KFIZ: Fond du Lac County's Original AM Radio Station
by Anne Kelly

In 1922, Fond du Lac businessman Oscar Huelsman was seeking new ways to advertise the radios that he sold as an adjunct to his Fond du Lac automobile showroom and repair business. After some reflection, he decided to start a radio station. According to the local newspaper, “it wasn’t much of a station, crammed into a tiny ‘studio’ on the third floor of the Haber Printing Company building, next to Huelsman’s auto showroom and garage. But Huelsman and his business associate Lawrence Bush, and a mechanical expert Edward ‘Cap’ Conley were eager to set up a broadcasting outlet.” ¹ This experi-ment grew into radio station KFIZ. The enthusiasm for the new medium, radio, could be seen not only in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, but also across the nation as the new technology was tested and improved almost daily.

Radio technology was still a relatively recent development. In December 1901, Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi perfected a radio system that transmitted Morse code over long distances. The implications of this transmission are still felt today. From its beginnings as a means of quick communication to its evolution as a commercial source of entertainment and information, radio was one of the most important communication advances of the twentieth century. The sociological impact of commercial radio on American society in the 1920s and 1930s was tremendous. Radio brought into millions of homes entertainment, news, and a new way to involve Americans in the developing mass culture of the modernizing country. Radio became the voice–a common thread–that tied Americans together through the difficult years of the Depression and World War II. It was the predecessor to television and remains a viable link to information and enter-tainment in today’s fast-paced world. While the telegraph was the first electronic link to unite the country, radio became the mass-audience electronic link that brought Americans together.

Radio stations that have come into existence over the years have had various operational philosophies. Some have been anchor stations for the networks; others concentrated on news or sports; still others focused on entertainment. “Local” radio exists primarily for the purpose of keeping a community informed about matters that interest its residents. Some stations discard this “local” flavor in favor of formats such as all-net-work programming that require fewer personnel and generate more revenue. Over the three-quarters of a century that it has operated, Fond du Lac’s original AM station, KFIZ, has focused on local programming, and the station has survived and flourished through the per-ception that local programming, balanced with a mix of network offerings, is a formula for success and longevity.

The history of KFIZ shows a rich and reflective view of how American radio has developed and the nature of its influence on Fond du Lac and, in a broader sense, on the United States. KFIZ programming and personalities over the years illustrate the importance of radio in the community. KFIZ radio brought to Fond du Lac in the 1920s and 1930s a new form of communication and entertainment that linked the community to the wider world. As radios became common household appliances, KFIZ had a role in creating an identity for the Fond du Lac community in a way similar to that which radio stations collectively played in shaping an American identity.

At its inception, KFIZ’s owners held the philosophy that it was a community radio station. From its earliest days to the end of the twentieth century, the idea of local programming and service to the Fond du Lac community, provided through up-to-date news and weather, comprehensive Fond du Lac area sports coverage and original programming, was the cornerstone philosophy of station operation. Owners and station managers over the years took the approach of serving the community by focusing on this type of programming. While other stations in the area adopted different formats (e.g., all-music, all-religious or all-network programming), or changed from one format to another, KFIZ continued to entertain, inform and serve Fond du Lac County and the surrounding areas as the County’s only radio station that maintained its blended format of news, sports, information and entertainment over time. This philosophy remained the focus of operations and programming as the station neared the end of a century of operation.

With the rapid improvement in radio technology made at the beginning of the twentieth century, the door opened for radio to become a defining force for communi-cation in America and the world. The relaxation of military restrictions on radio after World War I permitted many experimental radio stations to appear. Most were run with homemade apparatus and operated by amateurs. The initial range of such broadcasts was only a few miles, and most broadcasters were experimenters who pursued radio as a hobby. Imaginative individuals such as David Sarnoff, later of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), were already envisioning the possibilities of the new medium. In 1916, Sarnoff was the first to foresee the possibility of a radio receiver in every home.

The growth of commercial radio was rapid from the 1920s. Beginning with an interest in radio clubs in the early 1920s, soon a demand arose to hear music on the air, and this led to interest in receivers that anyone could use. Radio’s role in society expanded explosively. The increase in numbers of listeners justified establishment of stations for the purposes of entertainment and broadcast information such as news, weather and sports.

November 2, 1920 saw the first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, broadcast the returns of the Harding-Cox presidential election. The success of this broadcast and of KDKA musical programs inspired others to form similar stations. By the end of 1921, there were eight commercial radio stations operating in the United States. The question of funding these emerging stations might be addressed by two different approaches. The first relied on the profit from the manufacture, sale, and licensure of radio receiving equipment, a method employed in Britain. The second required paying advertisers generating interest for a product or business through com-mercial messages. These advertising dollars eventually became the main support for broadcasting in the United States. A third approach, public subscriptions, while widely used in parts of Europe, never became popular in the United States other than for “public radio.”

The year 1922 saw another innovation of great importance for radio broadcasting. Long-distance telephone lines connected a radio station in New York with another in Chicago in order to broadcast a football game, thus launching the first network radio broadcast. In 1926, the National Broadcasting Company, through its purchase of a New York radio station, established the first permanent network of radio stations to distribute daily programming.

