His Name is
Sparky Taft

and he's our latest
Puget Sound Radio 'Jock Shot'!

by Michael Easton
Puget Sound Radio
December 7th, 2009

Puget Sound Radio recently had the opportunity to meet and talk with
one of the most influential broadcasters in the history of the state of Washington, Mr. Sparky Taft. The Taft family owned thirteen radio stations in the state, the first in 1923. .

Michael: This is such a pleasure to meet you Sparky Taft. I first heard the Taft name attached to KOL 1300 AM in the early 60's, then again in the mid-80's with Everett's KRKO. You intrique me Mr. Taft, I can't imagine growing up within a radio family. Please share, did you know radio was where young Mr. Taft wanted or had planned to gear his career?

Sparky: I totally grew up in the radio business.  I actually hung out at KRKO frequently, especially after I was 16 and old enough to drive.  In high school, Everett High School actually had a “radio class” with a weekly program on KRKO.  It was so long ago that I can’t remember the content, but it was a weekly show about what was happening at Everett High.  (NOTE:  Everett High was the largest high school in the State of Washington at the time, so this was a BIG deal in the City of Everett.)

Michael:  I understand you were also the  National Sales & Marketing Manager of Pat O'Day's radio stations KYYX-FM/KXA-AM in Seattle and KORL-AM in Honolulu, and your pathways crossed earlier in your career.

Sparky: My Senior year in high school, I started producing concerts and dances in Everett.  I actually competed against Pat O’Day for the dances, which I held at Everett’s Normanna Hall.  I would even bring in some “name” talent like The Fleetwoods from Olympia that had a couple of million sellers, including “Come Softly to Me”.  I also promoted two concerts at the Everett Civic Auditorium (Everett High School) with the popular Canadian group, “The Irish Rovers”.  

Michael: Were you on-air? disc-jockey, news?

Sparky: All during my high school years, I was a “news chaser”, working for KRKO’s news department.  I had a mobile broadcast car and I would “chase” fires, accidents and other major news stories and broadcast “live” from the scene.  I did this for many years.

Michael: Did you come by your training just by working in the radio station, or did you go to a broadcast school, or was Ron Bailey around then?

Sparky: My freshman year of college, I chose to go to Gonzaga University in Spokane.  I was the Sports Editor of the University newspaper.  The Dean of the Journalism School had chosen me to be the first ever Editor of the paper as a sophomore, but I had to tell him that I had decided to go to the University of Washington for my sophomore year.  At the UW, I majored in Journalism (with an emphasis on broadcasting).  There is an interesting story here.  I kept telling my dad (Bill Taft) that I wasn’t learning anything about radio at the UW.  I said they were teaching very archaic network style radio, NOT “modern radio” as it was in the early 60’s (top 40!).  An instructor of one class had us all write a report on “modern radio”.  My dad decided to write the paper for me (to see what kind of response HE would get).  A few days later, the Instructor called me to stay after class.  He gave me the paper my dad wrote with a “D” on it and told me he gave me a passing grade ONLY because of WHO I was!!!!  (NOTE: The total qualifications of the “instructor” was he had a B.A. and had served as a part time advisor for an AM Christian radio station – in short, he had NO qualifications at all!!!!).

My dad was furious.  He called the President of the Washington State Association of Broadcasters.  The WSAB formed a committee to investigate the journalism/broadcast school at the University of Washington.  After a few months of investigation, the committee found out exactly what I had been telling my dad – they were teaching very archaic broadcasting.  The Dean of the Broadcast School and a lot of instructors and professors were FIRED!  The UW completely revamped their School of Broadcasting and today it is one of the best in the west!!!

While I was a sophomore at the UW, I eloped to Idaho and got married.  I was in a fraternity and my then wife was in a sorority.  We were going to keep the marriage secret until the end of the semester, but on the way back from Idaho, my wife was driving, had a blowout and we rolled the car.  Skipping ahead, we had to tell and got an apartment near the UW so we could continue to go to school there.  After the big fiasco with the instructor from the UW, my dad and I mutually decided it was a waste of time for me to continue school there, so I started to work as a salesman at KRKO for a whopping $250 salary.  Within the year, I was the top salesman, and within 5 years, General Sales Manager then Station Manager.

Michael: Impressive launch for Sparky's career, you were certainly well-entrenched in the industry by that time.  

Sparky: In the late 1960’s my dad bought a second station, KALE-AM in the Tri-Cities (Pasco-Richland-Kennewick).  I started flying over there every week to supervise KALE-AM as well as KRKO in Everett.  When I started going to KALE-AM, it was the 5th ranked station in a 7 station market and it did very little business.  When my dad sold the station 3 years later, I had built the station to having more measured audience than ALL other Tri-Cities radio stations COMBINED!!!  I had also quadrupled their sales.

