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FEATURE
1975
Stereo
broadcasts
begin.
1986
New 1,000-watt
transmitter
installed.
Transmitter moves
from the Ad Building
to Pikes Peak.
Transmitter power
increases from 1,000
to 4,600 watts.
1990s
Last of classical
programming dropped.
24/7 broadcasting
begins.
Identity changes to
Positive Life Radio.
“We just got in the car and
started driving. We turned on the
radio to see where we could pick
up the signal,” Bullock says.
In 1986, continuing this trend
of expanding listening area, the
KGTS transmitter and antenna
were moved about 12 miles away
to Pikes Peak, Oregon, which is
roughly 1,300 feet above average
terrain. Power was also increased
to 4,600 watts.
The station grew in other
ways too.
“We started paying students,”
Bullock says. As expenses went
up, underwriting and listener
financial support became critical
to the station’s operation.
FINDING THE POSITIVE
FOCUS
Through the end of the 1980s,
KGTS continued mixed programming,
but it was becoming
increasingly difficult to be all
things to all people.
“We had multiple formats
because there weren’t a lot of
stations to begin with,” says
Kevin Krueger, who became the
current station manager in 1988.
“But during a transition period
we were blasted by people from
all sides. Classical music lovers
were asking, ‘How can you play
that syrupy religious drivel?’
And religious music lovers were
asking, ‘How can you play that
highfalutin Mozart music?’”
As additional stations with
competing formats entered the
market, KGTS focused its programming.
“We expanded midday religious
music. It was unique in our
coverage area, and there seemed
to be a demand for it,” Krueger
says. “Eventually we ended up
running all-religious.”
The format was well-suited
to radio.
“Radio is a personal medium.
Most of the time you listen to it
by yourself, so we approach it
like we’re talking to one person,”
Krueger says.
January 2013 • GLEANER
9