Responding to the rapid growth of radio broadcasting in the 1920s, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927. This legislation created the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC’s primary role was to assign wavelengths to broadcasters.

By the mid 1920s, radio as a broadcast medium was off and running. The National Almanac and Year-Book for 1925 reported “The industry rose to a new height and it is estimated that sales for the entire year were in excess of $6 million, thus marking an increase in five years from $1 million.” ² The Almanac also made note of the broadcast transmission of Calvin Coolidge’s inauguration ceremonies on March 4, 1925. It stated that nearly

twenty stations, all linked by long distance telephone wires, provided for the first time that so great an audience [could hear] the President of the United States take an oath of office. Letters of nearly 8,000 listeners to station WMAQ in Chicago were compiled in a scrapbook together with letters from other listeners in other states, and the volume was presented to President Coolidge.

This is just one example of the impact, both financial and social, that radio was beginning to make in just the first few years of its existence. The impact and contributions of commercial radio were just beginning.

As radio rapidly grew and changed on the national level, in Wisconsin its history was one of growth and change that closely reflected national trends. The history of radio in Wisconsin began in Madison at the University of Wisconsin. In 1917, the experimental station 9XM had “started sending daily weather bulletins supplied by the Weather Bureau by Morse code, and several hundred listeners in farm areas around Madison seemed to value the service.” ³

In 1919, when the government lifted restrictions on amateur radio operators following the end of World War I, 9XM resumed the daily weather bulletins. Professor Earle M. Terry, however, was anxious to shift to voice broadcasting, a project he had worked on during the war. “With vacuum tubes made in the university laboratory–none were on the market yet–he began voice tests in 1919 and continued throughout 1920.” ⁴ By the end of 1920, listeners heard 9XM test broadcasts as far away as Texas. By January 3, 1921, voice weather forecasts were given daily, although they were still sup-plemented by Morse code bulletins. In January 1922, 9XM applied for call letters and a license and formally became WHA. This move was in line with the seventy-four other colleges and universities who in that year established broadcast stations. ⁵ WHA is still in operation as the university radio station at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and it is the oldest radio station in the state, according to the Commerce Department’s Callsign and Station Owner Card Files. ⁶

Several printed sources claim that WHAD, formerly broadcasting out of Mar-quette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the oldest station in the State. An article by Stan Gores about KFIZ that appeared in the Commonwealth Reporter stated, “station WHAD is believed to have been the ‘first’ in Wisconsin.” As it is no longer in business, this leaves KFIZ with the designation as “one of the oldest stations in the Midwest.” ⁷ The content of this article was repeated by local historian Fred Weller in his 1982 book, Achievements in Fond du Lac during the 1900’s. It is clear that WHA is the oldest station, but which is the oldest commercial station? WHA has always been a noncom-mercial station. WHAD received its commercial license in 1933, moving from an educational station to a commercial station. ⁸ However, WHAD AM no longer exists. The station’s call letters were re-licensed to the State of Wisconsin Educational Com-munications Board in February 28, 1947, as WHAD–FM. WHAD now operates in Delafield as an FM public radio station. ⁹

According to government records, KFIZ was licensed as a “limited commercial” radio station in 1923. ¹⁰ That predates WHAD’s licensure, which incorrectly has been called the “first” station in Wisconsin. WHA of Madison, licensed in January of 1922, and broadcasting since 1917, is the oldest noncommercial radio station. A list complied using the Commerce Department’s Callsign and Station Owner Card Files shows that, among the one hundred oldest broadcasting stations in the United States, WHA is listed tenth and WISN in Milwaukee is listed 100th. WISN’s date of licensure was July 22, 1922. This commercial station still exists today, and records from the Federal Communi-cations Commission indicate there has been no change in its call letters. Therefore, when KFIZ received its license just over a year later, it became what is surely one of the oldest commercial stations in continuous existence in Wisconsin.

The history of radio in Fond du Lac began with the formation of radio clubs. These were groups of enthusiasts who owned receivers, but they did not have the capa-bility to broadcast. Club members came together, talked about what they had heard, and shared information on what was on the “waves.” The Fondy Radio Club advertised its meetings in the Daily Commonwealth. An article dated January 6, 1923, urged people “to attend and get behind the movement to make the ‘Fondy’ club one of the best in the state.” ¹¹ Bernard Weideman, an ardent supporter of the club, was quoted as saying, “If the fans of the city would only show as much interest in the club as they did in listening in with their sets, every fan in Fond du Lac would be a member.” This club was the first sign of support for and excitement about the new medium of communication.

