David and Gillian Sutton’s 1490 KRSN/107.1 K296GI Los Alamos NM will cease operations on August 30.
The Los Alamos Reporter states, “With the cancellation of high school sports, events, the closure of small businesses and the struggles of those remaining, KRSN can no longer raise the advertising revenues it takes to run your free to you community radio station.” The Suttons purchased KRSN in 2006 from the bankruptcy trustee of Real Radio LLC for $67,000. They state that they are in negotiations with other parties “in hopes it remains a community radio station”.
The Full Service Classic Rock station wrote the following message regarding the shutdown on the station’s website:
KRSN AM 1490 and FM 107.1 will be going dark after Sunday August 30. David and Gillian Sutton have proudly owned and operated the community radio station for the last 15 years, broadcasting local news, weather, sports and a variety of programming for your enjoyment. David and Gillian both grew up in Los Alamos listening to KRSN, and when the station was in bankruptcy and for sale, they felt it was important to keep the community station broadcasting. Gillian had worked at KRSN when she was in high school, and with David’s skills as an engineer, they took a leap of faith and embarked on a career as radio broadcasters. KRSN broadcasted high school sports, and relatives of local athletes tuned in from all around the country.
With the Voice of the Hill Toppers Gene Mortenson and crews called football, soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball, and Rick Pickard joined David announcing ice hockey, the recordings of the games created valuable memories for Topper families. That’s approximately 150 Topper football games, 500 basketball games, 300 baseball and softball games, 150 hockey games and a few hundred more volleyball, and soccer games.
In 2010, Nancy Coombs joined David as a co-host of the Morning Show, which featured local news, off the wall stories in Dave’s World, Earth Date and Science in the Sea, and interviews. Coombs says, I love interviewing people, letting them talk about things they are passionate about. It is a fantastic way to start the day. That is about 7,500 interviews, including Senators, congressman, governors, County Councilors, County Managers, County personnel, doctors, lawyers, artists, authors, heroes, teenagers and children. KRSN has won numerous broadcasting awards including Radio Station of the Year, National Crystal Radio Award finalist, Broadcaster of the Year and New Mexico Presswomen’s awards. Our show hosts have won awards of excellence, and our sportscaster Mr. Gene Mortenson is in the New Mexico Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
KRSN mentored DJ’s into their careers in broadcasting. Gillian reflects, It has been an honor to run the community radio station and we will miss it. David added We’ve had a lot fun and hope you enjoyed our shows. With the cancellation of high school sports, events, the closure of small businesses and the struggles of those remaining, KRSN can no longer raise the advertising revenues it takes to run your free to you community radio station. We appreciate all our loyal listeners over the years, as we say farewell. We are negotiating with other parties to purchase the station in hopes it remains a community radio station. We are still fulfilling all FCC and FAA requirements in maintaining all of KRSN’s assets.
