Border Issues in Mid America

A little but of humor before getting to the blog. (Also go see I Love You Man, that movie is hilarious.)


I found this story on New American Media. While it is not a border radio station I'm talking about, it is an issue that we deal with every day in Tucson and on the border.

The story is about a Spanish language radio station La Sabrosita who are taking the issue of immigration not only on the air but to Washington (D.C. of course).

Nashville, TN has been cracking down on illegal immigrants in their city. Deporting and making arrests of people found to be illegally in America.

La Sabrosita is one the more popular Spanish language radio stations in Nashville and one of their hot topics is immigration reform. Many callers call in wondering if and when it will ever happen.

La Sabrosita has decided that enough is enough. They have become tired of waiting for lawmakers to do something so they have decided to go to the lawmakers.

According to police reports more than 5,000 undocumented immigrants have had removal (i.e. deportation) proceedings started since December.

Latinos are not the only group who have been affected by immigration reform, as Nashville has seen an influx of Asian, Middle Eastern and African immigrants in recent years.

The radio station says that if local lawmakers do not step up that they will go to Washington and that is what they are doing.

Juan Castro, a show host on La Sabrosita, along with two others from the station are headed to Washington to be at an immigration conference in late March.

Until next time, Namaste.

El Lider Mundil de Deportes

ESPN, the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in
sports, started a venture into delivering sports news to their spanish speaking
audience.

Calling themselves ESPN Deportes
started in 2004, the sports channel broadcasts sports and sports news solely in
Spanish.

Starting the channel was a considerable risk for the sports media giant. The
worries over whether or not there would be a market for the a Spanish sports
channel? Would there be enough people out there who would pony up the money to
pay extra in order to get their sports in Spanish.

These worries turned out to be all for naught as the Spanish Worldwide Leader in
Sports ended up not only being profitable but being popular enough for ESPN
Deportes to branch off to become a sports magazine and its own national radio.

ESPN Deportes' Tucson affiliate is broadcast on 990 AM, where they are the
Spanish speaking home of the Arizona Wildcats football and basketball games.

Tucson has something that no other radio station in Arizona has. They are the
only Arizona radio station that has an ESPN Deportes affiliation.

ESPN Deportes has become the Spanish speaking leader in sports in only a few
quick years. While having the ESPN name helps, they have been able to separate
themselves into their own money maker and their own name where you do not think
of the as ESPN but as ESPN Deportes.

My Experiences In Radio

I just got back from a weekend trip to Vegas, so as you can imagine I feel awesome (insert sarcasm). Lost some money but well worth it. A lot of fun and can't wait to go back.

I don't really have anything planned for this week so I thought I would share my experiences while working at radio stations.

I have worked at 2 stations (both of which are sports stations) Sports 620 KTAR out of Phoenix and 1490 The Fan in Tucson.

Both of my experiences were fantastic and I could not have worked with nicer people.

I have interned at Sports 620 for the past 3 summers. The first summer there I worked on the Diamondbacks post game show and the 620 Sportsline hosted by Dave Burns. Here I learned to use a lot of the audio editing programs that are used and became pretty good at it. I also worked very closely with the show's producer Eric Sorenson. I had a lot of fun watching baseball games and hanging out with people who were interested in the same things that I was. I had so much fun that I decided to do it again.

The following summer I again worked at KTAR. There was a big difference though as the radio station was no longer one station but had split into two stations (a news station and a sports statio) I worked a lot of 12 hour days that summer (waking up at 5:30 am, working 6am-12:30pm, working at the radio station from 1-6, then doing it all over again the next day). I worked closely with E and worked on the show that inspired me to get into radio, Gambo and Ash. These guys are the longest tenured radio show in Phoenix and are really nice and went out of their way to make me feel welcome and part of the show.

Last spring (2008) I interned for 1490 The Fan in Tucson. I worked very closely (literally) with the show host Jody Oehler. This was a different experience for me because the studio size was different from KTAR's. KFFN's studio was the size of a walk-in closet, so imagine fitting 3 people in there (and once a week 4 people) in the space. Just because the studio was small did not mean that it wasn't a good work environment. I had a lot of fun and Jody is an awesome guy. He is funny and gave me a lot of advice that I will use when I get into the business.

This past summer I again pulled off the 12 hour days and worked for G&A again. I worked with the same people and started to pick their brain and get a feel for the business. Working closely with more of the people at the station and gaining more responsibility on the show and even getting the title of assoicate producer.

Well I'm exhausted from Vegas and will probably fall asleep on the couch tonight.

Until next time, Namaste.

Frank Kalil

When people from Tucson hear the name Kalil, they think of the Kalil bottling company. But there was a time when people thought of a different Kalil, Frank Kalil.

In the mid-1950's Tom Wallace was the Program Director at KTKT and in an attempt to boost ratings, he moved the station from 1490 to 990. He also hired a young disc jockey named Frank Kalil.

Kalil was hired to do the afternoon drive show from 3-6 pm. It turned out to be a pretty solid hire as he held the job and the spot for 10 years (which in the radio business is like having the same job for 40 years).

When KTKT switched their format to playing Top 40 music his show became the most popular and built their programming around his show. His show was the basis for KTKT's color radio marketing campaign. They called themselves color radio because this was the time when color TV was becoming popular, so they tried to appeal to that audience and market.

According to the KTKT tribute site, Kalil was loved by high school students who religiously listened to his show and talked about what he said on the show.

He unofficially was the Program Director at the station. While many had the title of PD, he was the one who controlled what happened at the station. He demanded that you acted professional and that you did the best job that you could.

Kalil was the guy who ran the machine at KTKT and helped make it the most popular radio station amongs teenagers in the 1950's and 60's.

Until next time, Namaste.

*Side note: that is a cardboard cut out of Frank Kalil and not an actual picture of him.

KTKT 990 AM

KTKT 990 AM in Tucson is currently an ESPN Deportes affiliate but it has a long rich history in Tucson.

In the 50's KTKT was the only rock n' roll station in Tucson, as weird as that sounds in today's age. In 1957 when KTKT went to the rock 'n roll format Frank Kalil was the man who brought his personality and flair that went along with the style of music that KTKT played.

In the 60's KTKT switched their format to Top 40, they still played rock 'n roll but they played popular artists that teens and young adults liked. This is when KTKT made their name in the business and one of the most respected stations in history.

KTKT marketed itself as color radio not only because of the colorful personalities that they put on the radio but because of the exciting and entertainment of the music that they played.

They continued with this format through the 70's. This style of music and their great hosts lead to them becoming not only the top radio station in Tucson but in all of Southern Arizona.

In the mid 80's KTKT started to phase out of its Top 40 format and switched to a soft rock/adult format.

The tribute site for KTKT goes into a year by year breakdown of which show hosts were on, what times they were on and which songs were most played and popular. It even goes into detail about the in office politics that were going on at KTKT.

KTKT eventually also broadcast the Tucson Toros and Tucson Sidewinders games before switching to a Spanish language sports station.

They currently hold the Spanish language rights to broadcast the University of Arizona men's basketball and football games.

Until next time, Namaste.