUOW has been available in South Sound for 20 years but its broadcast signal was weak or non-existent in the Olympia area, according to Roth. He said by acquiring KVSN it can reach an estimated 51,000 listeners provided by KVSN's 1,000-watt coverage.

In Seattle, KUOW can be heard at 94.9 on the FM dial.

Until the Federal Communications Commission approves the deal, which Roth said can take from 90 to 120 days, KVSN will be managed and operated by Puget Sound Public Radio under a short-term programming agreement. An application to change the station's call letters from KVSN to KUOW-AM also will be filed.

KVSN was formed in August 1987, according to its Web site.

This was the second time that KUOW attempted to enter the Thurston County radio market via an acquisition, Roth said.

Earlier this year, he said, the station bid on TVW's KWGV-FM, but was outbid by KPLU-FM, which paid $400,000 for the station in July.

Roth said KVSN was put up for sale two years ago, but the two stations did not begin to negotiate a deal until June with the help of Englewood, Colo.-based Public Radio Capital, a nonprofit broker of public radio station transactions. Unlike its efforts to acquire KWGV, Roth said he was not aware of any other offers to buy KVSN.

With both KPLU and KUOW in this market, Jerry Drummond, general manager of KAOS, a public radio station that is licensed to the trustees of The Evergreen State College, said the challenge for his station would be to expand its listener base.

Drummond expected the worst when KPLU announced it was coming to this market.

"My impression was, ‘Oh, boy, here they come,' " he said.
In the last two years, he said, KAOS, which broadcasts at 89.3 on the FM dial, increased membership from 400 to 1,000 and now operates on an annual budget of around $200,000. Almost half of that comes from underwriting and membership fees, Drummond said.

Though the effect on KAOS is unknown, Drummond said, KUOW would waste no time in maximizing its commercial opportunities.

"Their (KUOW) angle will be that they are in Olympia and can sell more underwriting," Drummond said.

Rolf Boone covers business for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or by e-mail at roboone@olympia.gannett.com.