Delilah has purchased the AM radio station where her career began.
Her company announced that the syndicated radio host acquired KDUN in Reedsport, Ore.
The nondirectional station, which is licensed at 1030 kHz for 50 kW daytime and 630 watts at night, had been owned by Post Rock Communications. Terms were not announced.
[Read: Delilah Thrives on Instant Connection]
According to FCC records, KDUN has been silent since December for technical reasons. It received Special Temporary Authority to remain silent earlier this month, though the commission noted in the letter that the owner had failed to submit a request to remain silent for most of the first part of 2021.
“The transmitter is still housed in the same small wood structure, that is literally in the middle of a cow pasture on the banks of the Smith River,” her company said in a press release.
“Delilah is feverishly working to restore the site in order to be able to again be heard on ‘KDUN, the voice of the Oregon Dunes.’”
Her company related the story that when young Delilah Rene was in middle school, she won a speech contest that was judged in part by Jerome and Steve Kenegy, brothers who owned the local radio station. The contest winners were invited to the studios. “The first time she was in the studio, Delilah says she felt ‘at home,’ and her passion for radio was born.” She eventually took a job there before moving on to become a DJ and later a syndicated host.
[Read more about the history of KDUN.]
It said she hopes to help cultivate “local young talent who have a passion for communicating” but that “for now, getting the station upgraded and updated is first on her agenda.” The company said that other radio professionals including Smokey Rivers, Gary Nolan, Chris Mays and Jim Ryan “have stepped up to the plate in this endeavor” to help.
She was inducted into NAB’s Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2017.
