Read what Umpqua Post said about KDUNE
Moreland's ownership of
KRAF would prove short-lived as Steve and Jerome Kenagy's Communications
Broadcasting, Inc., acquired the station on September 1, 1970. The new owners implemented a "middle of
the road" music format and had the FCC change the station's call letters
to KDUN. The Kenagy brothers shifted
ownership of KDUN in March 1972 to a new company named KDUN Radio, Inc. The brothers maintained the "middle of
the road" music format through the rest of the 1970s.
In March 1982, the
station applied to the FCC for authorization to change their broadcast
frequency from 1470 KHz to 1030 KHz, increase daytime signal power to 10,000
watts, and make some technical changes in their antenna system.
In April 1982, the
Kenagy brothers applied to the FCC to transfer ownership of KDUN Radio, Inc.,
to their now-larger software company, Custom Business System, Inc. (CBSI). The transfer was approved by the FCC on April
23, 1982.
In November 1985, CBSI
announced that it was selling KDUN Radio, Inc., to Lyle and Eleanor A. Irons so
that it could focus on the traffic and billing business. The deal was approved by the FCC on February
11, 1986, and the transaction was consummated on April 23, 1986.
On May 7, 1987, the FCC
finally granted the station a construction permit to make the changes
requested back in 1982. KDUN began broadcasting at the lower frequency
and higher power in February 1998, and received their license to cover the
upgrades on April 18, 1998.
After a quarter-century
of continuous corporate ownership, KDUN Radio, Inc, reached an agreement in
June 1997 to sell this station to Shae Partners, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 5,
1997, and the transaction was consummated on September 15, 1997. The
station's call sign was changed to KLLU on November 21, 1997. The station's slogan at that time was, “Get a
Clue.”
In July 1999, Shae
Partners, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station to the F & L
Broadcast Development Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on
August 24, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on August 29, 1999.
Less than two weeks later, in early September 1999, F & L Broadcast
Development Corporation reached an agreement to sell the station to Pamplin
Communications Corporation subsidiary, Pamplin Broadcasting-Oregon, Inc.
The deal was approved by the FCC on October 29, 1999, and the transaction was
consummated on November 1, 1999.
The station was granted
a new construction permit in August 2000, this time to increase the daytime
signal to 50,000 watts and the nighttime signal to 630 watts. KLLU began
broadcasting at the higher power in March 2001, and received its license to cover the changes on
June 18, 2001. The station was re-assigned its heritage KDUN call letters
by the Federal Communications Commission on September 25, 2002.
In January 2006,
Pamplin Broadcasting-
KDUN went temporarily silent on November 27, 2007, when the
station's owners were unable to pay their electricity bill due to
"financial problems with its operations". According to their
April 2008 filing with the FCC, new owners for KDUN were being sought.
In May 2008, WKS Broadcasting, Inc., reached an agreement to
sell this station to Sand & Sea Broadcasting, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 23,
2008, and the transaction was consummated on August 6, 2008. At the time
of the sale, the station's format had been news-talk radio.
KDUN today
After considerable clean up, technical maintenance and installation of new equipment, Sand and Sea Broadcasting, wholly owned by Kent and Sandra Abendroth of Reedsport, put the station back on the air on August 25th 2008 with its present format of selected Oldies music with the twist that the station does not play melancholy music.