KHAR

For the television station formerly sharing call letters and ownership with this radio station, seeKYUR.For the FM station formerly sharing call letters with this station, seeKBRJ.

KHAR

Anchorage, Alaska United States
Broadcast area	Anchorage metropolitan area
Frequency	590kHz
Branding	Gold Rush Radio
Programming
Format	Soft oldies;adult standards
Affiliations	Westwood One'sAmerica's Best Music
Ownership
Owner	Alpha Media LLC (Alpha Media Licensee LLC)
Sister stations	KBRJ,KEAG,KFQD,KMXS,KWHL
History
First air date	January 7, 1961(1961-01-07)
Call signmeaning	Station founder Willis Harpel
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	60914
Class	B
Power	5,000wattsunlimited
Translator(s)	96.7K244EG (Anchorage)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	www.alaskagoldrushradio

KHAR(590AM) is acommercialradio stationinAnchorage, Alaska.It airs asoft oldies-adult standardsradio format,supplied byWestwood One's "America's Best Music"service. It is owned byAlpha Media,with studios on Artic Slope Avenue, two blocks west of theDimond CenterShopping Mallin Anchorage.

KHAR is aClass Bstation powered at 5,000wattsnon-directional.Itstransmitteris off C Street at West Klatt Road in the Bayshore neighborhood of South Anchorage.Programming is also heard on 250-wattFM translatorK244EGat 96.7MHz.

History

KHARsigned onthe air on January 7, 1961. It was founded by Willis "Bill" Harpel, who previously worked atKFQDand owned stations inWashington state.He founded Sourdough Broadcasters, and later launched 104.1 KHAR-FM (nowKBRJ) and KHAR-TV 13 (nowKYUR). The station'scall signincluded the first three letters of Harpel's last name. Harpel died accidentally in January 1968. His family, particularly widow Patricia and son Craig, continued to run Sourdough Broadcasters for several more decades.

During its earlier decades, KHAR, like many AM stations, aired a general format, including music and news. Notable aspects of early programming included broadcasting messages toBushresidents, a practice once fairly common among broadcasters in Alaska. The station was also noted for carrying the commentaries of Ruben Gaines, a onetime poet laureate of Alaska known for creating the character "Chilkoot Charlie".

KHAR's formerHeart Radiologo

KHAR programmed an adult standards format from the 1970s until 2013. The station's branding,Heart Radio 59,was also featured for decades. KHAR was one of only a few commercial stations in Alaska whose format more or less remained intact during the era of broadcasting company consolidation which began in the 1990s. KHAR was one of a number of Anchorage stations acquired byMorris Communications.It shares studios with itssister stationsin the Morris Alaska building near theDimond Center.

On May 1, 2013, KHAR changed its format from adult standards toall-sports.It carried programming fromCBS Sports Radio.Morris Communications sold KHAR and 32 other stations toAlpha Media LLCeffective September 1, 2015, at a purchase price of $38.25 million.

Logo under sports format, 2013-2024

On April 1, 2024, the station flipped back to soft oldies and adult standards as "Gold Rush Radio". The format is described as carrying four decades of the greatest hits of all time, including a "blend of the best pop, soft AC and easy listening".The format, fromWestwood One's "America's Best Music"service, does not haveDJs.

Translator

KHAR is also broadcast on the following FM translator:

Broadcast translatorfor KHAR

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	FID	ERP(W)	Class	FCC info
K244EG	96.7 FM	Anchorage, Alaska	139580	250	D	LMS

See also

• List of radio stations in Alaska

External links

• FCC History Cards for KHAR
• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 60914 (KHAR)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
• KHARinNielsen Audio's AM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 139580 (K244EG)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
• K244EGat FCCdata.org