As amateur radio enthusiasts continued to pursue their hobby, they created a market for electronic receiving equipment. In April 1923, T. W. Meiklejohn Company was assigned the distributorship for Mu-Rad receiving sets in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. These radio receivers were hailed as the newest technology, “requiring no outside aerial or inside wiring or ground connections of any kind.” ¹²

Two factors convinced the Meikeljohn Company to take on the new product. The first was the great interest farmers had in having a radio set in their homes. Here was a constant source of information of all kinds. Not only did radio provide reports on mar-ket conditions and weather, but, for those isolated on a farm, the radio receiver produced musical entertainment, educational programs, and brought the world into their homes, absolutely free. The country quickly embraced this new medium, and the great enthu-siasm was reflected in the number of sets sold. The Daily Commonwealth reported “Figures just published show that 1,800,000 receiving sets are in use today whereas a year ago, there were only a few thousand.” ¹³ The second factor that helped radio receiv-ing sets become a hot business item locally was Wisconsin’s location. Surrounded by powerful sending stations in every direction, Wisconsin residents could receive after-noon and evening programs daily. Minneapolis had three stations that broadcast pro-grams; Davenport, Iowa had another, while Chicago boasted a half-dozen. Programming could be received clearly from stations as far away as St. Louis and Kansas City. The interest in radio shown by radio clubs that were trying to organize enthusiasts, plus the formation of a local company dedicated to selling receivers, suggested that Fond du Lac was ripe for its own sending station.

Local businessman Oscar A. Huelsman, looking for a unique way to stir up busi-ness for his Dodge automobile dealership, was the entrepreneur who made the decision to go into broadcasting in Fond du Lac. Huelsman’s initial effort was an experimental radio station, set up with homemade equipment in cramped quarters on the third floor of the Haber Printing Company building. Haber Printing was located at 18 Forest Avenue, adjacent to the Huelsman Auto Showroom and Garage at 22 Forest Avenue in Fond du Lac. ¹⁴

According to the original “License for Land Radio Station” by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation, Radio Service, KFIZ was officially licensed on July 12, 1923 with a Class A Limited Commercial license. The initial license for KFIZ from the Department of Commerce classified the station as a “limited commercial” station. In the United States, beginning in 1912, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Navi-gation regulated radio. One of the first steps taken by the Bureau was to divide land stations into eight classes, one of which was “Limited Commercial.” Another category was “Experimental.” When a license was issued, the classification was established. “The Limited Commercial classification was a catch-all group for stations that were set up for some commercial purpose, but were ‘limited’ in the sense that they did not handle public messages.” ¹⁵ Therefore, it appears that KFIZ was already considered a commercial radio station.

Assigned the call letters KFIZ, the station’s owners, The Daily Commonwealth and Oscar Huelsman, were granted a three-month license. ¹⁶ An article in the Daily Commonwealth, reported that a “permit to proceed with the fight [Dempsey-Gibbons] program at the local broadcasting station was received this morning from S. B. Davis, acting secretary of the Department of Commerce. Mr. Davis gave the station the letters KFIZ.” ¹⁷ Even though the official date on the license was July 6, 1923, and the document was recorded as received on July 12, 1923, it can be assumed, from the existence of the newspaper article, that the station had knowledge of the acceptance of its application and had been informed of the new call letters prior to the completion of the official paper-work. This enabled the new KFIZ to notify the public of its new call letters before the actual license was issued. The time period between assigning call letters and issuing a license ranged from immediate action to as long as forty days. According to Department of Commerce records, the time lag was usually in the range of one to three days. ¹⁸ As is the case today, radio stations had confirmation about new call letters before the actual paperwork was completed. It should be noted that the call letters KFIZ were assigned to the station by the Department of Commerce.

Today the Federal Communications Commission assigns call letters and licenses, although stations may request individual call letters. Beginning in 1913, the United States government had generally separated the assignment of K and W call letters, the two letters assigned by international agreement to stations located in the United States. The original K/W boundary ran northward from the Mexican border along the eastern borders of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. However, in late January 1923, the K/W boundary was shifted east to the Mississippi River. With this change, K was assigned to all new licenses west of the Mississippi. Existing stations were allowed to keep their nonstandard designations. A few stations, including KFIZ, originally received the K designation, despite their location east of the boundary. Two other stations, KQV and KYW, both in Pennsylvania, also have a K designation . The “K” call letter is another testament to the age of station KFIZ. ¹⁹

The first big broadcast for the new KFIZ took place on July 4, 1923. The Daily Commonwealth reported that “Radio fans in Fond du Lac and adjacent counties may tune in their sets tomorrow afternoon and get the Dempsey-Gibbons fight returns round by round from the Daily Commonwealth–Dodge Brothers Motor Car Agency broadcasting

KFIZ Studio at 18 Forest Avenue in the 1920s

station.” ²⁰ Listeners in these early days also heard music, news and other odds and ends, as evidenced by the daily program schedules that regularly appeared in the Daily Commonwealth and later the Commonwealth Reporter. In the beginning, the owners only operated the station for a few hours a day, at their convenience, and the station was often off the air by 6 p.m. It is likely that Huelsman used the station to promote his Dodge franchise and his DeForrest Radios as well as his Paige, Jewett, Oakland and Star automobiles. This is evidenced by the dealership’s annual car give-away that was probably advertised over KFIZ. This annual event drew large crowds and was attended by people from all over the area. ²¹

In 1926 the Reporter Printing Company, which owned the Fond du Lac Daily Reporter, bought the P. B. Haber Printing Company. Haber Printing, in turn, owned The Daily Commonwealth and KFIZ radio. On October 1, 1926, the Reporter Printing Com-pany announced that its recent purchase had culminated in that day’s issue of a news-paper formed by the merger of the two previous local papers. The Daily Commonwealth and the Fond du Lac Daily Reporter became the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter. The article traced the history of the two newspapers and mentioned that one of the assets of the P. B. Haber Company was KFIZ radio.

