“It’s hard to farm while listening to your radio station,” a listener said. “Why is that?” came the question. “Because I don’t like it when I have to step out of the tractor and miss something,” the listener said. In backhanded fashion, that is high praise for a rural Kansas radio station which has become a leader in agricultural broadcasting. It’s now known as the Voice of the Plains.
Last week we met Kyle Bauer, owner and general manager of Clay Center’s KCLY FM radio station. He is also owner and general manager of KFRM radio, which is 550 on the AM dial.
Kyle was a farmer and businessman in the Clay Center area, farming 4,000 acres near the rural community of Morganville, population 192 people. Now, that’s rural.
He bought into ownership of KCLY at Clay Center in 1994. After growing that business, his next venture in radio was to buy KFRM. This station had been founded back in 1947 but it was at a low point when Kyle bought it in 1996.
Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kyle Bauer, Part 2 – KFRM Radio”
