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Airstaff:

Background:

This was to be the station that eliminated Union Broadcasting and daytime-only SportsRadio 1510 KCTE. The purchase of WREN was Entercom’s response to the small station’s growing dominance over the afternoon & evening sports programming on NewsRadio 980 KMBZ. But despite the best efforts of Program Director and KC native Brooks Melchior, it wasn’t to be, leaving KKGM best remembered as the station whose demise made way for classical KXTR’s controversial move to the AM dial.

It all began with the spring 1999 announcement that Entercom would purchase WREN, then a satellite gospel station, from Mortenson Broadcasting. Kansas City’s growing interest in sports talk made the success of a high-powered, 24-hour sports station appear to be a given. Before signing on Entercom managed to steal the One-on-One Sports network affiliation (including the popular Johnny Renshaw Show) from KCTE, but did little else to hurt the sports incumbents. Efforts to lure former Chief Bill Maas and up-and-coming talent Steven St. John from 1510 were fruitless, though Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski signed on to co-host the local 11-2 program. Entercom’s refusal to move their own sports product (SportsLine with Don Fortune and SportsNight with Danny Clinkscales) from 980 also left them to compete with their own sports programs for seven hours a day.

Leading up to the station’s launch, The Game was (amazingly) able to promote themselves on SportsRadio 1510, with spots promoting a new sports game website at KCSportsGame.com. With website sign-up prizes of big-screen TVs and game tickets, KKGM was able to acquire contact information for scores of potential listeners. July 19th began a four-day run of classic Kansas City Sports broadcasts, such as the 1973 MLB All-Star Game at Royals Stadium, the Royals’ 1985 World Series Championship, and KU’s 1988 NCAA Championship run. The official Friday launch consisted of a special 6-9 AM program with Melchior, a local broadcast from Renshaw, and "Brooksy and Poz" handing out Locker Numbers and website prizes to listeners during "The Locker Room."

The potential fizzled quickly. Renshaw was soon fired from One-on-One. His local replacement, former Channel 41 sportscaster Bill Boronkay lasted less than a month. By October, Posnanski put an end to his radio experiment. But more importantly, Entercom had acquired Sinclair’s four local stations, putting them over the legal limit of eight in the market. 1250 The Game was rumored to be up for sale – and KCTE owner Jerry Green was a potential buyer. When it was announced that KKGM would not in fact be sold, Entercom Market Manager Bob Zuroweste referred to The Game as "the ESPN2 of KMBZ." With only one local program, and the MISL’s Kansas City Attack as the only local team regularly broadcast on the station, that’s precisely how 1250 was treated by listeners and advertisers alike. Green’s acquisition of 810AM and the October launch of 24-hour Sports Radio 810 WHB completed the perfect storm that would seal 1250 The Game’s fate.

The next few months saw ratings hovering around one share point, "The Locker Room" forced to broadcast on location around KC as 99-7 KY took over their studios during a renovation, Melchior’s abrupt June 2000 resignation for a move to the West Coast, and, finally, the July cancellation of "The Locker Room" in favor of completely satellite driven programming. The last local host remaining, Nate Bukaty, was reassigned to sports reporting for KMBZ, which maintained a revamped afternoon and evening lineup of sports programs. On August 17, 2000, the experiment came to an end. 1250 The Game, Entercom’s original Kansas City sports talk station faded away, in favor of Classical KXTR as the latter was displaced at 96.5 by "The Buzz," a hot AC station.

Sandwiched between classic sports broadcasts and classical music, 1250 The Game symbolizes the volatility of Kansas City radio during this time period. Even with the backing of a large media conglomerate and the concentrated effort of a local boy returned home, KKGM was unable to capitalize on a moment of opportunity in the market, leaving them a distant memory as Sports Radio 810 continues to dominate to this day.