After 70 years playing Country music in Salt Lake City, KSOP Inc. will sign-off Classic Country 1370 KSOP South Salt Lake UT on Monday, June 2.
KSOP’s programming will continue to be heard online at KSOPCountry.com, but will come off 104.3 KSOP-HD2.
In a statement signed by The Management of KSOP Inc, the station says, “This decision, though bittersweet, represents a thoughtful shift toward the future of our company and the evolving ways our audience listens to music.”
“Classic Country 1370 has been a trusted voice on the Utah airwaves since 1955. Family-owned and operated from the beginning, the station has been a cornerstone of country music in Utah—proudly sharing not just the songs, but the artists who shaped the genre and left a lasting mark on our community.”
“The choice to discontinue AM broadcasting is not one we take lightly. We are deeply saddened to close this historic chapter. However, in recognizing how our audience continues to change, we are proud to announce that our Classic Country format will live on KSOPCountry.com. This digital platform will allow fans to continue enjoying the traditional country music they love—anytime, anywhere.”
“To our loyal Classic Country 1370 listeners—thank you. Your support over the past seven decades has meant the world to us. Though the tower will go quiet, the music will continue, and our commitment to Utah remains as strong as ever.”
Morning host ‘Country Joe’ Flint, who first joined KSOP in 1971, will continue on the station. Flint worked at the station until 2005 before returning in 2012.
KSOP flipped from a simulcast of Country 104.3 KSOP-FM to Classic Country in 2002. The AM and FM previously simulcasted from the time of the FM’s launch in 1964. The AM operates with 5kW non-directional day and 500 watts directional at night.
Steve Carlson 
Edward Ford 
Blaine 
CJ
This is a disappointing one, although definitely in the “smile because it happened” category, since KSOP lasted far longer than most Classic Country AMs in sizeable markets and went a lot deeper/older than the FM version of the format. I’m happy it will continue on line with a live morning personality, although that implies that the hosted afternoons I’m hearing now won’t continue. Like the FM, which is more aggressive than many on new music, KSOP-AM went deep and I’ve heard a few songs in the last hour that I haven’t heard since they were currents. They are definitely worth checking out this weekend if you like Classic Country.
Also notable that they would apparently rather pay the less favorable royalties of an online-only radio station than continue to operate even an HD-2 frequency.
Why not keep it going on the HD2 and online?
They are keeping it going online with a live morning host, which is more than many stations that try the “we’ll still be online” gambit. There are a lot of operators who have shut down HD2s in recent years. Even that may be more money than they want to spend. I have very fond memories of finally getting to SLC a while back and driving out of town listening to both KSOP-AM and -FM. In some ways, they’re a victim of the success of the format, now that Classic Country is on FM in SLC and numerous other markets, and those stations are hanging around longer than they used to. But KSOP-AM certainly rolled deeper than the average FM station that starts with “Mama He’s Crazy” or “Fishin’ in the Dark.”
When iBiquity owned HD Radio, there were “royalties” associated with using HD channels, . HD2-HD-4 required a yearly fee plus a percentage of revenue. I would guess DTS still has a similar fees for radio stations.
The bigger picture is three radio companies announcing they are going dark with their AM stations this week. As hard as some owners are working to keep servicing their communities, the erosion will continue for small AM stations with no turn around on the horizon.
There are. But more importantly here, they’re utilizing Live365 as their streaming provider which includes the streaming royalties as part of their monthly cost. By taking it off HD2 they no longer need to pay any broadcast fees.
I think the real deal to all of this is they probably sold the land to a housing developer and do not want to admit it. Every piece of dirt in the SLC area is being consumed by these developers and its getting to the point of being ridiculous. It’s gotten to where they are now taking city parks and turning those into over priced paper thin Cracker Jack boxes. Radio stations are not immune to this. The only ones that are “safe” for now are on Farnsworth Peak. At this rate, I give it another 5 years and (Rent-America) will be building homes on top of FP and pricing those at $15K/month for “City Views”.
The land for KSOP AM has not been sold. The equipment is remaining in place. We will see what the family wants to do.