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More about Gallup's four radio stationsKGAK's Navajo Hour announcers Johnny C. Barbone and Sammy BoydCon't from pg, B-13news and music on AM and please the general public was a good mix.The mix is helped along by the stations affiliation with the American Broadcasting Co. From ABC they receive national news, sports and special programs such as Paul Harvey's broadcast, which. Foster says is the most listened to program in the world.A lot of people may not like him, but they listen to him, Foster added.KYVA and KOVO are very strong on local sports, also,covering local high school games. They consider themselves 'The Sports Stations. They do not, however, cover much local news.Foster explained tha) until 1968, both of the AM stations were reporting locally. One of their chief sources was the daily reading of the police reports by then Chief Manuel Gonzales. One day, the chief wasn't in, and the radio stations unwittingly and illegally broadcast the names of juveniles involved in a crime. The police got angry and refused to allow the stations to see the reports any longer, Foster said. The police do provide the information now,We decided since we lost our major source of news, we would look at what the news really meant to us,' Foster said. And we decided to grant them (KGAK) the news.On-the SceneWhile KYVA may be the sports station, most Gallup residents consider KGAK the news station.One seldom hears the name of their chief news reporter John McBreen mentioned in conversation without the nickname On-the-Scene tacked onto it.Chapman feels very strongly about the potentials of radio news. The immediacy of radio brings the news to people as it happens, he said, adding that unlike television andPhoenixcelebrateOn Fridoy, October 13, Phoenix Indian High School will host their annual Indian Days celebration. All events and festivities will be held at the school located at third street and Indian School Rood.▼ L _ _________ lit 1-^1___I ^newspapers, radio reporters need not wait for pictures or printing lime. You can get right on the air and say. There's a fire on the corner of first and main.The stations also cover locol sports, although not in the same way as their competitors. Each week they broadcast one gome from outside the city.Chapman soid the county games match our area audience. It is a part of the Indian programming, since outlying schools are primarily Indian schools.For Gallup residents, the stations broadcast notional and regional sports receivedthrough their affiliation with the Mutual Broadcasting Network which serves only rodio stations.KGAK and KYVA used to •witch off on covering Cathedral and Gallup High School games, Chapman said, but KGAK stopped because it wanted to focus on adults.“Although sports is for everyone, the local games are primarily for the youngerfolks, Chapman said. We like to think we hit the adult audience rather than the teen audience, although there's nothing wrong with the teen audience.Chapman Is satisfied with the Mutual system, which may begin broadcasting via satellite, and Chapman looks forward to the improved signals. He also likes their programming.Mutual has to sustain itself on radio, so it grabbed up the plum features. Although we don't take oil of it, Chapman said.Versus Professionals7h» difference in target audience reflects in the staff of the two broadcasting companies also.AT KGAK and KQNM,Chapman hires both local and 'imported' employes. The two stations employ 17 full- time and 10 part-time employes. While much of the stoH is local, much is not. Chapman soid.We try to hire localIndian to Indian Dayup to the judging of Miss Phoenix Indian, which occurs on Thursday night, October 12.Booths may be rented for Indian Day festivities. Booth rentals are $25.00 for a 8‘xB1 booth, which can be_ _ _i i__i___I __x_ ____Ipeople, he soid, But we normally have to import professional announcers. There are very few with FCC licenses walking up and down Coal Avenue.At KYVA, Foster said, one of their most common complaints is that the announcers, particularly in the evening, are terrible.Of the 14 employes mosT are local residents, he saki. Foster explained that in the evening in particular, local youths are hired as disc jockeys for a reason.We find some good kids who work reol hard. The night-time listening audience is basically high school kids. If they (the jockeys) can play the requests and dedications, the kias identify with it, he soid.Other reasons for hiring local talent, especially the youngsters, Foster said, are ■Khat the full-time prcfffessional dj's are family men who wont to be home, and importing workers opensup problems of high staff turnover and finding places to live.We believe in growing our own, said Foster, explaining that the company promotes workers from witnin as often as possible.Foster himself has worked on the station for 13 years and was born and raised in Gallup.The station changed hands several times after it first began in 1959 under ownership of Ken Kendrick of Farmington.Apparently Kendrick wasn't doing too well, Foster said, and sold the station to Californian Ray Kandel. Kan-del eventually neared retirement and wonted to sell the station, but wanted also to keep it in the family. He sold it m 1977 to a firm belonging to his attorneys, the Transwestern company which also owns two Wyoming stations.And even though the company is owned by Californians, it is very Gallup oriented through its stoff, Fostersaid.More DifferencesThe two broadcoslinij companies also differ in their sources of records.KYVA £fets its records mostly free from record publishers. They choose what to ploy by Billboards magazine's list of what the top 100 songs are.Although Foster doesn't know exactly how many records the station receives or has, he soid they get the top 100 records each week and keep the top 60 of those although many songs stay in that category for long periods of time. Since 1959, the station has built up a library of about three small rooms full of records, and they're running out of room.At KGAK and KQNM, Chapman estimates fhey receive about 200 to 250 records per month, of which they play perhaps 10 per cent.But Chapman's station subscribe to services that supply records: o Country Western Service, an easy listening service and a classical record service.Chapman also keeps an eye on surveys such as Billboard s and buys records locally if the services don’t pr-vide them.But Chapman points outthat It's the radio stations that make the hits.A Gold MineBoth broadcasters agree that business in Gallup is good.Radio is doing particularly good business all over the country. It provides a service no one else provides, Chapman said.One service no one else provides in Gallup is the henomenon of the remote roadcast, where the disc jockey goes to a store and broadcasts from there.They're very effective,Chapman said of them. People like to come in and see the people they’ve heard on the radio. It creates o little commotion you don’t get through any other source,”KYVA's Ted Foster agrees that business is good and continually getting better month to month.It's a gold mine and it’s getting better,” he said.
Newspaper Details
Navajo Times
Window Rock, Arizona, US
Thu, Oct 05, 1978
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 03 Aug 2020
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