The job printing plant, formerly part of the Haber properties, will continue to be operated at capacity under the name of the P. B. Haber Printing Company by the new owners, as will radio station KFIZ, which is now in the charges of the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter and will be on the air at the usual hour daily. ²²

This article stated that the officers of the Reporter Printing Company, President and General Manager A. H. Lange, Vice-president and Editor C. F. Coffman and Secretary and Treasurer Emery Martin, who collectively had been “connected with the company for more than 20 years, and since 1917 have been in complete control and now are the sole owners of the property,” would now oversee the combined operation of the “new” newspaper, radio station and printing companies. ²³

Five years later, on March 5, 1931, the Reporter Printing Company established new studios for the station on the second floor of the Commonwealth Reporter Building, located at 18 West First Street. At that time, KFIZ had its power increased to 100 watts, with an antenna erected on top of the building. Both developments were indications of the growing success of the station. ²⁴

With the move to new ownership and new studio, schedules for the broadcast day were then published in the Commonwealth Reporter, providing a new means for the station to attract listeners. The offerings that were publicized for the broadcast day of March 5, 1931 included the news and sports flashes that began the broadcast day at 5:00 a.m. Subsequent programming was on the air from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. and again from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A musical program featuring “Trixie Troy,” who played the guitar and sang, aired at 5:15, and the “Melody Boys” followed at 5:30. The Children’s Hour lasted from 5:45 until 6:00, when the weather report, sponsored by Tent and Awning Company of Fond du Lac, was broadcast.

From 6:02 until the time signal break at 6:30, there were various musical pro-grams featuring local talents, including A. W. Triggs, the station manager. Each fifteen-minute to thirty-minute block included a different local business that sponsored the station break that stated the call letters and the time. The evening programs that day featured an address by Attorney General John W. Reynolds at 7:32. After 8:00 p.m., the “Knights of the Night,” who had earlier been broadcast from 6:47 to 7:30, appeared again to host a request program until the end of broadcasting, at a time that was not specified. ²⁵

Programming at the radio station was a central concern of management and remains a main focus today. In 1932, Al Triggs, the first station manager, was replaced by Lynn Fairbanks. Under Fairbanks’ direction, the station moved into a new era, with the original local talent now supplemented by network shows. This programming mix was maintained to the end of the twentieth century. According to current station owner, Randy Hopper, whose Mountain Dog Media is the parent company of KFIZ radio, the station’s mission statement is “to grow the organization with a foundation built on integrity, honesty and dedication; to prosper through increased service to the community and to our business partners.” ²⁶

From the beginning of its operations to the end of the century, the company managers have consistently believed that this mission statement was manifested in the local programming that the station offered to its listeners. By focusing on issues and events such as local election coverage, high school sports, and providing a venue for charities, service and school organizations to share their activities, along with compre-hensive news, information and entertainment that is of local interest, KFIZ’s ownership believed the station provided its listeners with “meaningful” programming. Partnered with selected network programs, such as Mike Gallagher, Mike Segal, and Fox Sports Net, this combination still constituted the station’s format in 2000. ²⁷

In recent promotional materials, Mountain Dog Media says of KFIZ, “Generation after generation have depended on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ, ‘The One You Depend On’ for news, weather, sports and agribusiness since KFIZ’s inception in 1922. News-Talk 1450 KFIZ is the foundation on which Mountain Dog Media has been built.” ²⁸ Dedi-cation to this purpose is reflected in the logos used by the station. KFIZ’s motto, found below its logo, reads “KFIZ–The One You Depend On” and the KFIZ sports logo reads “The Only Game in Town.” Recently other local stations have begun to cover Fond du Lac sporting events, but in the past KFIZ was the only local station to cover both local and professional sporting events. As a result, the motto “The Only Game in Town” refers to that time and to the idea that KFIZ claims it still provides the most comprehensive local and professional sports coverage.

To promote the local feel of its programming, the station began remote broadcasts in the early 1930s. An exact date is not recorded, but Lynn Fairbanks recollects the con-tent of the first remote broadcast. “I remember our first remote control broadcast that originated from our studios. It came from the former George M. Dugan Funeral Home, with Harvey Millar playing the organ and Joseph Bastian singing.” ²⁹ Another early re-mote broadcast took place in 1933, when local Christmas services were broadcast for

KFIZ Remote Broadcast of Hormel Girls Corps Band and Choir, Roosevelt Junior High School Auditorium, 1930s

the first time. Midnight Mass from St. Joseph’s Church, celebrated by Reverend Monsignor Henry G. Riordan, pastor, was aired live. Remote broadcasting rapidly became an integral part of station programming. Whether it was coverage of local sporting events, local election returns, or live remotes from various community events such as Farm Progress Days or the Fond du Lac County Fair, KFIZ made a point of getting out and about and letting the community know what was happening in the area.

Early local programs included various types of shows. There were programs especially designed for certain advertisers. Fairbanks, for instance, created “The Chilton Hour,” supported by Chilton merchants, along with various programs like “Shut-Ins Church Hour” on Saturday evenings. ³⁰ One of the early local performers on the station was Mrs. Lucille Fairbanks, wife of the station manager Lynn Fairbanks. Mrs. Fairbanks, known as Cile, had a daily show where she played listeners’ requests on the organ. Mrs. Fairbanks served as the station’s program director and staff organist. On July 27, 1937, the station purchased a pump organ, manufactured by the Claugh and Warren Company of Detroit, Michigan, which was the “same type of instrument used in many leading radio stations, churches, schools, mortuary parlors, and homes throughout the country.” ³¹ This organ, though no longer considered a piece of studio equipment, can still be seen in the studio lobby of KFIZ.

The 1967 Stan Gores article that appeared in the Commonwealth Reporter lists some of the entertainers who appeared on KFIZ in 1932. These early programs all featured various types of local entertainment, as network affiliation for the station did not begin until April 18, 1936. ³² Listed in the article were “such shows as ‘The Percy Duo,’ ‘Harmony Song Girl,’ ‘George Mohr’s Cowboy Trio,’ ‘News Flashes by Jay Harlin,’ ‘Ken and Bill,’ ‘Household Hints,’ ‘Farm News,’ ‘Herbie Zuelsdorf and His Playboys,’ ‘Arch Adrian and His Orchestra,’ ‘Warren Lynes with Sports Talk,’ ‘Elinor Hrabik and Helen Ley with classical selections,’ ‘Lucille and Jimmy,’ ‘Barb and Pete and Rubetown Entertainers,’ ‘The Merchants’ Review,’ ‘Mites of the Mike,’ and the hourly time signal.” ³³ Musical selections were interspersed with news, sports, farm news, and infor-mational programs. Many of these programs were station fixtures for years. Cile Fairbanks, “The Merchants’ Review”, and “Farm Review,” among others, all appeared on daily programming schedules into the 1940s. ³⁴

More recently, local programming that has left a lasting mark on Fond du Lac has included shows such as “The Yawn Patrol,” “The 180 Club,” (morning programs), “The Proscenium,” “Ron Harvey on Record,” “Gazing at Sports,” “Danny the Elf,” “The Swap Shop,” “Party Line,” and “The Josh Krunchmeyer Show.” ³⁵ The features that made these local programs endure were the hosts and the connection the content had to the com-munity. For instance, “The Josh Krunchmeyer” show was on the air for almost seven years. Hosts Ron Harvey and Joe Goeser aired the show on Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Harvey played the straight man to Goeser’s silly Dutchman character, Josh Krunchmeyer, who was portrayed as a fun-loving world traveler. The program featured polka music along with the two hosts’ humor and down-to-earth chatter that included “zinging” local listeners for fun. Host Joe Goeser recalled that they never really could figure out why people loved the show. When the “Josh Krunchmeyer” show was finally cancelled, because the hosts had become tired of it and were running out of ideas for material, listeners were very sad. While it was on the air, business people would take their lunch hour at airtime in order to enjoy the program. People talked about the show back then and still talk about it today, even years after it left the air. Goeser noted that people still call him Josh Krunchmeyer. ³⁶

Recent local programs have included a wide variety of shows in the time-proven format of news, sports and entertainment. Local morning programming featured “The Breakfast Club,” including local news, weather and sports updates, along with network clips such as “The Osgood Files,” “Biography Radio,” and “Bloomberg Market Minute.” Local features included “Birthdays/Anniversaries,” “Fond du Lac Senior Center Report,” “Ripon Chamber of Commerce Report,” “Fife on Fishing,” and “Behind the Badge.” All of these local programs discussed topics of information and concern to area residents. ³⁷

Features in 2000 included midmorning, “Backstage Live,” produced and directed live in the studio and featuring “interviews with top local, regional and national acts including musicians, entertainers, comedians, authors and celebrities.” ³⁸ Music ranging from the ’40s to the ’90s was also played. “Viewpoint with Jeff McAndrew,” (replaced by Paul Barbato in 2001), a call-in show devoted to issues that affect Fond du Lac and the area, aired around midday. The evening’s offerings of local programming included “KFIZ Newswatch,” which highlighted the day’s local and national headlines. “Sports-line,” an hour-long show, is the only daily sports talk show in the area that covers every-thing from high school sports to professional sports. ³⁹ Recently, more network program-ming from FOX Sports has been featured. On Sunday mornings, there is still a local church-related program. This feature of religious broadcasting has been evident at KFIZ in some fashion during its entire history of operation. From the “Shut-Ins Church Hour” in the 1920s to various religious programs, including “The Family Rosary,” in 1965, to the current news and church programming, this continuity reflects the importance to the local community of religious broadcasts on the local station, although the current sched-ule includes much less religious material than was the case in the past.

KFIZ has prided itself not only on its locally produced shows but on its ability effectively to intersperse network programs in the daily schedule. Network presentations bring to the community information that deals with topics from a national viewpoint. Such broadcasts have typically been national news, sports, or entertainment features that have ranged from musical or dramatic presentations to talk-radio format programs. Recent offerings have included such nationally well-known individuals as Charles Osgood, Martha Stewart, and Matt Drudge. These recently expanded network broad-casts, current KFIZ ownership believes, have enhanced the scope of information that the station provides to its listeners. Airing these nationally focused programs to the Fond du Lac community has given KFIZ the dual ability to inform and serve the community on local topics of concern as well as bring a view of the world to Wisconsin in a format that is meaningful to local listeners.

This history of network partnership began for KFIZ on Saturday April 18, 1936, when KFIZ became associated with the Affiliated Broadcasting Company (ABC). This affiliation was a significant boost for KFIZ programming, and it was heavily promoted by the station’s parent company, Reporter Printing, which also owned the newspaper. On April 17, 1936, the Commonwealth Reporter ran a large article on the affiliation, which included the new network schedule that was to start the next day. On Saturday, April 18, 1936, a full-page ad appeared in the same newspaper that said “Congratulations KFIZ on ABC Hook-Up.” This page included another copy of the new daily schedule as well as many congratulatory advertisements from local business. ⁴⁰ The purpose of the partner-ship was explained as:

Dedicated to the purpose of making available to the midwestern audience, through local stations, a full schedule of entertaining and instructive programs, the ABC network reaches out from the Chicago loop to the Twin Cities on the north, Evansville on the southeast and St. Louis on the southwest, carrying programs to the 20-member stations and through them to the great Midwest group of listeners. ⁴¹

The Commonwealth Reporter went on to describe some of the new programming that would now be available to KFIZ listeners. The opening schedule contained women’s programs dealing with foods, fashion and feminine concerns, music and drama for the children, a play-by-play account of a Chicago Cubs’ game direct from Wrigley Field, a half-dozen assorted dramatic presentations ranging from farce to tragedy, a sports sum-mary, dramatizations of the day’s news highlights and a number of authoritative speakers on various subjects. ⁴²

In September 1937, a more regional association followed the affiliation with ABC. The Commonwealth Reporter reported on August 12, 1937, that representatives of KFIZ, WHBY of Green Bay and WIBU of Poynette had come together to organize an independent radio network including these stations. “The new network will be known as the Wisconsin Broadcasting System. The stations will interchange programs and the system will immediately seek sponsors for radio time. Plans have been made to even-tually extend the network from Green Bay, to Wausau, Eau Claire and Minneapolis and from Poynette to Janesville, Racine and Milwaukee.” ⁴³ This association continues to exist today. Now called the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, membership includes 35 television and 290 radio stations in Wisconsin.

Over the years various networks and services have provided national news and other programming to KFIZ. After ABC, the station joined the Mutual Broadcasting System. Other networks and national providers with which KFIZ has affiliated have included the Associated Press, CNN, FOX Sports, and Mutual Broadcasting. Currently KFIZ has returned to CNN. ⁴⁴ KFIZ is one of only five Wisconsin stations using the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB). This service gives KFIZ the ability to broadcast more extensive farm news than most other stations can provide. ⁴⁵

One very important aspect of KFIZ local programming has been its sports cover-age. This tradition began from the very earliest broadcasts. The first program broadcast by the station, while using the call letters KFIZ, was the “Dempsey-Gibbons fight returns round by round” on July 4 1923.⁴⁶ In 1935, KFIZ started broadcasting the home basket-ball games of Goodrich High School. ⁴⁷ This began a long tradition of local sports broad-casting. Joe Goeser, long time employee of KFIZ, and for many years a radio sports announcer, noted that for 25 years KFIZ broadcast Fond du Lac Youth Baseball games. Each week a different team was featured, and this show was a hit with parents, grand-parents and friends. Goeser also noted that, sometimes, local sporting events were so well attended that people who could not obtain tickets had to listen to the game on the radio. Every type of game was covered, and people would say that, if KFIZ was not there to cover a game, then it wasn’t worth attending. ⁴⁸ One example of how KFIZ backed local sports was a 1952 fundraiser intended to aid the financially troubled local minor league baseball franchise.

The old Fond du Lac Panthers baseball team in the Wisconsin State Leagues nearly lost the local franchise because of dwindling receipts; the station remained on the air until nearly 4 a.m. to get about $8000 from residents to help keep the team ‘alive.’ ⁴⁹

KFIZ covered local sports, but through its network affiliations the station has also been able to bring national sports to the area. In 1936, when the station became an affiliate of the ABC network, listeners were able to listen to “a play-by-play account of the Cubs game direct from Wrigley Field.” ⁵⁰ On February 12, 1954, the Commonwealth Reporter announced that:

All games of the Milwaukee Braves will be broadcast over radio station KFIZ during the coming major leagues season. There will be 90 daytime games and 60 nighttime games. ⁵¹ In addition to carrying the regular season broadcasts, a score of exhibition games between the Braves and other major league teams will be broadcast beginning in March. ⁵²

KFIZ even received recognition from the Braves organization in December 1956 for promoting Braves games on the radio. The station was one of two winners of a promotional contest for Braves network stations in a four-state area.” ⁵³

Today, KFIZ is Fond du Lac’s local source for Green Bay Packers football, Milwaukee Brewers baseball, Milwaukee Bucks basketball and Wisconsin Badgers Sports. KFIZ was the very first Milwaukee Brewers affiliate and one of the first Green Bay Packers affiliates. During the football season, KFIZ brings the NFL to the air on Sundays, and “Monday Night Football” is broadcast via the CBS Radio Network. ⁵⁴

During its years of broadcasting, KFIZ has had a number of personalities behind the microphone and in the studios. Some have been local people who became household names, such as Lynn and Cile Fairbanks, Al Triggs, Ron Harvey, Joe Goeser, and Doug McGrath. Others began their careers in Fond du Lac and moved on to work in larger markets elsewhere in the country. Fahey Flynn was an announcer for KFIZ in late 1938, after he had graduated from the Oshkosh State Teachers College. Flynn won many awards for newscasting with WBBM and CBS in Chicago and eventually became principal anchor on the WLS-TVnightly news. ⁵⁵ Jonathon Brantmeier, Cal Culver, Al Sampson, Jim Lawler and Dick Weidenbruch were all early announcers who spent part of their careers at KFIZ and then moved on to broadcast in other parts of the country. ⁵⁶ In the year 2000, personalities included Jerry St. John, Jeff McAndrew, Chuck Friemund and Joe Sheibinger. These individuals continued the KFIZ tradition of broadcasting a mix of news, weather, sports and entertainment. ⁵⁷

Over the years the studios for KFIZ have seen various homes. The original location of the station, as previously mentioned, was on the third floor of the Haber Printing Company building at 18 Forest Avenue. Five years after the Reporter Printing Company purchased the station, in 1926, the studios moved in March 1931 to the second floor of the Commonwealth Reporter building, located at 18 West First Street in Fond du Lac. At this time the newspaper reported that

a full complement of modern broadcasting equipment was installed in a sound-proof room. The equipment installed will give KFIZ a dependable range and will greatly improve broadcasting facilities.” ⁵⁸

Power at that time was also increased to 100 watts, and a 154-foot antenna was erected on top of the building. ⁵⁹

The year 1946 saw another extensive remodeling project that included installation of new equipment and improvements in the studios and offices of the station in its current location, 254 Winnebago Drive. ⁶⁰ In December 1954, The Commonwealth Reporter published an article that informed the community of the radio station’s successful bid to have a new antenna approved by the FCC. Permission was given to the station’s owner to erect a new 340-foot tower on West Scott Street. The tower would enable the station to continue use of the frequency of 1450 and broadcasts would have the power of 250 watts, day and night. Along with the new tower, the owners installed new transmitter equipment in a building at the new site on Scott Street. ⁶¹ The tower was completed by December 16, 1954, with final testing taking another two to three weeks. A. H. Lange, President of KFIZ Broadcasting, stated that listeners could expect better reception within 30 days. ⁶² In October 1966, the FCC approved a power increase for the station to 1,000 watts. This increased the quality of the AM transmissions. ⁶³ This tower is still in use today and operates at 1,000 watts.

In the early 1970s, KFIZ studios were moved to 307 North Main Street. 1979 saw a move to 254 Winnebago Drive, a former Sentry grocery store, then down the road in 1988 to 103 West Scott Street. Finally, in 1995, KFIZ moved back to its current home at 254 Winnebago Drive. ⁶⁴ These moves corresponded to changes in ownership that KFIZ experienced during those years. In 1972, Don Jones bought KFIZ, and he owned the business for fifteen years. Jones sold the station to Independence Broadcasting of New York in late 1987. ⁶⁵ Independence Broadcasting owned KFIZ until 1993, when Don Jones and Randy Hopper of Lakeside Broadcasting bought KFIZ and FM station WFON, later re-licensed as KFIZ–FM. ⁶⁶ The most recent change of ownership occurred in January 1997, when KFIZ was purchased from Don Jones by Randy Hopper, now of Yellow Dog Broadcasting, a division of Mountain Dog Media. With new technological advances, KFIZ implemented a fresh mode of presentation, and the station can be accessed on the Internet through the station website, www.kfiz.com.

