1956-1960

1956 – KATI is born & Signs On….

KATI was officially licensed to operate by the Federal Communications Commission on November 15, 1955 with a construction permit to build the station and transmitter site. This license was originally issued to Jack Breece, from Lander, Wyoming, in 1955.

He was known for coming into a community and establishing a radio station, getting it on the air and then selling it quickly and moving on. He did this in a couple of cities in Wyoming and also Rapid City, South Dakota.

Breece’s original call letters for his new Casper station were supposed to be KTOO, with it’s studios and offices to be the Gladstone Hotel in downtown Casper. Breece operated the station for a little more than a year before selling it to new owners.

January 5, 1956, saw a new call sign of “KATI” issued by the FCC for the station and “Casper’s Favorite Gal” officially took to the air at Noon on May 5, 1956. The air-staff was small with four announcers including the station owner, Jack Breece, Gene Robbins, Program Director, Morning Man, Bob Pilant and announcer and salesman, Ken Prather.

​On September 9, 1957, the license was sold to KATI Corporation, with principle

shareholders of Kenneth G. & Misha S. Prather & Patrick H. Meenan. Their early office and studio was located in the Midwest Building in downtown Casper, known as the “KATI Cave.” Ken Prather

had previously worked for KSPR (later KTWO) and his wife Misha was a teacher at Dean Morgan Junior High School. Pat Meenan was an accountant and friend of Ken and Misha. He consulted the couple on the purchase of the station and was offered 1/3 interest in the station by the Prathers.

In 2009, Shirley Meenan, wife of Pat Meenan and also an early KATI staffer, described the original studios as “dank.” Located in the basement of the building, with no windows, it made it feel like living in a cave. Shirley tells the story of an early DJ, by the name of T.J. Lewis, who was grousing one day after a large rain caused the studios to flood. He created an imaginary mouse character that had supposedly floated in with the flood waters, called it “Hinnegar Ellegar,” and it was his radio companion from then on. According to Meenan, Lewis talked to and about the mouse and made the character come alive and listeners of all ages developed a real affection for the radio rodent.

KATI’s first format was called “Popular Music.” In the early years the station played a mix of Country, Middle of the Road (MOR), Early Rock & Roll and other popular hits. Shirley Meenan’s role at the station was to pick the music played on KATI. The term “Top-40” was not in vogue as yet and didn’t really come along until the early to mid-60’s. She said that in the early years of rock and roll as many as two hundred records a week would flow into the station, all seeking airplay on the new “KATI.” In addition to picking the songs to be aired, Meenan also wrote a weekly newspaper column called KATI, Casper, listing the “Top 14” songs heard and requested on the station, Woolworth record sales and the Billboard Magazine’s music lists for the week. In effect, Shirley Meenan, created the “KATI Fab-14 Survey” that remained with the station for the next three decades!

 

1959 – KATI, A New Home & Sound Updates…..

1959 brought big changes to KATI. It moved it’s studios to a small house and converted sound studios at 314 North McKinley. It increased it output power from 250 Watts to 1000 Watts, giving the station greater coverage in central Wyoming. It’s new owners also upgraded equipment and added staff. Originally, a lot of the on-air programming and day to day office work was completed by the owners, Ken & Misha Prather and Shirley Meenan.

In the late 50’s and Early 60’s, names like Jim Baker, Armond Noble, Pat Donahue, Hugh Barr, Bill Sims, Sarge McClintock, Steve Broomell, Bill Yeager, