The building is the Tacoma Mall Office building which housed KTAC and KBRD FM.
From April 1974, KDWB Minneapolis/St.Paul, Rob Sherwood (Sherwood became PD at KTAC in 1981) Listening time – 8:50
KTAC jingle collection. Includes a few that never made it to air.
KBRD Airchecks: Todd Shelton June 1982, Steve Sibulsky June 1984 – The Todd Shelton piece is from June of ’82 Just two AM drive news breaks. Todd Shelton – KBRD – June 1982 (3:53)
This is my final shift from June of ’84. The entire track is over 30 minutes… I scoped the commercials to bring it in at just under 13!
Steve Sibulsky – KBRD -June 1984 (12:51)
Some notes: This was a Saturday afternoon shift. Even on weekends, the full-timers only pulled 3-hour shifts!
The spot load was pretty high…and we very carefully ‘ranked’ our spots by obnoxiousness! The most irritating spots – coded as sevens- ran at the :45 break, so as to keep listeners thru three quarter hours before they got fed up! It worked…we had some terrific TSL numbers!
Note the Bob Cochran liners and the Wein Air Alaska spot at the very end!
You’ll also find printouts (remember TapScan?) of the Fall ’83 Arbitron showing my PM drive numbers…I actually beat KIRO!
Adults 12+ Fall ’83
Adults 18+ Fall ’83
Steve Sibulsky
Wes Longino – KBRD FM 104 – August 1982 (17:35) Wes Longino at KBRD FM 104 The Beautiful Music sister station of KTAC. “Aircheck” kind of implies music, but the way the KBRD studios were set up, the tape decks fed straight to the processing, not stopping at the console. So all you get is the voice and the commercials. We had some great ones! -Steve Sibulsky
Bruce Cannon KJRB, KTAC personality and Program Director, KPMA, KASY personality and Program Director, KQAK, KOZI – Probably the most memorable of all KTAC personalities, Sugar Bruce.
Bruce Cannon – KASY (23:52)
Bruce Cannon memorial (4:51)
Bill Ogden/Marc Taylor began in broadcasting in 1966, He retired in 2011. “While radio has been a passion,” Ogden said, “I found I had the need for other employment to pay the bills and to keep my sanity. So while I was playing radio in Centralia, McMinnville, Bellingham, Auburn, Tacoma, Olympia, and Seattle, I variously owned some grocery stores, was a college administrator and taught public school (for 18 years).. After his start in McMinnville, Ogden got the newsjob at KPUG 1170, Bellingham. “I got a paycheck! I replaced Steve West! I got my picture on the wall! I even got my picture on the KPUG 1170 Top-40 Hit List.” Under the name Marc Taylor, Ogden worked at KTAC, Tacoma, and then behind the newsdesks at KJUN, Puyallup, KASY, Auburn, KXXO-FM, Olympia, KRPM-FM, Tacoma, and KTAC again, During Metro Traffic stints, he usually was heard on KOMO-AM and KING TV weekend newscasts. In 2012 Ogden was commercial accounts manager at a local car dealership. (VICTOR STREDICKE)
KBRD FM November 11 1989 (21:46)
KBRD FM September 2 1989 (25:40)
KOMO 1000 News July 2001 (3:44)
KOMO News- KIRO 710 and KING TV 5 Traffic Reports (10:34)
KOMO Traffic Reports (3:29)
KXXO August 30 1997 (35:39)
Bill Ogden/Marc Taylor KXXO FM Memorial Day 1989 (35:00)
KXXO October 11 1997 (28:01)
KXXO October 12 1997 (19:52)
Mix 92.5 and KVI Traffic Reports 2003 as Marc Taylor (5:56)
Bob Robertson-KTAC Sports Report 1990 (2:06)
Bill Ogden BASEMENT TAPES:
The first audio selection is a rare KJUN aircheck. KJUN 1450/Puyallup, Country format, with Gary Neil (1985)
Gary Neil (Shalander)-KJUN (4:13)
The second selection is the close of Bill Ogden’s newscast and a short bit into Lionel Ritchie with Lou Robbins and Bill Ogden talking about the Puyallup Spring Fair. The year was 1990.
