Building the station (1964–1968) A group of
Portlanders, unsatisfied with the choices offered by local radio stations, organized themselves as "Portland Listener Supported Radio" in 1964. They approached
Lorenzo Milam, a former volunteer at
Pacifica Radio's
KPFA in
Berkeley, who helped start
KRAB, a now-defunct community station in Seattle. Milam agreed to help them organize a station, and after a series of meetings, Portland Listener Supported Radio applied for a license for a Portland radio station. Milam asked KRAB volunteer David Calhoun if he'd be willing to help organize the new station in Portland. Calhoun, an ex-monk and third-year medical student, packed his VW with a transmitter from Seattle and moved south. Sleeping on couches and struggling to find meals, Calhoun and other volunteers including Gray Haertig (who continues to volunteer currently) put together the resources needed for a community radio station. A basement room was donated on Third Street and Salmon Street in downtown Portland. The space was barely big enough for two tape recorders, one turntable, and Calhoun. A diverse mix of about thirty volunteers came together to help out, including society women, movement radicals, professional broadcast engineers, and musicians.
On the air (1968-1971) KBOO Community Radio
signed on the air on June 3, 1968. The cost was less than $4,000. The total monthly station budget was about $50. The total output initially was only ten watts, a fraction of the current output. The
call sign makes reference to a strain of
marijuana called "Berkeley Boo". Initially, KBOO was on the air when volunteers were available to flip a switch and activate the repeater signal from KRAB. But almost immediately, the station began to grow. KBOO volunteers lugged big
Ampex tape recorders to concerts, political events, and neighborhood meetings; nationally recognized artists and activists were brought into the KBOO studio. Local poets discovered the electronic outlet. By the summer of 1970, a used 1,000-watt transmitter was installed, enabling KBOO's audience and subscriptions to grow. KBOO could be heard in much of
Northwest Oregon. After three years, KBOO outgrew its studio and moved to a storefront at 3129 SE Belmont Street. Walls of the makeshift studios were lined with egg cartons for
sound insulation, and all employees shared just two desks.
Incorporation and stability (1972–1982) By 1972, the non-profit KBOO Foundation was born, with an interim five-member board of directors. The umbilical cord to KRAB was being cut. By 1973, the staff had grown to five, with about 50 active volunteers. About 600 subscribers donated an average of $20 a year. Station Manager John Ross got an $80,000 federal grant to help purchase equipment. In 1975, the 800-strong KBOO Foundation elected its first board of directors. The KBOO Foundation and its officers got the license and ownership of the station. KBOO became fully independent of KRAB and its parent, the Jack Straw Memorial Foundation. After 10 years, KBOO had come of age. The station moved again, in 1977, to SW Yamhill Street, and soon expanded broadcasting to 24 hours a day on a regularly scheduled basis. KBOO was broadcasting at 12,500 watts. Rapid growth came to KBOO in its new downtown location. Subscribers soared from 1,200 in early 1978 to well above 2,000 by 1980. About 300 volunteers gave KBOO one of the strongest volunteer programs in the nation. In 1981, urban renewal in downtown Portland forced a search for a new home. KBOO found its present location at 20 SE 8th Avenue (the little Robin's egg blue building half a block south of East Burnside Street behind the Jupiter Hotel and Doug Fir Lounge). Through a massive volunteer effort, a new station was built in 1982 in an empty warehouse. For the first time, KBOO would own its own home.
Expansion (1982–present) In the early '80s, KBOO broadened its commitment to multicultural programming. New Spanish and Asian-language programs were added. A strip of African-American musical programming was added in 1981. A Hispanic strip followed in 1984. News and Public Affairs Director Ross Reynolds and volunteers teamed up to organize a nightly newscast, supplemented by a new wire service and national newscast from Pacifica Radio, which proudly continues to air to this day. A new station,
KMUN, was launched in Astoria through KBOO's help, much as KRAB had nurtured KBOO. Funds were raised to purchase the new building and KBOO was in the black for the first time in memory. In 1986, the building was purchased. Power was boosted to 23 kW, and KBOO began broadcasting in stereo for the first time. A major federal grant in 1987 allowed purchase of new studio equipment. A satellite dish was added on the roof, and the station bought a remote transmitter, allowing live remote broadcasts of community events. In the early 1990s, KBOO set up translators in Corvallis (broadcasting at 100.7 FM) and in
White Salmon, Washington (broadcasting at 91.9 FM), allowing KBOO's signal to be received from the very northern tip of
Eugene to
The Dalles, on a good day. In 2013, the Corvallis translator moved slightly, to Philomath, where it still reaches Corvallis and now parts of Eugene, at 104.3 FM. In the summer of 1991, KBOO moved its transmitter to a new location on the
KGON tower (also known as Stonehenge) on
Portland's West Hills. This increase of gave KBOO much greater range. KBOO's effective radiated power was boosted to 26.5 kW. Reports from jubilant listeners came in from the
coast and outskirts of Eugene, saying they were hearing KBOO clearly for the first time. As of February 2022, the station had about 9,200 members. The station runs pledge drives twice each year. The annual KBOO budget in 2022 was about $900,000, but compared to 2021's audit, KBOO saw a drop-off of more than $150,000 in grants and donations. The station is operating at a deficit and had to lay off five staff members in October 2024.
"Stairway to Heaven" As a listener-funded station, KBOO runs a variety of fundraising events. They once promised that, for a donation of $10,000, the station would never play
Led Zeppelin's "
Stairway To Heaven" again. One listener accepted the offer. After performing at a concert at the
Aladdin Theater,
Robert Plant, who is a singer for Led Zeppelin was driving to the Oregon Coast and station-surfing, and the offer was repeated while Plant was lingering on the station. He liked the idea and decided to accept. He pulled over to use a pay-phone to call and make a $10,000 pledge, which he says he did using the credit card of
Atco Records president
Herb Abramson. ==Programming==