Lakeside's first radio station hits the air

On Oct. 15 Lakeside’s first radio station, 94.3 FM KOLK The Lake, hit the airwaves; playing what the station’s owners Dave Rae and Scott Davis call “new country and all-time favorites.” The Lake is dedicated to Davis and Rae’s former partner, Mike “Jorge” Jorgensen, an avid fisherman who died in 2006.

“He would have loved this, calling it The Lake, if he were here today,” Rae said. “A lot of people knew him, he fished everywhere.”

Davis and Rae also own and operate KOFI Inc., which broadcasts 1180 KOFI AM and KMN 103.9 The Monster. Although KOLK The Lake is licensed out of Lakeside, it is broadcast from the same building as its sister stations and is then transmitted through a studio-transmitter link to The Monster’s tower near Boon Road in Somers.

The license for KOLK was acquired in April after it was transferred from Browning. According to a FCC spokesperson, the previous owner was Big Cat Productions and they applied for the licensing change from Browning to Lakeside in October of 2009.

“This is very rare for a town of that population, getting a radio license,” Rae said.

According to the FCC, the reason the license was transferred is because it was acquired in 1979, but no station was ever authorized to it. The FCC also said Big Cat cited census data showing that Browning had decreased in size over the years and already had seven stations, while Lakeside was larger and did not have a station. Thus there would not be a loss of coverage and the transfer met FCC provisions.

“We’re very happy for any economic growth in Lakeside,” David Fetveit, upcoming president of the Lakeside-Somers Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Lakeside Community Council, said.

Rae said Big Cat was unable to find a proper tower site, so they offered to sell the license to Rae and Davis who already operated their Monster tower in Somers. Then in April of this year Rae and Davis acquired the license for KOLK.

“It went pretty fast actually, and for us to be on the air as early as we are is quite something,” Davis said.

The station broadcasts at 5100 watts, reaching Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Bigfork and Polson. Davis, along with Dave Anderson, Mike Hammer and a man known only as “The Bandit” DJ the station.

Because the station is so new, they don’t know how many listeners they have yet. For more information, call 756-6691 or visit the station’s website www.943thelake.com.