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KSKO-FM

Non-commercial radio station in McGrath, Alaska

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KSKO-FM is a non-commercial radio station in McGrath, Alaska, broadcasting on 89.5 FM. KSKO is rebroadcast on Class D FM repeaters full time in Grayling, Shageluk, Holy Cross, Nikolai, and Anvik. For part of the day, KSKO is also rebroadcast on KZPA 900 in Fort Yukon and KRFF 89.1 in Fairbanks; KSKO also rebroadcasts a midday show from KRFF. Two new "repeaters" were built in the summer and fall of 2021, KSKC Crooked Creek and KSKP Sleetmute which added 200 people to KSKO's "population served" count for a total of about 1,200 on owned and operated repeaters/signals across a stretch of 200 miles or so along the west central interior.

The station began broadcasting on July 1, 1981, initially on a frequency of 870 kHz on the AM dial. Station owners Kuskokwin Public Broadcasting Corporation switched from AM to FM in 2015. This switch was made after the AM, which was generator powered 24/7 south of the village, became too costly to operate at over $6 a gallon of generator fuel. KSKO-FM 89.5 is on city commercial power at the studio and the repeaters are located at schools, which are on their villages' commercial power.

KSKO celebrated its 40th anniversary on July 1, 2021.

KSKO holds the annual "Back to Bluegrass" music festival in McGrath, which is held in June or July featuring local and regional musicians. The event is a fundraiser for KSKO.

01Repeaters

Call sign Frequency City of license FID Power (W) ERP (W) HAAT Class
KMGS 89.5 FMAnvik, Alaska189897 , 27057 m (187 ft)D
KSKC 89.5 FMCrooked Creek, Alaska198150 , 90−137 m (−449 ft)D
KLOP 91.5 FMHoly Cross, Alaska189898 , 50−9 m (−30 ft)D
KRFF 89.1 FMFairbanks, Alaska173890 , 10,000474 m (1,555 ft)C1
KZPA 900 AMFort Yukon, Alaska25701 5,000, , B
KGYA 90.5 FMGrayling, Alaska190173 , 50−71 m (−233 ft)D
KNIB 89.5 FMNikolai, Alaska198149 , 909 m (30 ft)D
KNKO 88.5 FMShageluk, Alaska189899 , 50−9 m (−30 ft)D
KSKP 89.5 FMSleetmute, Alaska198151 , 90−58 m (−190 ft)D

Notes:

Watch videos about KSKO-FMExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article KSKO-FM, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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