eFortSmith.com | Talking Up A Storm: Fred Baker

Making a new sound in Fort Smith radio
KISR went on the air for the first time Aug. 16, 1971. You'd think Fred would know the first song he played.

"I don't remember!" he said, laughing uproariously. "We went live at 6 a.m. But at 6:13 we realized we hadn't thrown the
switch that sent the audio signal. So at 6:14 we started over again."

"We had no audience," he laughed. "You could not buy an FM radio in this town. KISR offered FM converters and we had
faceplates screenprinted with KISR 93.7 so you could tune to our signal." The converters had to be installed under the dash, wired to the car's existing AM radio.

"People could come to the station and have them put in their cars. We installed thousands of them," Fred said.

Even on the unfamiliar new FM dial, the emergence of a 100,000-watt rock station "was a cultural event in Fort Smith," he said. "I've gone back to listen to our early tapes. It still holds up as a 'big market' sound - we were a hybrid of WLS-Chicago and KLIF in Dallas."

Emulating KLIF was not an accident. Fred had studied the phenomenal success of the Dallas station owner Gordon
McClendon, a legend of radio. As a teenager, Fred had hung around the station on family trips to Dallas and pestered
McClendon for advice.

“He told me I was as crazy as he was. He said I’d better own my own station, or I’d be fired every six weeks,” Fred recalled, chuckling. McClendon had pioneered an innovative style that almost all stations soon tried to follow: He refined a Top 40 playlist by mixing in music that attracted a different age demographic at particular times of day while keeping popular records in frequent rotation. KLIF was the first to have mobile news broadcast vehicles; slick, memorable station identification jingles, distinctive on-air personalities and outlandish gimmicks, promotions and contests for listeners.

Fred adapted McClendon’s best ideas and invented many more on his own. Even though he invested “about what an SUV would cost now” for KISR’s start-up, he spent wisely. He hired a talented slate of disc jockeys, including the late Rod Roddy, long-time voice of “The Price is Right,” and many other talents who went on to national success.

He also hired good radio business people like Gary Kiefer and Rick Pope, both still with KISR, Fred noted. His dad, Fred Baker Sr., followed him into the business.

Beginning ad rates in 1971 were “a buck a spot – and Nixon immediately put in a price freeze,” Fred said. Even so, KISR caught on fast with a young audience. The KISR bumper sticker, still the same today, appeared on almost every teenager’s car and with the advent of FM in cars, almost any Camaro or Pinto cruising Grand was playing the same station – loudly.

KISR kept up with car culture by purchasing a continuously changing fleet of eyecatching vehicles (remember the KISR GMC motor home?). And sporting a KISR bumper sticker was, and is, a ticket to prizes. (In 2008, listeners are winning free gas.)

KISR showered its audience with hot concert tickets, rides on concert buses, live interviews with rock bands, album give-aways and promotions galore – some of which Fred says he hopes not to relive and declines to recall too specifically.
And then came the contests, in particular, KISR’s signature “hunts.”

Next: Page 3 – KISR listeners go nuts for treasure hunts

March 2008 Fred Baker: Talking up a Storm He's audacious, locquacious, "live and local." But there's more to KISR's owner than meets the ear. Making a new sound in Fort Smith radio KISR went on the air for the first time Aug. 16, 1971. You'd think Fred would know the first song he played. "I don't remember!" he said, laughing uproariously. "We went live at 6 a.m. But at 6:13 we realized we hadn't thrown the switch that sent the audio signal. So at 6:14 we started over again." "We had no audience," he laughed. "You could not buy an FM radio in this town. KISR offered FM converters and we had faceplates screenprinted with KISR 93.7 so you could tune to our signal." The converters had to be installed under the dash, wired to the car's existing AM radio. "People could come to the station and have them put in their cars. We installed thousands of them," Fred said. Even on the unfamiliar new FM dial, the emergence of a 100,000-watt rock station "was a cultural event in Fort Smith," he said. "I've gone back to listen to our early tapes. It still holds up as a 'big market' sound - we were a hybrid of WLS-Chicago and KLIF in Dallas." Emulating KLIF was not an accident. Fred had studied the phenomenal success of the Dallas station owner Gordon McClendon, a legend of radio. As a teenager, Fred had hung around the station on family trips to Dallas and pestered McClendon for advice. “He told me I was as crazy as he was. He said I’d better own my own station, or I’d be fired every six weeks,” Fred recalled, chuckling. McClendon had pioneered an innovative style that almost all stations soon tried to follow: He refined a Top 40 playlist by mixing in music that attracted a different age demographic at particular times of day while keeping popular records in frequent rotation. KLIF was the first to have mobile news broadcast vehicles; slick, memorable station identification jingles, distinctive on-air personalities and outlandish gimmicks, promotions and contests for listeners. Fred adapted McClendon’s best ideas and invented many more on his own. Even though he invested “about what an SUV would cost now” for KISR’s start-up, he spent wisely. He hired a talented slate of disc jockeys, including the late Rod Roddy, long-time voice of “The Price is Right,” and many other talents who went on to national success. He also hired good radio business people like Gary Kiefer and Rick Pope, both still with KISR, Fred noted. His dad, Fred Baker Sr., followed him into the business. Beginning ad rates in 1971 were “a buck a spot – and Nixon immediately put in a price freeze,” Fred said. Even so, KISR caught on fast with a young audience. The KISR bumper sticker, still the same today, appeared on almost every teenager’s car and with the advent of FM in cars, almost any Camaro or Pinto cruising Grand was playing the same station – loudly. KISR kept up with car culture by purchasing a continuously changing fleet of eyecatching vehicles (remember the KISR GMC motor home?). And sporting a KISR bumper sticker was, and is, a ticket to prizes. (In 2008, listeners are winning free gas.) KISR showered its audience with hot concert tickets, rides on concert buses, live interviews with rock bands, album give-aways and promotions galore – some of which Fred says he hopes not to relive and declines to recall too specifically. And then came the contests, in particular, KISR’s signature “hunts.” *Next: Page 3 – KISR listeners go nuts for treasure hunts* Page 1 *2 3* Copyright © 2008 eFortSmith Media.com, Incorporated, P.O. Box 1341, Fort Smith, AR 72902 efortsmith.com and Entertainment Fort Smith are registered trademarks. All rights reserved. HOME	This article appears in the March 2008 issue of Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine

He's audacious, locquacious, "live and local." But there's more to KISR's owner than meets the ear.

He's audacious, locquacious, "live and local."
But there's more to KISR's owner than meets the ear.