KWYZ
Encyclopedia
KWYZ is a radio station
licensed
to serve Everett, Washington
, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1957, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc. Jean J. Suh, the owner of Radio Hankook, is a pioneer in Korean-language radio programming in the United States.
programming to the northern Seattle metropolitan area
in a simulcast partnership with sister station
KSUH
(1450 AM). In addition to Korean popular music (also known as "K-pop
"), Radio Hankook airs up to six hours of daily talk radio
programming, including local and Korean news, information for recent immigrants, and community affairs
. Other programming includes a program for children in both Korean and English
plus a short twice-daily show for all ages that aims to teach basic English language skills.
s of power on a frequency of 1230 kHz. KQTY was originally licensed to the Snohomish County Broadcasting Company which, along with stations in California
, North Dakota
, and Montana
, was part of the Walter N. "Wally" Nelskog stations group. In 1960, the station was granted a construction permit
by the FCC to increase its daytime signal power to 1,000 watts while maintaining a 250 watt signal at night.
to KWYZ. This situation remained stable until February 16, 1972, when the Snohomish County Broadcasting Corporation was acquired by Robert Brown. The new owners dropped the station's middle of the road music format in favor of country music
. In May 1975, Brown changed the name of the license holder to Prime Time Broadcasting, Inc.
for KWYZ was involuntarily transferred in November 1991 from Prime Time Broadcasting, Inc., to Richard D. Carlson acting as receiver. The transfer was approved by the FCC on November 14, 1991. In June 1992, receiver Richard D. Carlson reached an agreement to sell this station to Quality Broadcasting Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 29, 1993, and the transaction was consummated on June 28, 1994.
format. Suh applied to the FCC in October 2002 to transfer the broadcast license
for this station to her company, Radio Hancook, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on November 15, 2002, and the transaction was consummated on December 1, 2003.
Jean J. Suh worked for five years as an actress as South Korea
's Korean Broadcasting System before emigrating to the United States in 1964. While studying at Columbia College Hollywood
in 1965, Suh began hosting a 30-minute weekly program of music and news in Korean on a Los Angeles
radio station. In 1966 the program was extended to one hour per week and in 1967 to two hours each weekday. In 1970, Suh and two financial partners launched an independent Korean-language radio station in Los Angeles, the first in the United States. Suh purchased KKBY (1450 AM, now KSUH
) in 1997 and KWYZ in 1999 to cover the southern and northern halves of the greater Seattle metropolitan area
, respectively, as Korean-language "Radio Hankook".
challenged the license renewal of KWYZ and five other Seattle-area radio stations. The NAACP claimed each of the stations had "poor minority-hiring records" and were in violation of equal employment opportunity laws. The FCC ultimately renewed KWYZ's license on March 29, 1993—just 2 days short of 30 months after the license renewal application was made and then only after the station had gone into receivership and been sold to new owners.
KSUH
out of their rented studios in a commercial area of Federal Way, Washington
, to her private residence in May 2000. This move brought on complaints from neighbors, visits from city code enforcement officers, and a public campaign by Radio Hankook to force the city to allow the studios to remain in Suh's home. Ultimately, the city prevailed over increasing community resistance and the stations moved out of the home in late April 2001.
(EAS) equipment" and "to conduct required monthly and weekly EAS tests" and had failed to "post the ASR number on or near the base of" its broadcast tower in violation of FCC rules as well as finding similar violations by sister station
KSUH
. After a January 2002 notice of these violations, licensee Jean J. Suh told the FCC that the station had modified its EAS equipment for automatic operation and that she did not own the KSUH tower but was leasing it from the station's previous license holder. The FCC issued a "notice of apparent liability" against Suh for violations by KWYZ and KSUH on August 28, 2002, for a combined total of $22,000. After determining that Suh did not in fact own the KSUH tower, they reduced the penalty to $10,000 in late August 2003.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve Everett, Washington
Everett, Washington
Everett is the county seat of and the largest city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. Named for Everett Colby, son of founder Charles L. Colby, it lies north of Seattle. The city had a total population of 103,019 at the 2010 census, making it the 6th largest in the state and...
, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1957, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc. Jean J. Suh, the owner of Radio Hankook, is a pioneer in Korean-language radio programming in the United States.
Programming
KWYZ broadcasts a mix of Korean languageKorean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
programming to the northern Seattle metropolitan area
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area in the US state of Washington includes the city of Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County within the Puget Sound region. The U.S...
in a simulcast partnership with sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
KSUH
KSUH
KSUH is a radio station licensed to serve Puyallup, Washington, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1951, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc...
(1450 AM). In addition to Korean popular music (also known as "K-pop
K-pop
K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...
"), Radio Hankook airs up to six hours of daily talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
programming, including local and Korean news, information for recent immigrants, and community affairs
Public affairs (broadcasting)
Public affairs, a broadcasting industry term, refers to television programs which focuses on matters of politics and public policy. Among commercial broadcasters, such programs are often only to satisfy Federal Communications Commission regulatory expectations and are not scheduled in prime time...
