KLOO is powered at 1,000 watts as a Class C radio station. Programming is also heard on FM translatorK243CW at 96.5 MHz in Corvalis.
History
KRUL
On Oct. 31, 1946, the Pacific States Radio Company obtained a construction permit for a new full-time radio station. The call sign was KRUL, broadcasting on 1340 kilocycles at 250 watts.[5] The station would be the first commercial outlet to serve Corvallis.[6] The president of the company was J. C. Haley, head of the Brown & Haley Co., a candy manufacturer in Tacoma, Washington.[7]
The station signed on the air on August 23, 1947; 77 years ago (August 23, 1947).[8] Its offices and studios were located at 1221 S. 15th Street in Corvallis.[7] Three months after signing on, Haley bought all of the shares he did not already own in Pacific States Radio from various Corvallis-area investors. He cited differences of opinion in the station's operation.[9]
Haley died in 1954.[10] That prompted changes and caused a trio of men involved with KJR in Seattle to take an option on the Corvalis station.[11] No transaction panned out with that group, but Pacific States Radio was sold in 1956 to Portland appliance dealer John G. Severtson.[12]
KLOO
A year later, Severtson sold KRUL to Benton Broadcasters, Inc., a group of three men involved with other Oregon radio stations.[13] After taking control, Benton Broadcasters changed KRUL's call sign to its present KLOO, for "locally owned and operated".[1] The new owners filed for and received federal approval to increase power to 1,000 watts on 1350 kHz.[5] The change never came to pass, and instead Benton sold KLOO to the Paul H. Raymer Company of Chicago in 1960.[14]
KLOO would get another new owner when KLOO, Inc., run by the Houglum family of Eugene, completed its purchase of the station in 1964.[15] It was the second attempt by Raymer to sell: a previous deal with the Mur-Rand-A Broadcasting Corporation had fallen apart.[5] The new owners were able to increase the station's power to 1,000 watts after the FCC approved a two-year-old application in 1964.[5] Houglum established himself as an on-air presence as well with his daily "Toast and Coffee" show. He also made an offer of $10,000 to anyone who could bring an extraterrestrial lifeform to the station, as he wanted "to bring all the UFO talk down to earth".[16] In January 1973, an FM station was added, KLOO-FM at 106.1 MHz.[17] KLOO-FM initially simulcast the AM programming. (Today, KLOO-FM broadcasts at 106.3 MHz and carries a classic rock format.)
In late 1977, Houglum concluded arrangements to sell KLOO-AM-FM to Medford–based California–Oregon Broadcasting Inc., remaining on air to host his "Toast and Coffee" program.[18] The show continued until he retired in 1987.[19] During its ownership, California–Oregon pursued a new tower site and power increase for the FM station to maximize its facility. However, a split within the controlling Smullin family led to Donald E. Smullin becoming owner of the KLOO stations plus KPRB near Bend and KOTI television in Klamath Falls in 1981.[20] By that time, KLOO AM was airing a full service format, featuring middle of the road music with news, sports and talk.[21] KLOO-FM changed its call letters to KFAT and began separate programming.
Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and Art Bell
Smullin owned KLOO and KFAT until he sold the pair in 1995 to Oregon Trail Productions of Broomfield, Colorado.[22] Under Oregon Trail, KLOO adopted a sports radio format. It shifted to the present talk format in 1998 when it was bought by Jacor, a large owner of radio stations. Under Jacor, KLOO added popular nationally syndicated talk programs such The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Dr. Laura Show with Laura Schlesinger and Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell.[23] Eventually, Jacor became part of Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to today's iHeartMedia.
Bicoastal Media bought KLOO from Clear Channel in 2007. It was part of the purchase of the former Clear Channel clusters in Medford, Eugene and Corvallis.[24]
