As KUAM, it was Guam's first commercial radio station, broadcasting from 1954 to 2020. It aired Chamorro music and talk radio. Isla63 became an online radio station when Pacific Telestations discontinued operation in 2020 for economic reasons and sold the license.
The station was owned by Pacific Telestations, LLC (a company of the local conglomerate Calvo Enterprises, Inc.) and was Guam's first commercial radio station, having signed on the air on March 14, 1954. When it started up, the Armed Forces Radio Service station that had operated at 1380 kHz since September 1949 ceased operations.[1] It was originally owned by Harry Engel and his Radio Guam; Engel started KUAM-TV (channel 8) three years later. The station was sold in 1964 to Pacific Broadcasting Corporation and to Pacific Telestations in 1977.[2]
Long known as "Isla61", KUAM changed its broadcast frequency from 612 kHz to 630 kHz in July 2007. This move enables most radios with digital tuners found locally (built for the Americas' ITU Region 2 interval of 10 kHz) to tune precisely to the station's frequency instead of being 2 kHz off (when tuned to 610 kHz).
After Typhoon Pongsona hit Guam on December 8, 2002, Isla61 was off the air for more than one year. Programs such as the morning talk "Positively Local" and the TV news simulcast were instead carried by sister station KUAM-FM. The KUAM-TV nightly newscast at 6 p.m. was simulcast on Isla63.
On April 20, 2020, it was confirmed that KUAM Communications would conclude broadcasting after 66 years on the radio on May 1.[3] In filing to take the station temporarily silent, Pacific noted that it had discontinued operation of KUAM for economic reasons.[4]
The license was then donated to Good News Broadcasting Corporation effective May 10, 2021. New KICH call letters were applied on May 18, 2021.
^Abcede, Jose C. (March 16, 1954). "AFRS, Pioneer Of Radio Broadcasting In Guam, Bows Out To A New Era". Guam Daily News. p. 4. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
^Slavit, E. Max (November 27, 1988). "KUAM, what's in the future?". Pacific Sunday News. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
^"CHamoru radio trailblazer Isla 63 AM to cease broadcasting on May 1". www.kuam.com. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
^"BLSTA - 20200504AAF Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA — KUAM (AM)".
kich, radio, station, broadcasting, from, village, dededo, united, states, territory, guam, hagåtña, guambroadcast, areaguamfrequency630, khzbranding, isla63, programmingformatchamorro, music, talk, online, only, ownershipownergood, news, broadcasting, corpora. KICH 630 AM is a radio station broadcasting from the village of Dededo in the United States territory of Guam KICHHagatna GuamBroadcast areaGuamFrequency630 kHzBranding Isla63 ProgrammingFormatChamorro music Talk online only OwnershipOwnerGood News Broadcasting CorporationHistoryFirst air dateMarch 14 1954 70 years ago 1954 03 14 Former call signsKUAM 1954 2021 Former frequencies610 kHz 1954 1978 612 kHz 1978 2007 Technical informationFacility ID51236ClassBPower10 000 wattsTransmitter coordinates13 26 53 N 144 45 22 E 13 44806 N 144 75611 E 13 44806 144 75611LinksWebsitehttp www kuam com As KUAM it was Guam s first commercial radio station broadcasting from 1954 to 2020 It aired Chamorro music and talk radio Isla63 became an online radio station when Pacific Telestations discontinued operation in 2020 for economic reasons and sold the license Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory editThe station was owned by Pacific Telestations LLC a company of the local conglomerate Calvo Enterprises Inc and was Guam s first commercial radio station having signed on the air on March 14 1954 When it started up the Armed Forces Radio Service station that had operated at 1380 kHz since September 1949 ceased operations 1 It was originally owned by Harry Engel and his Radio Guam Engel started KUAM TV channel 8 three years later The station was sold in 1964 to Pacific Broadcasting Corporation and to Pacific Telestations in 1977 2 Long known as Isla61 KUAM changed its broadcast frequency from 612 kHz to 630 kHz in July 2007 This move enables most radios with digital tuners found locally built for the Americas ITU Region 2 interval of 10 kHz to tune precisely to the station s frequency instead of being 2 kHz off when tuned to 610 kHz After Typhoon Pongsona hit Guam on December 8 2002 Isla61 was off the air for more than one year Programs such as the morning talk Positively Local and the TV news simulcast were instead carried by sister station KUAM FM The KUAM TV nightly newscast at 6 p m was simulcast on Isla63 On April 20 2020 it was confirmed that KUAM Communications would conclude broadcasting after 66 years on the radio on May 1 3 In filing to take the station temporarily silent Pacific noted that it had discontinued operation of KUAM for economic reasons 4 The license was then donated to Good News Broadcasting Corporation effective May 10 2021 New KICH call letters were applied on May 18 2021 See also editKISH Chamorro FM stationReferences edit Abcede Jose C March 16 1954 AFRS Pioneer Of Radio Broadcasting In Guam Bows Out To A New Era Guam Daily News p 4 Retrieved June 5 2020 Slavit E Max November 27 1988 KUAM what s in the future Pacific Sunday News Retrieved June 5 2020 CHamoru radio trailblazer Isla 63 AM to cease broadcasting on May 1 www kuam com Retrieved 2 March 2021 BLSTA 20200504AAF Notification of Suspension of Operations Request for Silent STA KUAM AM External links editKUAM official website KICH in the FCC AM station database FCC History Cards for KICH as KUAM nbsp nbsp This article about a radio station in Guam is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title KICH amp oldid 1217587740, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
