March 20, 1974 – Seattle P-I
Between Channels
Station KTW-FM, a rocker, has changed its name to KZOK-FM, but sister station KTW-AM will remain as a talker.
*Sterling Recreation Organization bought the KTW stations from the Walter E. Webster Jr. in 1972 (receivership after the implosion of previous owner Nordawn Inc., in 1971.) KTW FM became the radio broadcast home of Seattle Rainiers baseball, until the change-over from talk-religion to hard rock music. In 1968, there was a proposed sale of the FM KTW to Cosby Pacific, a company specializing in psychedelic rock radio. That didn’t happen.
KTW AM/FM had been a pop-rocker owned by David Segal, who sold the stations in 1966 to Nordawn Inc. Interesting to note that up until the change-over to KZOK FM, the stations relied heavily on religious programming to prop up the budget. The stations were founded by the First Presbyterian Church, and of course had been primarily the home for religious broadcasts until the top 40 era for KTW AM under the Segal ownership.
The new owner of Channel 11 (now KSTW-TV), WKY Television Systems, Inc. of Oklahoma City, have not wasted much time in putting the station on a new course. Four Channel 11 employees were abruptly terminated last week: former manager Jim Neideigh, national sales manager John Upham, assistant manager Don Watts and Bob Corcoran.The new assistant manager, Charles Edwards, who came from WKY’s Milwaukee station, said the company “wanted to put in our own system. “Channel 11 will let contracts April 1 for a new, 30,000-square-foot building next to the Tacoma News Tribune, Edwards said, and programming changes will be made slowly. Thus far, Channel 11 will be adding an afternoon movie and will have some seven hours of religious broadcasting on Sundays. It also has picked up the Billy Graham programs which Channel 7 once ran.
The religious broadcasting is interesting, particularly in view of the proposed sale of Channel 13 to the Christian Broadcasting Network, which is now working its way through the FCC mill. The CBN application promises a religious format for Channel 13—50 hours worth a week. An FCC spokesman said the application is being expedited because Channel 13’s current financial situation is “critical.” And it may or may not be significant, but the FCC spokesman said the FCC not only received no petitions to deny the transfer, but didn’t receive any letters from the public commenting on the sale, “which is most unusual in a top-50 market.”
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August 20, 2025 at QZVX
T.K. says:
“Programming changes will be made slowly.” Brakeman Bill was pulled 9 days later: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune/179341687/ (Oddly enough, that article doesn’t even acknowledge the station had just changed hands.)