• My Account
  • Your Profile
  • Member Archives
Saturday, February 4, 2023
Cart / $0.00

No products in the cart.

Fybush.com
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links
No Result
View All Result
Fybush.com
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
Fybush.com
No Result
View All Result

Site of the Week 4/10/20: KTNN and KWRK, Window Rock, AZ

Scott Fybush by Scott Fybush
April 10, 2020
in Arizona, Free Content, Tower Site of the Week
0

Text and photos by SCOTT FYBUSH

Once upon a time – and it sure does feel like a lot longer than nine months ago – you could fly your family to the West Coast, rent a car and spend a very pleasant few days driving along Route 66 through Arizona and New Mexico.

KAFF
KAFF
KAFF
KAFF
KDJI 1270
KDJI 1270

That’s just what we did last July, and for once your editor kept the broadcast stops to a minimum while taking the kids to the Grand Canyon and a whole bunch of old-time tourist stops along the Mother Road.

A “minimum” isn’t quite “none,” at least not in our car – so yes, when there was a broadcast site in easy view, we stopped for a few minutes and a few pictures. Old 66 ran through Flagstaff, of course – and KAFF (930/92.9) has long had its studios right on the side of old 66, complete with the highway shield on the roadside sign. (We’d have even considered stopping in for a quick tour, but it was well after hours and we were late already to get to our overnight stop in the famous Wigwam Motel down the road in Holbrook.)

The next morning, our drive around Holbrook took us right past the tower of KDJI (1270), which sits alongside the ramp to 66’s modern replacement, I-40, as we headed east toward the one radio destination your editor insisted on including in this itinerary.

Looking up at KWRK
Looking up at KWRK
KWRK 96.1
KWRK 96.1

Back in 2011, our first trip to this area included a visit to the Navajo Nation’s radio stations, KTNN (660) and KWRK (96.1) in Window Rock, Arizona, right by the New Mexico border.

 

KTNN's new building
KTNN’s new building
KTNN lobby
KTNN lobby
Outside the studios
Outside the studios

Back then, KTNN’s exemplary public service to the Navajo Nation (and the country music on its newer FM sister station, KWRK 96.1) came from a rather nondescript building just north of the main intersection in Window Rock, where Arizona 264 meets Indian Route 12.

Rack room
Rack room

Since then, however, the stations had moved a couple of miles west, into a new building on 264 in nearby St. Michaels. We’d seen some pictures when our friend Tom Langmyer had stopped by earlier in 2019, making a repeat visit here a must.

Coming up from the south along Route 12, we first passed the rocky outcropping called Hunters Point, where a close look revealed the KWRK tower up near the peak. With 100 kW up here, KWRK reaches down to I-40 and nearby Gallup, New Mexico – and up well to the north through much of Navajo Nation. (Even so, the nation is so big that KWRK recently added an FM simulcast, KCAZ 99.5 Rough Rock, up to the northwest to reach the northern parts of the Nation.)

KTNN talk studio
KTNN talk studio
KTNN studio
KTNN studio

The new studios themselves, opened in 2017, sit right along 264 near the junction with 12 south – and what a change they are from the old facility!

The design aesthetic here, from VThree Studios of St. Louis, is heavy on open glass: the lobby’s glass wall looks across a hallway into the glassed-in tech core, where the engine for the SAS console system is easily seen.

KWRK studio
KWRK studio
KWRK studio
KWRK studio

Turn left from the lobby and you’re in the cozy waiting area outside the L-shaped cluster of studios: a talk studio where guests can appear on KTNN, the main KTNN air studio/control room at the corner of the “L,” and the spacious KWRK “Capital Country” studio to the right.

(Did we end up appearing as a surprise guest on KWRK with midday jock Marcia, talking about our lunch plans after the visit? We sure did…)

The furniture is all from Omnirax, by the way – and those are SAS i-SL control surfaces and Yellowtec mic and monitor arms throughout.

KTNN lounge
KTNN lounge
KTNN lounge
KTNN lounge

There’s expansion room here for a future push into video production, office space for sales and programmers, accommodations if there’s a natural disaster that forces staffers to stay on site – and a BIG central lounge/kitchen area that allows staffers to relax and interact with each other.

KTNN lounge
KTNN lounge
KTNN conference room
KTNN conference room

Working our way back around the perimeter to the lobby, there are storage areas, engineering work areas, and a spacious, well-lit conference room along the outside wall – an impressive facility indeed for this very unusual and very important group of radio stations.

(Want to hear more about what KTNN and KWRK do for their community? We sat down with GM Troy Little after lunch for an interview on our Top of the Tower Podcast.)

Thanks to KTNN/KWRK’s Troy Little for the tours!

FOR SALE: Central New England AM Powerhouse with 50,000-watt nondirectional daytime potential to cover 5 million people.

Dennis Jackson – wwdj@optimum.net

CALENDARS ON CLEARANCE

If you don’t have your 2023 Tower Site Calendar yet, now is the perfect time to get it. Because we have lowered the price to just $14.

The calendar has great photos of broadcast sites near and far (everywhere from Navajo Nation on the cover to Boston to Toronto to Texas, and beyond), plus a lovely “centerfold” you can keep on your wall for 2024.

It’s still shipping regularly, and you can have yours in just a couple of days!

Order your copy and you’ll see what we mean.

If you have already ordered your calendar, make sure you check out the other items in the store, too!

And don’t miss a big batch of Arizona IDs next Wednesday, over at our sister site, TopHour.com!

Next week: Buffalo, Summer 2019

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pocket
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Facebook
Tags: KAFFKCAZKDJIKTNNKTNN-FMKWRK
Previous Post

NorthEast Radio Watch 4/6/2020: Entercom Makes Big Cuts

Next Post

NorthEast Radio Watch 4/13/2020: More Power for Mass. LPFMs

Scott Fybush

Scott Fybush

Editor/Publisher, NorthEast Radio Watch and Tower Site of the Week

Related Posts

WUHF transmitter room
Free Content

Site of the Week 2/3/2023: A Midsummer Miscellany

A few (very) random sites from some (very) random travels in the summer of 2022

by Scott Fybush
February 3, 2023
NorthEast Radio Watch 1/30/2023: FCC Picks Noncomm FM Winners
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 1/30/2023: FCC Picks Noncomm FM Winners

In this week’s issue… FCC picks noncom FM window winners - Audacy shifts NYC talent - ATSC 3 launches in Boston - Corus finishes Toronto morning shuffle - New FM in Quebec?

by Scott Fybush
January 31, 2023
NorthEast Radio Watch 1/23/2023: Remembering Philly’s Geator
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 1/23/2023: Remembering Philly’s Geator

In this week’s issue… Jerry Blavat, RIP - New leader at WMHT - Holy Family adds three - New morning shows in Toronto

by Scott Fybush
January 23, 2023
NorthEast Radio Watch 1/16/2023: Townsquare Silences More AMs
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 1/16/2023: Townsquare Silences More AMs

In this week’s issue… More AMs silenced - Remembering CT's Thompson, NYC's Gary Kline - WEEI completes new lineup - "Moose" roams NH lakes - New signals on Canada's Bruce Peninsula - CRTC considers revoking licenses 

by Scott Fybush
January 16, 2023
Next Post
NorthEast Radio Watch 4/13/2020: More Power for Mass. LPFMs

NorthEast Radio Watch 4/13/2020: More Power for Mass. LPFMs

Log In


Join Now | Lost Password?

Get Fybush.com Updates

Get Fybush.com updates emailed directly to your inbox!

Fybush.com Twitter List

My Tweets

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.