Michael: Although I was out of province at the time, I do recall reading about some controversial times with KRKO in the mid-eighties... perhaps you can enlighten us on this part of your broadcasting life...

Sparky: I left my dad in 1976 to go into the advertising business.  I had client’s on the side in Portland and Seattle.  Since there was no one to run KRKO, dad sold KRKO in 1976.  I bought KRKO back in March, 1983 with some partners.  I built KRKO to HUGE success with audience and advertising revenues.  One of my silent partners was the son of a wealthy beer distributer.  The son had been managing the beer company and it was losing a lot of money (the father was semi-retired living in Palm Desert).  SO, the son conspired behind my back to seize control of the radio station and got 50.1% control of the corporate voting stock.  I had an iron clad employment agreement, but he fired me out of my own radio station.  HIS goal was to personally take over the radio station since his father was selling the beer company and he was losing his job.

On October 14, 1983, Niles Fowler seized control.  Shortly thereafter, he changed the station’s format and call letters to KBAE-AM (called K-Bay, since the beer company was BAY Distributing).  The stations audience and advertising revenues plummeted.  In depositions prepared for my lawsuit to go trial, KRKO’s revenues had gone from about $100,000 a month down to an average of $17,500 the first six months of 1984!!!  In early 1985, Niles Fowler staged a fake burglary at the radio station and filed a huge claim with CNA Insurance.  Later in 1985, the alleged stolen equipment was personally delivered to a small FM station Fowler had bought in Ellensburg, WA.  The Manager of the Ellensburg station had previously worked for Fowler at KBAE in Everett.  He recognized the equipment, even though it had been painted (it was very OLD and almost useless equipment).  The Ellensburg Manager called the former Chief Engineer of KBAE (and KRKO), who was then in Florida.  He had a complete list of the “stolen” equipment.  The serial numbers all matched!!!  Fowler was charged, tried and convicted of FRAUD!!!!  

In December 1985, Fowler’s attorney’s who were defending MY lawsuit, resigned him.  Then, his new attorney firm quickly settled with ME for a well publicized settlement in excess of ONE MILLION DOLLARS.  The settlement was signed on December 18, 1985 and I took over the radio station on December 23, 1985.  

Michael: Now I do recall the KRKO call letters were let go and You Mr. Taft after much negotiation with an Alaskan radio station who had acquired the historic call letters KRKO, you had these letters restored. What an exciting time that must have been?

Sparky: Once we took over, the call letters were still KBAE.  We also discovered that Fowler had stolen all of the radio stations business records.  We had NOTHING!  I soon filed with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to change the radio station’s call letters to KRFE, which I called “Radio Free Everett”.  The old KRKO call letters, after Fowler dropped them to change to KBAE, became public domain so a radio station in Fairbanks, Alaska picked up the KRKO call letters.  It took me until February, 1987 to negotiate buying the KRKO call letters back from the Fairbanks company.  

As I said, when we took control of the radio station on 12/23/85, there were NO records.  It took until about 1987 to realize that Fowler had bankrupted the radio station in the 15 months he was in possession.  He ran up a debt of 1.3 MILLION dollars in that short time!!!  We had to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  The reason was the CORPORATION was the SAME corporation that HE had possession of.  He piled up this HUGE debt.  I was operating the radio station very profitably and with a HUGE radio listening audience.  However, I had to sell KRKO in February, 1988.  THAT is another story of WHY I had to sell!!!

Michael: Well Sparky, I guess that means you're going to come back and give us an update. Right now we're advertising your first book which is now available online through the links... Having read the highlights of your book, I'm looking forward to reading the copy you're sending me.
This certainly sounds like great little stocking stuffer for Christmas, especially to help motivate the sales teams at radio and television across the land on both sides of the border. Incidently I understand you have a new book coming out in the new year, so we'll be looking forward to another talk soon.  Thanks so much for taking the time to share your story Sparky Taft

To Order Sparky's book, visit his website:
http://www.sparkytaft.com/?page=home

In 1990, Sparky Taft left broadcasting to form a broadcast specialty advertising agency, Dynamic Results Media. Since then, he has built a very well known and thoroughly documented track record of achieving incredible client RESULTS. His client portfolio includes furniture stores, stove/patio/spa dealers, floor covering stores, RV and auto dealers, casinos, travel clients and resorts, shoes, shopping malls, golf, mortgage companies, even a circus.