Remembering Boise’s First Radio Station

Oct. 1, 2012 - PRLog -- New to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is KIDO: Boise’s First Radio Station by local author Art Gregory. This pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.

The origins of KIDO date back to 1920 and the experimental radio station 7YA at Boise High School. In 1922 chemistry teacher Harry Redeker was granted a limited-commercial license and the call letters KFAU. Redeker left the school in 1927 and in 1928 the Boise Independent School District sold KFAU to Frank L. Hill and C.G. Phillips, who changed the station’s call letters to KIDO.

Over the next 30 years, “Kiddo” Phillips and his wife, Georgia, achieved many “firsts” in Idaho broadcasting including securing NBC as the state’s first network affiliation. In 1942, Curt G. Phillips suddenly passed away. Georgia remarried and became Georgia Davidson, going on to build KIDO-FM and KIDO-TV, which were both among the first in the state.

In 1959, she sold KIDO Radio to William E. Boeing Jr. of Seattle, who owned KIDO for the next 17 years. It is this period of KIDO’s rich history, from 1920 to 1976, which this book will cover.

Highlights of KIDO: Boise’s First Radio Station include:
•   Broadcasting Begins in Boise
•   KIDO’s Early Days
•   Live from New York, It’s NBC
•   The Move to 6-3-0
•   KIDO-TV

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town? Visit arcadiapublishing.com.