History
KXLY, Spokane's oldest radio station, was founded as KFDC by Thomas W. Symons, Jr. and Edmund B. Craney in 1922. Symons was the owner of Radio Supply Co. in Spokane, and Craney had been his employee.
Craney, a 17-year-old member of the North Central High School radio club, had a desire to give Spokane residents something to listen to on the radios for which Radio Supply Co. had been selling crystal parts. He persuaded Symons to start a station.
After Craney received his broadcasting license, KFDC went on the air on October 18, 1922. The station had no permanent frequency position during its early days. As radio was considered a new frontier (the FCC wouldn't even be founded until 1934) and moderately regulated, Craney would have to search each night for a clean frequency (without interference from stations from distant towns) and broadcast from there.
The station, which changed its call letters to KFPY in 1924, was housed in the Symons Building on 7 S. Howard Street in Spokane. Beginning in 1925, audience members were welcomed to view live broadcasts—usually music programs or dramas—at “The Golden Concert Studios of KFPY” on the second floor, which boasted a curtain, a stage and seating for 150. On the stage were two grand pianos and a Wurlitzer Organ.
It was through these facilities that Bing Crosby, then an unknown Gonzaga University student, made his radio debut. Decades later, Crosby would partner with the station to launch KXLY-TV.
Other unknowns who performed at the Golden Studios include Bob Crosby and Patrice Munsel.
KFDC/KFPY changed its frequency six times between 1927 and 1941: 1100, 1220, 1390, 1340 and 890 were all home to the station at different points during the 14-year span. It wasn’t until 1941 that the station moved to its current location, 920 mHz.
Craney left the station in 1927 to found KGIR in Butte, Montana, but returned to Spokane in 1945 to buy KFPY, which he rechristened KXLY in 1946. The new call letters reflected Craney’s “XL Network,” a chain of stations he also owned in Butte, Helena, Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula—all of which had call letters beginning with “KXL.”
In November 1953, Craney sold KXLY and KXLY-TV to the Northern Pacific Radio and Television Corporation, headed by Joseph Harris, Norman Eisenstein, and Richard E. Jones. Northern Pacific sold the KXLY stations (which now included KXLY-FM) in 1961 to current owners, Morgan Murphy Media.
KXLY was affiliated with CBS Radio Network from 1927 until September 1998, at which point CBS moved to KGA and KXLY picked up ABC to match its television counterpart’s affiliation.
Read more about this topic: KXLY (AM)
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