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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Portland metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 620kHz |
| Branding | Rip City Radio 620 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | March 25, 1922; 103 years ago (1922-03-25) (as KGW) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | ThePortland Oregon Journal (former calls ofKKPZ from 1948–1970) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53069 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 25,000 watts days 10,000 watts nights |
Transmitter coordinates | 45°25′19.4″N122°34′1.3″W / 45.422056°N 122.567028°W /45.422056; -122.567028 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | ripcityradio |
KPOJ (620AM) is acommercial radio station inPortland, Oregon. It airs asports radioformat and is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc. The KPOJ studios are on SW 68th Parkway inTigard.
By day, KPOJ transmits with 25,000 watts. To protect other stations on620 kHz from interference, it reduces power at night to 10,000 watts and uses adirectional antenna with a two-tower array. Thetransmitter site is off SE Lawnfield Road, nearInterstate 205 inSunnyside, Oregon.[2]
KPOJ airs one local sports show on weekdays,Rip City Drive with Chad Doing in afternoondrive time.Fox Sports Radio is heard the rest of the day and all weekend.
On December 1, 1921, theU.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category. It set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports.[3] On March 21, 1922, the Oregonian Publishing Company, which ownedThe Oregonian daily newspaper, was issued a license for a new Portland station. It had the randomly assignedcall letters KGW, transmitting on the 360 meter entertainment wavelength.[4]
The station performed some test transmissions in March.[5][6] KGW began regular broadcasting at noon on March 25, 1922. The debut program included singing by Chicago Grand Opera sopranoEdith Mason.[7][8]
The station's studios and transmitter were located inthe Oregonian Building.[8][9] The studios remained there until 1943, when a fire destroyed the facility.[10] At that point, the station moved to other quarters.[8] In late September 1922, the Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming,[11] and KGW was assigned use of this more exclusive wavelength.[12] In early 1923 the station received an additional authorization to broadcast weather reports on 485 meters.[13]
In May 1923, additional "Class B" frequencies were made available, which included a Portland allocation for 610 kHz (492 meters). KGW was exclusively assigned to this frequency.[14][15] On November 11, 1928, as part of the implementation of a major nationwide reallocation under the provisions of theFederal Radio Commission'sGeneral Order 40, KGW was assigned to a "regional" frequency, 620 kHz.[16]
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KGW affiliated with theNBC Red Network in 1927. It carried NBC's dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio". At the time, KGW was powered at only 1,000 watts, a fraction of its current output.[18] KGW remained an NBCNetwork affiliate for 29 years until joiningABC Radio in 1956.
Among KGW's early personalities wasMel Blanc, a local musician and vocalist featured on the "Hoot Owls" variety program.[19] Hoot Owls ran from 1927 to 1933. Here, Blanc discovered a talent for character voices that would win him stardom as the voice ofBugs Bunny,Daffy Duck and many otherWarner Brothers cartoon features.
Under the ownership ofThe Oregonian, the station gained asister station,KEX, in 1933. It put the Northwest's first FM station,KGW-FM on the air in 1946. KGW-FM mostly simulcast 620 AM in its early years, when few people owned FM receivers. In 1954, it was sold, becomingeasy listening KQFM. Today it is 100.3KKRZ.
In 1957, KGW was sold to theSeattle-basedKing Broadcasting Company. King Broadcasting foundedKGW-TV in 1956. KGW-TV channel 8 is now owned byTegna, Inc.
As network programming moved from radio to television, AM stations began airing music formats. KGW flipped toTop 40 hits on January 9, 1959. "62 KGW", as it called itself during the 1960s and 1970s, was one of the most popular radio stations in Portland among young people. For many years and with various formats, the station also called itself "Super 62".
In the 1980s, as younger listeners tuned to FM radio for their favorite songs, KGW's ratings declined. That prompted a shift to afull service,adult contemporary music format.[20][21][22][23]
The AC format also struggled in the ratings. On July 28, 1989, the station changed to atalk format, using primarily local hosts.[20][24][25] The change did not produce the hoped-for ratings turnaround. On July 26, 1991, the talk programming was replaced by asimulcast of theadult album alternative (AAA) programming of sister stationKINK-FM.[26][27][28] AM 620 retained the longstanding and locally well-knowncall sign KGW at first. On March 1, 1993, the call letters were changed to KINK.
On February 6, 1995, KINK changed back to all-talk, now airingnationally syndicated talk hosts instead of local talk.[29] The call letters changed to KOTK, representing "Oregon's Talk". The frequent changing of call letters continued, with the station becoming KEWS ("K-News") in 1997, KDBZ ("The Buzz") in 2000, and KTLK ("K-Talk") in 2002.
On July 25, 2003, the station flipped tooldies. It began the call letters KPOJ on August 18. They refer to thePortland Oregon Journal newspaper, which once held the call sign forits AM station on 1330.[30][31]
On March 31, 2004, KPOJ flipped toprogressive talk, with hosts who advocated liberal politics. The station was one of the firstAir America affiliates, joining when the network launched in that same month. KPOJ ran most of Air America's shows.
Hosts includedMarc Maron,Rachel Maddow,Al Franken,Randi Rhodes,Janeane Garofalo,Sam Seder andMike Malloy. It also served as broadcast home forThom Hartmann with Carl Wolfson and Christine Alexander doing a locally focused morning show for a time.
At 5:30 PM on November 9, 2012, the progressive talk format was replaced by all-sports.[32][33] This happened three days after the 2012 general election.
Fans of the progressive talk radio format immediately started a campaign to "Save KPOJ", with thousands of listeners signing a petition to the station's owner,Clear Channel Communications.[34] Clear Channel changed its name in 2014 to iHeartMedia, Inc.
In 2013, KPOJ became theflagship station of thePortland Trail Blazers basketball team, replacing sister station KEX. The station had already aired some Blazers games during the2012–13 season when there were conflicts with KEX's broadcasts of theOregon State Beavers.[35] On April 14, 2014, KPOJ rebranded as "Rip City Radio 620." (Rip City is a nickname for Portland, inspired by the Blazers.)[36]
The station is a long-time Fox Sports Radio affiliate. It has carried many Fox Sports hosts, includingRich Eisen,Jay Mohr andClay Travis. In March 2015, a local morningdrive time show was added, "Rip City Mornings" with Andy Bunker and Taylor Danforth.
Travis Demers was brought in to host the afternoon drive show "The Rip City Drive" in October 2015. Dan Sheldon and Nigel Burton took over hosting the morning show on September 1, 2016. Chad Doing was added to the afternoon show on March 20, 2017.
On January 14, 2018, Rip City Radio announced a partnership withNBC Sports Northwest. The lineup included a television simulcast of Rip City Mornings with Dan Sheldon and Nigel Burton, and the Rip City Drive with Travis Demers and Chad Doing in the afternoon. A new midday show with Dwight Jaynes and Aaron Fentress was added. In July 2018, the Brian Noe Show replaced Dwight and Aaron.
The partnership also included adding a radio simulcast to shows originated by NBC Sports Northwest including 'Talkin Beavers', 'Talkin Ducks', 'The Bridge', and 'Outdoor GPS'.