There was some news that slipped by the eyes and ears of some earlier this week that would have had an impact on the sports market back in the day. That news was that KFNS 590 AM was shut down, thus ending the longest run of the all-sports format on the AM dial.
The reason? Nonpayment of its electric bill. While some would say that would be sad, I would say good riddance, as the station today was a shell of what it used to be. Few people that were on the air during its demise made a difference these days, as the station was more of a comedy for its embarrassing antics than known for having good programming. From where I sit, it was a good run but it was now time to put away childish things.
I was part of the first all-sports format that was started by Rich Gray back in 1991. The station at that time was KASP. It was new for all of us, and when we signed on in April of 1991 with Bob Ramsey and Rick Wallace, little did we know what was in store.
That station lasted for almost two years. During that period we the saw the likes of Kevin Slaten, Jay Randolph Jr. and others introduce themselves to St. Louis via the radio. KASP also carried events for the first time, such as a golf tournament on the radio (I know, but we were just throwing things on the wall to see if they would stick), charity drives and – one thing that is a constant today – coaches’ post-game press conferences. We carried them live, which always proved to be an adventure.
One night comes to mind was the night a St. Louis Blues coach was ask about one of his player’s defensive abilities. The coach responded “that guy could not check his (expletive) hat at the (expletive) Waldorf Astoria Hotel.” Priceless! There were other memorable rants and moments that put us on the map, too many to name.
Once KASP went under, many were out of work until one day in the spring. Another station in the market had a sports show. Their hosts were in spring training and got stranded by a storm on their way back. Their station manager asked Bob Ramsey and me to fill in for a couple of days, and at that point it was game on.
Bob Burch and Roy Anderson were running the show at that time. They like the show so much, they offered us the jobs of the current hosts. We respectfully declined, because we thought this would be a good time to expand the sports programming with another show. They agreed, and a few months later they decided to go all sports. Say hello to KFNS.
During that time the likes of Frank Cusumano joined us, and the format continued to grow with more legitimate talent and programming. There were player shows and games being carried live. Callers could call and mount attacks on players, teams and even hosts. KFNS was a player in the market, and all the teams and athletes started to pay attention.
During that time, KFNS was sold and bought three times in one day as government deregulation created a feeding frenzy for a while. Nothing changed other than the name on the paycheck and the benefit packages.
When the Rams arrived, KFNS landed the Jerome Bettis show, a real coup considering that the station that had the radio rights to the Rams at that time thought they also had the rights to the players too. After a few letters and phone calls to let them know just what they had, Bettis’ home was 590 AM KFNS. Burch and Anderson hit a home run.
Anderson, who is still in the radio business at Clear Channel Radio, was ingenious in keeping the station afloat and profitable. So much so that local businessman Greg Marecek decided to put a group together to buy the station. Marecek had vision. He stocked the station with very good talent on and off the air. He made programming more local, and that included high school and college events. KFNS continued to be a player until Greg got the offer he could not refuse.
A bunch of know-it-all chaps from Atlanta bought KFNS and decided to reinvent the wheel. They poured a ton of money into the station. They enhanced the talent even more, and yet they got little in return. Having lost millions, they got out and sold it to a local group, and things started to go downhill.
An FM station got in the ball game, and KFNS could not compete with their strong signal. KFNS sacrificed talent for revenue. Instead of amassing a sales staff, they decided to let anyone with cash buy their way onto the air. One clown act after another took over. No matter what time of day or night, you could find someone making a complete fool of themselves on the air.
At that point, KFNS was in a downward spiral. Some were able to get out and find other jobs. For the rest it was like being on the South Vietnam Embassy roof watching the last American helicopter fly off for good.
KFNS continued to flounder, until last week when it was finally put out of its misery on Monday – despite the fact that new programming was set to begin on Monday. So much for advanced notice.
I had so many great memories of KFNS. I worked with countless people that I enjoyed. They made sports talk radio fun, and there are times I really miss them. Here are just some of the difference makers: Rich Gray, Roy Anderson, Bob Birch, Bob Ramsey, Rick Wallace, Jay Randolph, Rob Fisher, Kevin Williams, Kenny Strode, Tony Hubert, John Rabe, Bernie Miklaus, Earl Austin Jr., Dave Greene, Greg Marecek, Kevin King, Charlotte Tate, Brian Burwell, John Marecek, Chris Nupert, Demetrious Johnson, Caller Lou and Rich from Maryland Heights. I am grateful for the great people and memories it provided me – and, hopefully, you.