. Other programming includes a program for children in both Korean and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
plus a short twice-daily show for all ages that aims to teach basic English language skills.
Launch as KQTY
This station signed on the air in June 1957 as KQTY broadcasting with 250 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power on a frequency of 1230 kHz. KQTY was originally licensed to the Snohomish County Broadcasting Company which, along with stations in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, was part of the Walter N. "Wally" Nelskog stations group. In 1960, the station was granted a construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
by the FCC to increase its daytime signal power to 1,000 watts while maintaining a 250 watt signal at night.
Change to KWYZ
On April 1, 1962, the station was acquired by the Snohomish County Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Clifford H. Hansen who also served as the station's general manager. The new owners had the FCC change the station's call signCall sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
to KWYZ. This situation remained stable until February 16, 1972, when the Snohomish County Broadcasting Corporation was acquired by Robert Brown. The new owners dropped the station's middle of the road music format in favor of country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. In May 1975, Brown changed the name of the license holder to Prime Time Broadcasting, Inc.
Money troubles
Facing a petition to deny its license renewal and a financial crisis, the broadcast licenseBroadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
for KWYZ was involuntarily transferred in November 1991 from Prime Time Broadcasting, Inc., to Richard D. Carlson acting as receiver. The transfer was approved by the FCC on November 14, 1991. In June 1992, receiver Richard D. Carlson reached an agreement to sell this station to Quality Broadcasting Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 29, 1993, and the transaction was consummated on June 28, 1994.
KWYZ today
In March 1999, Quality Broadcasting Corporation agreed to sell KWYZ to Jean J. Suh, doing business as Radio Hankook, for a reported price of $480,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 27, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on August 3, 1999. Until this deal was consummated, KWYZ maintained its traditional country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format. Suh applied to the FCC in October 2002 to transfer the broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
for this station to her company, Radio Hancook, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on November 15, 2002, and the transaction was consummated on December 1, 2003.
Jean J. Suh worked for five years as an actress as South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
's Korean Broadcasting System before emigrating to the United States in 1964. While studying at Columbia College Hollywood
Columbia College Hollywood
Columbia College Hollywood is a film school located in Tarzana, California, USA. It is approved by the State of California to offer degrees, and is an associate institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design...
in 1965, Suh began hosting a 30-minute weekly program of music and news in Korean on a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
radio station. In 1966 the program was extended to one hour per week and in 1967 to two hours each weekday. In 1970, Suh and two financial partners launched an independent Korean-language radio station in Los Angeles, the first in the United States. Suh purchased KKBY (1450 AM, now KSUH
KSUH
KSUH is a radio station licensed to serve Puyallup, Washington, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1951, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc...
) in 1997 and KWYZ in 1999 to cover the southern and northern halves of the greater Seattle metropolitan area
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area in the US state of Washington includes the city of Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County within the Puget Sound region. The U.S...
, respectively, as Korean-language "Radio Hankook".
Hiring practices
In January 1991, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
challenged the license renewal of KWYZ and five other Seattle-area radio stations. The NAACP claimed each of the stations had "poor minority-hiring records" and were in violation of equal employment opportunity laws. The FCC ultimately renewed KWYZ's license on March 29, 1993—just 2 days short of 30 months after the license renewal application was made and then only after the station had gone into receivership and been sold to new owners.
Studio location
Faced with mounting debts and financial difficulties, Radio Hankook owner Jean J. Suh moved KWYZ and sister stationSister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
KSUH
KSUH
KSUH is a radio station licensed to serve Puyallup, Washington, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1951, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc...
out of their rented studios in a commercial area of Federal Way, Washington
Federal Way, Washington
Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. Federal Way is located between Seattle and Tacoma. Its western boundary is Puget Sound. It is bordered by Des Moines on the north, Kent, unincorporated King County, and Milton on the east and Tacoma and Fife on the south...
, to her private residence in May 2000. This move brought on complaints from neighbors, visits from city code enforcement officers, and a public campaign by Radio Hankook to force the city to allow the studios to remain in Suh's home. Ultimately, the city prevailed over increasing community resistance and the stations moved out of the home in late April 2001.
FCC issues
During a series of inspections conducted by FCC agents from March 2001 to November 2001, they found that KWYZ had failed to "have operational Emergency Alert SystemEmergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System , which itself had superseded the CONELRAD System...
(EAS) equipment" and "to conduct required monthly and weekly EAS tests" and had failed to "post the ASR number on or near the base of" its broadcast tower in violation of FCC rules as well as finding similar violations by sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
KSUH
KSUH
KSUH is a radio station licensed to serve Puyallup, Washington, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1951, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc...
. After a January 2002 notice of these violations, licensee Jean J. Suh told the FCC that the station had modified its EAS equipment for automatic operation and that she did not own the KSUH tower but was leasing it from the station's previous license holder. The FCC issued a "notice of apparent liability" against Suh for violations by KWYZ and KSUH on August 28, 2002, for a combined total of $22,000. After determining that Suh did not in fact own the KSUH tower, they reduced the penalty to $10,000 in late August 2003.