One of Wisconsin’s oldest AM radio stations, KFIZ, from its inception to the end of the twentieth century, held to a philosophy that it is a community radio station. The idea of local programming and service to the Fond du Lac community was the corner-stone of operational philosophy. By providing the community with timely news, weather, sports, agribusiness and entertainment, KFIZ carved out a place in the minds of Fond du Lac County residents as the source of accurate local information. In times of bad weather, breaking news and joyful experiences, KFIZ provided information to those who needed to know or who could not be there. Owners and station managers over the years remained true to this idea of serving the community.

Originally, KFIZ’s purpose was to help sell cars, which at that time were as novel as was the radio used to advertise them. Sales of commercial advertisements and promotion of radio continue to be key elements in the success of the radio station. Ownership by a group that published the local newspaper provided KFIZ with a format to promote daily schedules and keep the public informed about changes at the station. For a few years, KFIZ stood relatively alone as an independent media outlet. Today, it is the flagship operation of a company that owns multiple radio stations, a small newspaper, and a sign company, all of which have connections to the Internet. The public purpose of KFIZ has always been to entertain, to inform and to serve Fond du Lac County and the surrounding areas. With the support of the various multimedia resources of the parent company, KFIZ continued its long tradition of community service in new ways that had not always been possible before. The twin traditions of innovation and community service have combined in a business plan that has encouraged and sustained a loyal Fond du Lac listenership from the early 1920s to the present.

1 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

2 - National Almanac and Yearbook, 1925, 656. return

3 - Erik Barnouw, The History of Broadcasting in the United States: v. I: A Tower in Babel to 1933, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966), 61. return

4 - Barnouw, 61. return

5 - Barnouw, 82, 97. return

6 - United States Department of Commerce, Callsign and Station Owner Card Files. return

7 - The Daily Commonwealth, March 24, 1967. return

8 - Barnouw, 272n. return

9 - Federal Communications Commission, January 29, 2001. return

10 - State Historical Society of Wisconsin, License for Land Radio Station. return

11 - The Daily Commonwealth, January 6, 1923. return

12 - The Daily Commonwealth, April 3, 1923. return

13 - The Daily Commonwealth, April 3, 1923. return

14 - Fred Weller, Achievements in Fond du Lac during the 1900’s (Fond du Lac: Action Printing, 1982), 94. return

15 - United States Department of Commerce, Callsign and Station Owner Card Files. return

16 - State Historical Society of Wisconsin, License for Land Radio Station. return

17 - The Daily Commonwealth, July 3, 1923. return

18 - United States Department of Commerce, Callsign and Station Owner Card Files. return

19 - United States Department of Commerce, Callsign and Station Owner Card Files. return

20 - The Daily Commonwealth, July 3, 1923. return

21 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

22 - The Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, October 1, 1926. return

23 - The Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, October 1, 1926. return

24 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

25 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 5, 1931. return

26 - KFIZ Radio Files, Mission Statement, October 27, 2000. return

27 - Randy Hopper Interview, October 27, 2000. return

28 - KFIZ Radio Files, Promotional Materials for Mountain Dog Media. return

29 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

30 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

31 - The Commonwealth Reporter, July 27, 1937. return

32 - The Commonwealth Reporter, April 17, 1936. return

33 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

34 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 19-27, 1940. return

35 - The Commonwealth Reporter, January 28, 1956. return

36 - Joe Goeser Interview, December 7, 2000. return

37 - KFIZ Website, www.kfiz.com. return

38 - KFIZ Website, www.kfiz.com. return

39 - KFIZ Website, www.kfiz.com. return

40 - The Commonwealth Reporter, April 18, 1936. return

41 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

42 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

43 - The Commonwealth Reporter, August 12, 1937. return

44 - Joe Goeser Interview, December 7, 2000. return

45 - Jerry St. John (KFIZ morning broadcaster) Interview, October 16, 2000. return

46 - The Daily Commonwealth, July 3, 1923. return

47 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

48 - Joe Goeser Interview, December 7, 2000. return

49 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

50 - The Commonwealth Reporter, April 17, 1936. return

51- The 1954 Major League Baseball season consisted of 154 games. Four may not have been broadcast, but there are no surviving station logs to verify how many games were actually broadcast. return

52 - The Commonwealth Reporter, February 12, 1954. return

53 - The Commonwealth Reporter, December 5, 1956. return

54 - KFIZ Website, www.kfiz.com. return

55 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

56 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 24, 1967. return

57 - KFIZ Website, www.kfiz.com. return

58 - The Commonwealth Reporter, March 4, 1931. return

59 - The Commonwealth Reporter, September 7, 1938, March 24, 1967. return

60 - The Commonwealth Reporter, December 18, 1947. return

61 - The Commonwealth Reporter, December 7, 1954. return

62 - The Commonwealth Reporter, December 16, 1954. return

63 - The Commonwealth Reporter, October 15, 1966. return

64 - KFIZ Website, www.kfiz.com. return

65 - The Commonwealth Reporter, September 15, 1987. return

66 - Randy Hopper Interview; Federal Communications Commission, www.fcc.gov. return

Copyright 2002 by Clarence B. Davis. All Rights Reserved. Printed by Action Printing, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Electronic publication by Fond du Lac Public Library has been approved by Clarence B. Davis.

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