The Birth of KNEW
KNEW (now KJRB) was born, not in Spokane, but in Coeur d'Alene as KVNI in 1946 when the Federal Communications Comission (FCC) issued a license to the Coeur d'Alene Broadcasting Company to broadacast on 1430 kHz from Blackwell Island on the west side of the town. In 1947, the Coeur d'Alene Broadcasting Company then moved the 1430 kHz allocation to Spokane and changed the callsign to KNEW. At about the same time they built a station on 1240 kHz in Coeur d'Alene with the callsign KVNI at the same Blackwell Island site as the earlier version of KVNI.
So, the bottom line is according to the FCC records, there are two radio stations called KVNI both broadcasting from the same site, but on different frquencies, and KJRB (ex-KNEW) was first licensed in Coeur d'Alene, not Spokane.
You can read this interesting story in detail by looking at the FCC records below. (Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.) Enjoy!
KVNI's first construction
permit. It is dated 9 January 1946. The main studio was located
in the Desert Hotel and the transmitter was located "about
2000 Ft. due west of Forest Cemetery," which would put it
squarely on Blackwell Island where Lake Coeur d'Alene empties
into the Spokane River. The frequency was 1430 kHz and the power
was 1000 watts day and night. (National Archives)
Maps showing the location of the tower and the
ground system on Blackwell Island from the first construction
permit. (National Archives)
Coverage maps
for KVNI 1430 kHz from the first construction permit. (National
Archives)
KVNI's first license. It is dated 14 January
1947. The details are the same as the first construction permit
(see above.) (National Archives)
Construction permit to move KVNI from Coeur
d'Alene to Spokane. It is dated 10 April 1947. (National
Archives)
Coverage maps and a ground radial
sketch. Note that the first coverage map has the callsign KVNI
whited out and the callsign KNEW handwritten on top, and the
ground radial sketch has the callsign KVNI on it. (National
Archives)
This 8
August 1947 letter from the FCC acknowledges Coeur d'Alene
Broadcasting Company's request to change the callsign from
KVNI to KNEW, and the reassignment of the callsign KVNI to a new
station on 1240 Khz (National Archives)
A 6
August 1947 letter from the Coeur d'Alene Broadcasting
Company's requesting FCC to change the callsign of the
station on 1430 moving to Spokane from KVNI to KNEW, and the
reassignment of the callsign KVNI to a new station on 1240 Khz in
Coeur d'Alene. (National Archives)
Construction permit
for the move of the station from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane.
(National Archives)
Letter
dated 23 August 1947 which accompanied KNEW's first
application for a license to cover. (National Archives)
KNEW's first
license for Spokane, dated 23 November 1947. The move was final.
(National Archives)
Compiled and edited by Bill Harms - updated 28 July 2007
SOURCES
- Various Construction Permit License Documents, National Archives