City Spokane, Washington Branding KAGU Radio First air date 1988 | Broadcast area Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Frequency 88.7 MHz | |
Format Classical/College radio | ||
KAGU is a classical music radio station run by Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. They broadcast at 88.7 MHz on the FM dial.
History
Prior to its switch to all-classical, it was a college rock station from 1988 until 1996. Billing itself as the "hundred-thousand milliwatt of the River City", KAGU broadcast a 100 watt signal throughout Spokane. Other slogans included "your only alternative" and "proletariat and bourgeoisie alike agree!"
In its first year, KAGU was largely relegated to a radio format of Adult contemporary music with student reports of news and sports as live lab voice work. But in 1987–89 things changed with KAGU when Station Manager John Hipp developed radio shows that were cutting edge college radio. By year's end in 1988 there was a renaissance of student shows that stand as some of the station's most creative and exciting productions. Among the repertoire were live sports broadcasts, live speaker series, live theatre audiocasts, live weekly music shows, and student-sponsored music genre shows. Notable among the broadcasts at the time were the shows Folk Stew which showcased live Spokane, Washington regional folk and blues musicians, the Cork the Tuna's Skipped Grooves show on which Steve MacCorkle brought the edge of his bay area roots and love for alternative new wave and punk tunes, and John Hipp's show The Hippster Radio Identity Crisis which was a cornucopia of musical treasures & Dead Before Midnight featuring Live Grateful Dead bootlegs. These are notable examples of the early days of KAGU, but there were other student shows which also added to the vibe and fabric of the exciting first years of the station.
A marketing high point was achieved when the infamous trailer "Fish For Breakfast" was broadcast in 1994. The concept was simple: the voiceover stated "Fish For Breakfast, and KAGU every night. That's the way it oughtta be!"
Daily programming included alternative rock and specialty shows from 7 AM to midnight.
In late 2004, the KAGU transmitter and antennae were moved from atop the GU Administration Building to the KHQ-TV tower site on Tower Mountain in southeast Spokane. Also, KAGU’s power was boosted from 100 watts to 5,000 watts. Currently, the KAGU signal reaches a 60-mile radius from Tower Mountain.
The station currently follows a commercial-free, all-classical music format. It is the Spokane affiliate of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.