The Remarkable KRMG

In 1970, Richard S. Boggs, while pursuing his master’s degree in journalism at the University of Oklahoma, wrote his thesis on “The Remarkable KRMG”. The paper describes the days leading up to the first day of broadcasting for a station that would become a permanent fixture in the life of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The call letters KRMG represent Senator Robert S. Kerr and oil and gas man Dean A. Mcgee. The driving force behind the construction with the FCC was Sen. Kerr. When he was told he could put a 50,000-watt station in Tulsa, the senator said, “That’s fine, the only thing I want you to do is to guarantee me it will cover both Tulsa and Oklahoma City”.

Richard Boggs grew up in Tulsa, graduating from Edison High School, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Oklahoma. He went on to a career with the wire service, United Press International. He also worked for a 24-hour cable TV news channel, which was a precursor to CNN. Richard is very grateful that his thesis is preserved and made available for public reading.

KRMG began broadcasting on Friday, December 23, 1949, at 7:40 PM, with Program director Perry Ward saying, “This is it, KRMG is on the air.”