View source for KKBG

{{short description|Radio station in Hilo, Hawaii}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name                = KKBG
| logo                = [[Image:KLEO-KKBG KBIG106.1-97.9 logo.png|150px]]
| city                = [[Hilo, Hawaii]]
| area                = [[Hilo, Hawaii]]
| branding            = ''KBIG 97.9 & 106.1''
| airdate             = {{start date|1980|6|5}}
| frequency           = 97.9 [[MHz]]
| repeater            = 106.1 [[KLEO]]
| format              = [[Hot adult contemporary]]
| erp                 = 51,000 [[watt]]s
| haat                = -19.7 meters
| class               = C1
| facility_id         = 52468
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| coordinates         = {{coord|19|50|19|N|155|6|43|W|region:US-HI_type:landmark}}
| callsign_meaning    =
| former_callsigns    = KKEA (1971–1980)
| affiliations        =
| owner               = Pacific Radio Group, Inc.
| licensee            =
| sister_stations     = [[KAPA]], [[KPVS]], [[KHLO]], [[KLEO]], [[KAGB]], [[KLUA]]
| webcast             = [https://v7player.wostreaming.net/7443 Listen Live]
| website             = [http://kbigfm.com kbigfm.com]
}}
'''KKBG''' (97.9 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[radio station]] broadcasting a [[hot adult contemporary]] format. Licensed to [[Hilo, Hawaii]], United States, the station serves the Hilo area.  The station is currently owned by Pacific Radio Group, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=KKBG |title=KKBG Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref>
==History==
The Mauna Kea Broadcasting Company, owned by [[Saul Levine]], received a construction permit for a new radio station to be built in Hilo on May 14, 1969.<ref name="hc">{{FCC letter|hcards=yes|callsign=KKBG|letterid=72402}}</ref> The station would have to wait more than a decade before finally signing on. Continual extensions of the construction permit were granted until 1980, when the call sign was changed to KKBG. The Big Island finally got FM radio on June 5, 1980, when the station debuted on a test basis with an [[easy listening]] format.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76864826/|accessdate=May 1, 2021|title=FM station conducts test|work=Hawaii Tribune-Herald|page=10|date=June 6, 1980}}</ref> Official program service debuted two months later.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76865038/|accessdate=May 1, 2021|date=August 8, 1980|title=Big Island's first FM radio station on the air|page=7|work=Hawaii Tribune-Herald}}</ref> Mauna Kea Broadcasting also owned [[KRTR-FM|KJYE (96.3 FM)]] on Oahu.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76865203/|accessdate=May 1, 2021|date=August 4, 1981|title=K-BIG celebrates first birthday|first=Bill|last=O'Rear|page=16}}</ref>
Levine sold KKBG to Philip L. Brewer in 1982; Brewer's only other broadcasting holding was a station in [[Windsor, Colorado]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-04-19.pdf|page=78|title=Ownership Changes|work=Broadcasting|date=April 19, 1982|accessdate=May 1, 2021}}</ref> The station changed formats after the sale to rock. Brewer sold his Colorado properties in 1988 and expanded on the Big Island by acquiring Hilo AM outlet [[KHLO]] the next year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76865641/|accessdate=May 1, 2021|date=November 26, 1989|work=Hawaii Tribune-Herald|title=K-BIG's owner purchases KHLO|page=8}}</ref>
In 1998, Brewer sold its four Big Island radio properties to Emerald City Radio Partners for $3.8 million; by this time, the station was already adult contemporary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1998/RR-1998-12-18.pdf|accessdate=May 1, 2021|date=December 18, 1998|work=Radio & Records|title=Transactions|page=6}}</ref> Emerald City became Maverick Media, and its stations were sold to Pacific Radio Group; its simultaneous purchases of two clusters caused major radio station ownership realignment on the Big Island.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/09/25/business/engle.html|accessdate=May 1, 2021|date=September 25, 2003|work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin|first=Erika|last=Engle|title=Big Island broadcast changeover is days away}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{FM station data|52468|KKBG}}
{{Hilo Radio}}
{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Hawaii}}
[[Category:Radio stations in Hawaii|KBG]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1980]]
{{Hawaii-radio-station-stub}}