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New FM station set to goBy CAROLE LARSON Record Staff WriterA new FM radio station will go on the air in the next four or five days in Roswell with a 24-hour-a-day country music and news format, replacing a local FM station which had featured religious music on a daily basis.The newly formed KCKN-FMstation will operate as a sub-' sidiary of Strother Broadcasting Co. of Hammond, La., which purchased KRIZ-FM of Roswell earlier this year and obtained FCC approval for license transfer April 1.The .only other FM station broadcasting from Roswell is KBIM-FM, which features light classical and popular music,local and national news, and recently initiated a two-hour Sunday night program of classical music.Operating for the past years as a religious music station, KRIZ-FM “had been having a difficult time maintaining profitability,” said Ron Strother of Hammond, company owner.“But we anticipate achieving profitability within a short time; in fact, we bought the Roswell station because we’re looking to acquire stations in good growth markets where FM radio is rela tively undeveloped, ” he added.KCKN will be the first local FM station operating on a round-the-clock basis. KRIZ hadoperated from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.Strother, whose company owns several AM and FM stations in Louisiana, said stations such as KRIZ which had a license permitting 100,000-watt coverage, “look especially attractive to a company like ours because they let you reach more people.”Strother said he learned of the Roswell station through trade channels and approached the owner of KRIZ, Gary Acker of Crane, Mo.“He was willing to do business and I feel we made a good buy,” said Strother, who has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years.KCKN is in the process of moving from the former KRIZ site on East Second Street to a new location at 311 W. Second St. New equipment is being installed and “a staff of about eight people will be operating the station when it goes on the air,” said Strother.Darrell Picou, formerly of Hammond, has been named station manager.Negotiations are taking place with several networks concerning possible use of hourly news spots, said Strother.Ryan Lang, formerly with KRSY-AM radio, has joined the new station as news director. “We intend to provide good local news reporting,” said Strother.
Newspaper Details
Roswell Daily Record
Roswell, New Mexico, US
Thu, May 17, 1984
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 03 Feb 2020
Other Publications Near Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell Daily Record
