Delilah’s Station and the Friday Night Miracle

Two years ago, Delilah Rene’s KDUN Reedsport, Ore., was a good news story for the business—an AM station purchased by an owner with a link to the community and the motivation to make a standalone AM work. Earlier this week, KDUN GM/PD Smokey Rivers sent this staff memo to Sean Ross, who asked to share it with Ross On Radio readers.

KDUN Reedsport, Ore., is owned by Delilah, America’s love songs host. She began her storied radio career at this AM station when she was in middle school. In 2021, Delilah purchased the remnants of the facility from a former owner. It had been dark for a few years with no studios or offices remaining, just a pest-infested transmitter and tower in the middle of the Smith River basin. 

With the help of media broker Craig Ruark, local broadcast engineer Bob Larson and Delilah’s Big Shoes Productions audio/networking wiz Ryan Warrey, the station returned to the air on Labor Day 2021 from newly-constructed studios in the Oregon Coast School of Art, the same building in which Delilah attended middle school. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Immediately after the launch, Ross on Radio took a “First Listen.”]

Delilah put the station back on the air to return a radio voice to Reedsport, a town of 5,000 residents in the heart of the Oregon Coast with no other locally-programmed media. It’s her gift to her beloved hometown. The station’s 50kw AM signal has excellent reach up and down the coast and is streaming on iHeartRadio. With three local staffers and a remote gang of radio friends and family, we work hard to help her realize her dream. 

The station airs Reedsport Braves home football games. This season, we arranged to have a student from the high school (Tom) and his uncle (Jerry) serve as our broadcast team. Except for station staff, the names in the story which follows have been changed to preserve the anonymity of a good bunch of local folks.

This is our story from Friday, Sept. 22. It’s a story about people needing radio and radio needing people, as shared in this memo to staffers afterwards. When she read it, Delilah called it “one of the many reasons it matters to me that KDUN stays on the air and does not go dark again.”

What happened last night between 5:15 and 9:15 was miraculous.

Prior to 5:15 PM, Tom and Jerry were expected to be our broadcast team for the Reedsport/Rogue River football game. I confirmed that with Tom on Thursday night, and had a conversation with him about how to be more effective with his words during the game broadcast.

At 5:15 (KDUN morning host) CC called me and said, “Jerry is trying to reach you but cannot. He called me to say that ‘he and Tom cannot do the game. Tom was sick all day and I broke my nose a few days ago’.” Being under the weather herself, CC offered, “If you like, my fiancée Mike and I can be available for future games.”

I called Jerry, offered empathy for his condition, and said that except in cases of emergency, calling out during the hour prior to the event is unprofessional. I pleaded with him to go to the stadium and do the game with (KDUN director of engineering) Bob. He replied, “I have a bad migraine, but OK, I’ll take a shower and go.” 

Ten minutes later, Tom’s mom called to say that Jerry had an upset stomach and was vomiting all over the house. I learned a long time ago that vomit is a conversation-ender. I offered get-well wishes, then called CC to ask Mike if he could do the game with Bob. Mike said he had a prior commitment but would be available to give it a go with CC on October 6.

Next call at 5:50 was to Lisa. She was Tom’s special education assistant last year in Reedsport and was originally planning to do the games with him until she got word that she was being reassigned to a position in the nearby Coos Bay school district. I made an eleventh-hour Hail Mary request for her to call the game with Bob. She said yes, but asked if she could bring a friend (Jim) who knew football to help out. Sure!

Bob and (KDUN studio producer) Molly were scurrying around setting up the game apparatus at the stadium. CC would normally be on-site, but since she was already sidelined, Molly had to bolt to the station at 6:30 to produce the game on-air. 

At 6:48, the game intro played and Bob was solo in the broadcast booth. Bob is a wiz at connecting wires but his knowledge of football is limited. He did his best to get through the pregame. Lisa and her friend Jim showed up just before 7 for kickoff. Having no experience, they were fairly quiet during the first quarter. As they became more comfortable on mic, their performance blossomed. 

It helped that Lisa’s son plays for Reedsport. During the second half, she was a mom with a microphone, cheering on the team, becoming familiar with the players, etc. Jim knew game basics and was able to provide the essentials for score, ball position, time remaining, penalties, etc.  It was the best half of football we’ve broadcast to date. Add to that the team excelled, with a 32-0 victory. They are perfect at home this season.

Bob was able to corral a few Reedsport Brave cheerleaders for some halftime chat and a few on-air cheers. 

By the end of the game our team was comfortable in their new roles and doing great.

I wrote out all of that because it demonstrates all of the steps that add up to commitment to community and a strong sense of purpose. With an hour left before game time, we could have shrugged our shoulders and scuttled the project. But that’s not the way we roll. We scratch and claw our way to success. Sometimes it’s messy. But we stay focused on the prize and keep working until we reach our goal. 

Continued actions like last night are the kinds of things that will give us purpose and permanence in Reedsport. Every time you encounter struggle, remember the Friday Night Miracle. Truly, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Thanks for demonstrating your persistence and teamwork.