Bill Ogden/Lou Robbins-Puyallup Spring Fair 1990 (2:08)
Bill Ogden reporting traffic for KOMO 1000
KOMO traffic report (:49 seconds)
Bob Robertson (1929-2020)
Audio from KING 5 news, with Bill Ogden traffic reports (3 cuts)
KING 5 – Bill Ogden traffic (2:44)
NewsTalk 570 KVI with Bill Ogden traffic report
Bill Ogden traffic report KVI (1:09)
Jim Severn on Star 101.5/KPLZ
Star 101.5/Jim Severn (4:45)
Two cuts from KTAC
Bruce Cannon 5:00 hour leading up to PM Tacoma with Art Popham at 6:05
Bruce Cannon-KTAC 5:00 hour (2:17)
Bruce Cannon and Bill Ogden featuring the Dan Quayle quiz, Rosanne Barr moons World Series audience
Bruce Cannon-Bill Ogden (5:01)
In my humble opinion, I think this is Bill Ogden’s best work. Soft rock with a lot of talk. “Shut up and play the music” did not apply at KXXO. KXXO is a community-oriented, adult contemporary, personality station in Olympia.
Bill Ogden-KXXO Olympia (12:41)
Bill Ogden traffic reports are interspersed with KING 5 morning news, weekend edition…
KING 5 News with Carolynn Douglas, Julia Sanderson, and traffic with Bill Ogden (9:41)
Bob Robertson sportscast on 850 KTAC
Bob Robertson – KTAC (2:32)
Lou Robbins (Jason Remington) – Creator, Admin, & Editor of QZVX joined the staff at KBRD FM in 1987. The Beautiful Music station was just down the hall from Tacoma’s KTAC 850. When Bobby Simon left KTAC, Lou Robbins was chosen to take over the morning show at the Soft Rock station.
When Entercom management chose to scrap the Beautiful Music FM (KBRD), switching format to Alternative Rock (KMTT) in 1991, Lou Robbins was asked to stay on. KTAC began simulcasting the new KMTT “Mountain” AAA sound. He continued a few courses at Pierce College and made the nightly trek to Metropolitan Park West, for an all-niter at the new home of KMTT. All while working full-time daily at AT&T.
Lou Robbins KTAC Tacoma May 1990 (8:29)
Lou Robbins KTAC Tacoma September 1990 (9:13)
Lou Robbins KTAC Tacoma 1990 (2:00)
Celebrity gossip from Lou Robbins at KTAC Tacoma (4:45)
Lou Robbins KTAC includes a Frederick & Nelson spot (4:49)
Lou Robbins KTAC. It must have been Pet Report day, there is a dog barking outside the KTAC studio (3:15)
Lou Robbins – KMTT Seattle 1991 (14:11)
Lou Robbins – KOOL Phoenix 1995 – 1997 (7:46)
Lou Robbins-
KTOY (WA) | KVAC (WA) | KDFL (WA) | KTTX (TX) | KWHI (TX) | KONP (WA) | KBAM (WA) | KJUN (WA) | KRPM (WA) | KAMT (WA) | KASY (WA) | KBRD (WA) | KTAC (WA) | KMTT (WA) | KOOL (AZ)
In 1993, he transferred to AT&T regional headquarters in Phoenix, where he picked up a weekend & fill-in gig at KOOL FM 1997-1999, the heritage Oldies station. The format was based on the personal record collection of programmer Jerry Osborne. Some programs were voice-tracked and syndicated nation-wide, to other stations copying the “KOOL” format and moniker.
Lou Robbins – KOOL Phoenix
—It was in Phoenix that Lou Robbins began blogging. DECEMBER 31, 1998 (AZRADIO.NET) The Phoenix Radio Dial (a history of Phoenix Radio), later QZVX.COM. Upon returning to Washington in 2008, Lou Robbins developed SeaTac Media, a site that became PugetSoundMedia, and now QZVX (domain originally established 2005-02-06).
(***What Is QZVX ? – Media Insultant review***)
The QZVX home office is in Olympia, WA. [VICTOR STREDICKE]
This interview with the QZVX webmaster aired Saturday, July 29th, 2017 at 12:30PM on 1300AM KKOL and at 4PM on 1590 AM KLFE as the first segment of the Spotlight On The Sound program. The host is David Summers.
Salem Communications KKOL-KLFE Jason Remington (Lou Robbins) – Interview July 2017 (7:47)
KTAC’s Top 40 era in the 1970s, under program directors like Steve West, saw it challenge Seattle’s major stations with a talented roster including Bobby Simon, Ric Hansen, Chuck Bolland, and others. Events like the 1972/1973 KTAC DJs vs. Pizza Pete’s Girls Softball Team game and cheerleader-recorded station IDs strengthened its community ties.
After the 1991 KMTT simulcast, KTAC’s AM identity waned. Entercom sold the station to Southwave Wireless, LLC (Steve West and Dan Walker) in 1996. It later became KHHO in 2002 under Clear Channel Communications, shifting to sports, conservative talk, and eventually the Black Information Network in 2020.
Robert O. Smith, born near Sacramento, California, began his radio career in the mid-1960s at stations like KAHI (Auburn, CA), KHOE (Tahoe, NV), KOWL (South Lake Tahoe, NV), KLAV (Las Vegas, NV), and KMBY (Monterey, CA) in 1966. His big break in the Seattle market came in 1967 when he joined KJR Seattle, where he began to showcase his distinctive style, characterized by humor and vocal versatility.
Smith’s career was not just about radio; he was a larger-than-life figure with a multifaceted personality. A world-record-holding powerlifter (bench pressing 420 pounds at age 60 in 2003), he was also an artist and animator, with creations like 3D paintings showcased on his website, www.robertosmith.com. His humor and infectious personality made him a beloved figure among listeners and colleagues, though his boundary-pushing style sometimes led to professional challenges. Smith passed away in 2010 at age 67, leaving behind a legacy as one of Seattle’s most memorable radio personalities.
Robert O. Smith KTAC Thanksgiving 1972 (6:32)
Sam Lawson’s Audio Vault: KTAC, Tacoma – Cory Landon (Sam Lawson), 1977 Runtime: 3:47
Cory Landon was my alter ego at KTAC. As I recall it was Harold Greenberg, the station manager, who wanted the station to have a DJ named Cory, and PD Ric Hansen had no objection to me tweaking my last name as well, so Cory Landon was born. From what I can tell he drank a lot of coffee.
Gary Franklin (16:10)
Gary was a weekender at KTAC with a style of his own. One weekend, Franklin had come to work after a few drinks, which lead to him being fired by then Program Director – Ric Hansen. This is a recording from that fateful day. (August 1980-Tim Shook collection)
H2O News – Demo – GMI Media for KHHO 850 Tacoma – South Sound News format (4:40)
KTAC 850 TACOMA began as 810 KTBI
In the late 1950s, popular local disc jockey and jazz aficionado Bob Summerise, Jr. (1925-2010) used to broadcast the “coolest sounds on Puget Sound” afternoons on KTAC-AM (Tacoma, Washington).
He was the first African-American on-air personality and the first with an engineers license in the area. He owned an influential record store named “Summerise’s World of Music” on Jackson Street in Seattle. – Jim Baxter (FB)
The studio was moved from the second floor of the Puget Sound Bank Building in Tacoma to a beautiful new, studio/transmitter located at 2715 Center Street, literally in the center of Tacoma. In the early 50’s, KTBI received permission to move from 810 to 850 and go full time. On 850, the station call letters changed to KTAC.
Sports and Talk – In 1998, the station was acquired by The Ackerley Group and adopted an all-sports format, featuring programming from ESPN Radio, then CBS Sports Radio and later NBC Sports Radio. For a time, it simulcast 1090 KFNQ in Seattle. In 2002, it was acquired by iHeartMedia, Inc. KHHO changed from sports radio to a conservative talk format on February 8, 2018. —On June 29, 2020, 15 stations owned by iHeart, including KHHO, began stunting with speeches targeting African American audiences. The stations, all in markets with large African American populations, were promoting “Our Voices Will Be Heard” and an announcement took place Tuesday, June 30 at Noon. At that time, the stations launched a nationwide news/talk network deemed the “Black Information Network”, as several domains with that branding were registered by iHeart the previous Friday, the 26th.
Personalities: Jim Nelly worked at KMO as GSM — was hired by Ron Murphy at KTAC and was General Manager at 850 KTAC/Tacoma 1969-1974. KTAC was purchased by Joe Field [Entercom] in 1973. Jim Nelly was let go shortly after the purchase of KTAC by Entercom. Nelly had a short career, approx. 3 months, at KZAM/Bellevue in 1974. From there, he became GM at KORL/Honolulu – hiring Lan Roberts in 1975. In 1976, Jim Nelly purchased KUJ/Walla Walla, he acted as GM & PD there until selling the station in 1980; Roall Erickson, 
Back Row Robert O, Bobby Simon, Bruce Cannon, front row Rick Donovan, Dick Jenkins, John Williams.
September 9, 2022 at QZVX
JRemington says:
Cory Landon/KTAC aircheck by Sam Lawson is a good high-energy delivery. I enjoyed the same at KOOL/Phoenix. A non-stop 4 hours of relating to the music and what was likely going on with the listeners on that day. It was also the quest for the perfect aircheck. Never fully satisfied, but sometimes came close to what I was seeking.