KMBC Radio - About KMBC

ABOUT REPORTING ENTERTAINMENT SPEECHES CONTACT

NEH Grant

In April 2011, UMKC Libraries was awarded a prestigious "Humanities Collections and Reference Resources" grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to preserve and catalog the 445 hours of radio broadcast recordings from the Arthur B. Church KMBC Radio Collection. The $127,536 grant funded the cataloging component of the project, including one full-time professional librarian and 60 hours of student transcription work per week. The Marr Sound Archives utilized their extensive experience in audio preservation to transfer the recordings to digital format. The project was completed in October 2012.

"That's my business!" -- Arthur B. Church poses for a publicity postcard at KMBC Studios Photo Credit: L.C. "Andy" Anderson.

Arthur B. Church

A broadcasting pioneer, Arthur B. Church owned and operated KMBC radio and television stations in Kansas City, Missouri from the 1920s through the late 1950s.

Church began his involvement with radio in 1913 while attending commercial radio courses between college terms. In 1914 Church helped create 9WU, an experimental wireless "ham" station at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa. While advertising radio parts on 9WU, Church became one of the first to use radio to advertise merchandise. Having enlisted in the U.S. Signal Corps in 1918, Church was stationed at Leavenworth, Kansas, where he taught telegraphy. Shortly after the war, Church organized the Central Radio Company and the Central Radio School. The Central Radio School began to operate station 9 AXJ, which in 1922 became WPE, the first broadcasting studio in the Midwest.

By 1926, he was a member of the National Association of Broadcasters. Working closely with the organization, he was able to do committee work with radio pioneer David Sarnoff, then general manager of RCA. In 1927 KLDS Broadcasting Company became the Midland Broadcasting Company and call letters KMBC were granted for commercial use.

KMBC Radio Station

KMBC joined CBS in 1928 as the network's 16th affiliated station. The station moved to the eleventh floor of the Pickwick Hotel in 1930. In 1941, the radio towers were destroyed by a 73-mile windstorm. KMBC became "team-mate" with Kansas City station KFRM in 1947. In 1951, the KMBC building opened at 11th and Central in Kansas City, Missouri. The building housed a 2600-seat TV playhouse where programs such as the Brush Creek Follies could be viewed by the public.


ABOUT REPORTING ENTERTAINMENT SPEECHES CONTACT
NEH Grant / In April 2011, UMKC Libraries was awarded a prestigious "Humanities Collections and Reference Resources" grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to preserve and catalog the 445 hours of radio broadcast recordings from the Arthur B. Church KMBC Radio Collection. The $127,536 grant funded the cataloging component of the project, including one full-time professional librarian and 60 hours of student transcription work per week. The Marr Sound Archives utilized their extensive experience in audio preservation to transfer the recordings to digital format. The project was completed in October 2012.	"That's my business!" -- Arthur B. Church poses for a publicity postcard at KMBC Studios Photo Credit: L.C. "Andy" Anderson. Arthur B. Church A broadcasting pioneer, Arthur B. Church owned and operated KMBC radio and television stations in Kansas City, Missouri from the 1920s through the late 1950s. Church began his involvement with radio in 1913 while attending commercial radio courses between college terms. In 1914 Church helped create 9WU, an experimental wireless "ham" station at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa. While advertising radio parts on 9WU, Church became one of the first to use radio to advertise merchandise. Having enlisted in the U.S. Signal Corps in 1918, Church was stationed at Leavenworth, Kansas, where he taught telegraphy. Shortly after the war, Church organized the Central Radio Company and the Central Radio School. The Central Radio School began to operate station 9 AXJ, which in 1922 became WPE, the first broadcasting studio in the Midwest. By 1926, he was a member of the National Association of Broadcasters. Working closely with the organization, he was able to do committee work with radio pioneer David Sarnoff, then general manager of RCA. In 1927 KLDS Broadcasting Company became the Midland Broadcasting Company and call letters KMBC were granted for commercial use. KMBC Radio Station KMBC joined CBS in 1928 as the network's 16th affiliated station. The station moved to the eleventh floor of the Pickwick Hotel in 1930. In 1941, the radio towers were destroyed by a 73-mile windstorm. KMBC became "team-mate" with Kansas City station KFRM in 1947. In 1951, the KMBC building opened at 11th and Central in Kansas City, Missouri. The building housed a 2600-seat TV playhouse where programs such as the Brush Creek Follies could be viewed by the public.
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