Delilah Buys Her First Radio Station
• Literally… Premiere-syndicated AC superstar Delilah, who is heard by over 12 million listeners weekly on over 160 radio stations across the U.S., and on the Armed Forces Network in Japan, Korea and Central Europe, has come full-circle in her career, as she announced she has purchased the radio station where her love of the business was originally ignited — KDUN-AM in her hometown — the tiny coastal hamlet of Reedsport, OR.
As the story goes, when Delilah was in middle school in Reedsport, she entered a speech contest, reciting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It turns out, she won the contest, which was being judged in part by Jeromeand Steve Kenegy, brothers who owned the local radio station, KDUN-AM. A week after the contest, the Kenegys invited Delilah and the other winners to the station, which was located in the same small wooden building that housed the transmitter. The first time she was in the studio, Delilah says she felt “at home,” and her passion for radio was born. When Delilah was old enough to work, the Kenegys offered her a job, and she worked at KDUN until she graduated and moved south to Coos Bay, OR to work as a “rock jock” on KYNG while continuing to advance in her career, growing her influence and developing her signature style that so many love today.
Delilah said, “When I left, I was eager to make it to the ‘big city,’ but there’s something special about the kindness and simplicity of this coastal hideaway and I can’t wait to help grow this station.” The transmitter is still housed in the same small wooden structure (pictured), literally in the middle of a cow pasture on the banks of the Smith River. Delilah is feverishly working to restore the site in order to be able to again be heard on “KDUN, The Voice of the Oregon Dunes.”
Currently, the town of Reedsport is lacking media outlets to cover local news — there’s no newspaper, TV station or other media. Delilah’s hope is to engage the entire town in the radio station, offering local programming and news, complete with local hosts. To that end she plans to cultivate and develop local young talent who have a passion for communicating, and involve them in the local station. For now, getting the station upgraded and updated is first on her agenda. A number of notable radio executives have stepped up to assist in this endeavor, including Smokey Rivers, Gary Nolan, Chris Mays (who launched Delilah’s current format, called Lights Out in 1984), Jim Ryan and many others. Stay tuned for more information about KDUN-AM’s bright new future.
