KGCX (AM)

KGCX was a radio station in Sidney, Montana. It was the second station to operate in the state, originally based in Vida, later moving to Wolf Point. After several frequency and city changes, KGCX moved to 1480 kHz and Sidney in 1941 and 1942, where it would remain for the next 51 years until being closed in 1993.

KGCX
CitySidney, Montana
Broadcast areaSidney-Williston
Frequency1480 kHz
Programming
FormatDefunct (was Classic country)
Ownership
OwnerHalvorson and Teacher families
(KGCX, Inc.)
Sister stationsKGCH-FM
History
First air dateOctober 1926
Last air dateAugust 2, 1993
Former frequencies1250 kHz (1926–1927)
1230 kHz (1927–1928)
1420 kHz (1928–1929)
1310 kHz (1929–1936)
1450 kHz (1936-1941)
Technical information
Facility ID34458
Power5,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates47°46′26″N 104°06′54″W[1]

History

Vida and Wolf Point

KGCX took to the air in October 1926 as the second radio station in Montana.[2] At launch, it prided itself on being the smallest broadcasting station in the world; it was located in Vida, a town with a population of 50.[3] The first licensee was the First State Bank of Vida. Broadcasting with 10 watts on 1250 and then 1230 kHz, General Order 40 sent the station to 1420 kHz, where it remained just six months before relocating to 1310 in May 1929.[4] The station was moved to the larger town of Wolf Point in 1929, contingent on a power increase to 250 watts day and 100 night.[5][6] In 1933, the station's license was transferred to E.E. Krebsbach, who had previously been connected with the bank.[5] KGCX moved frequencies two more times, to 1450 kHz in 1936 and to 1480 kHz upon NARBA coming into effect in 1941.[4]

Move to Sidney

1942 saw KGCX move from Wolf Point to Sidney, a move of 77 miles (124 km);[4] the station's facilities were disassembled in Wolf Point and relocated to their new site,[7] with the station beginning operations in Sidney on August 28.[8] Successive power increases brought the station to 5,000 watts day and night by 1948.[4]

In programming, KGCX was a rare American affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between 1936 and 1945, when it hooked up with the Mutual Broadcasting System instead,[2] an affiliation it would maintain for the rest of its history.[1] In the late 1950s, it moved its studios to the LaLonde Hotel from the Suksdorf Building, where it first set up when it moved from Wolf Point.[2] The station also established auxiliary studios in Williston, North Dakota in 1945 and in Plentywood, Montana, and Watford City, North Dakota, in 1958.[9]

Sale to the Halvorson and Folkvard families

Krebsbach owned the station until his death of cancer in 1970;[10] by this time, he also owned a new station in Wolf Point, KVCK.[10] Krebsbach's son, E. Clair, sold KGCX two years later for more than $300,000[11] to the Halvorson and Folkvard families;[2] his other son, Keith, who was the station's general manager, had died when he was struck by lightning in 1964.[12]

August 9, 1981, brought KGCX a sister station, 100,000-watt KGCH-FM 93.1, and their first competitor, KSDY-FM 95.1, followed that November. At this time, KGCX broadcast a country format, with the new FM station airing adult contemporary music.[13] 1987 saw two crucial changes in the landscape. In March, KSDY folded amid financial troubles in a slow regional economy,[14] while August saw KGCH-FM shift to country and KGCX to classic country.[15]

In 1992, the Folkvards sold their shares to Ted and Kay Tescher, but a year later, KGCX and KGCH-FM called it quits. The Halvorsons opted to shutter the radio stations at 11 p.m. on the night of August 2, 1993; the stations went off the air as normal but never returned.[16] 11 people were put out of work;[17] even though sales manager Arch Ellwein and a local economic development group offered to buy the stations, their bids were turned down.[16] The closure of KGCX and KGCH-FM left Sidney without any local radio stations; when the town's high school won a state football championship, listeners had to hear their games on a Williston station.[16]

The AM frequency was not reactivated, but local radio in Sidney eventually returned with the launch of KTHC in December 1996. The 93.1 frequency formerly belonging to KGCH-FM reemerged on June 1, 2004 as a new station with the KGCX call letters formerly on 1480 AM.[18]

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References
  1. "KGCX(AM)" (PDF). 1993 Broadcasting Yearbook. 1993. p. B-217. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  2. "Shut station started in 1926". Billings Gazette. December 16, 1993. p. 9C. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  3. "Vida Has Smallest Broadcast Station in World, Is Claim". Great Falls Tribune. November 23, 1926. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  4. FCC History Cards for KGCX
  5. "Radio Planned for Wolf Point". Great Falls Tribune. May 9, 1929. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  6. "Big Program Inaugurates New Station". Great Falls Tribune. August 24, 1929. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  7. "Sidney to Get Broadcasting Station Soon". Great Falls Tribune. June 29, 1942. p. 10. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  8. "KGCX to Open At Sidney Today". Great Falls Tribune. August 29, 1942. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  9. "Radio Outlet Observes 35th Year". Great Falls Tribune. October 11, 1961. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  10. "State Radio Pioneer Dies in Sidney at 79". Billings Gazette. August 8, 1970. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  11. "Sidney radio station sold". Montana Standard. Associated Press. July 4, 1972. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  12. "Lightning Bolt Kills Sidney Man". Great Falls Tribune. August 17, 1964. p. 1. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  13. "KGCX(AM)" (PDF). 1983 Broadcasting Yearbook. 1983. p. B-183. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  14. Donkersloot, Evelyn (September 29, 1987). "Small town radio tough to maintain". Billings Gazette. p. 5-A. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  15. Donkersloot, Evelyn (September 29, 1987). "Fans get plenty of country melodies". Billings Gazette. p. 5-A. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  16. Sundby, Jill (December 16, 1993). "Sidney will wait for station". The Billings Gazette. p. 9C. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  17. "Radio stations close". The Montana Standard. Associated Press. August 22, 1993. p. 28. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  18. "Sidney" (PDF). 2005 Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook. 2005. p. D-325. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
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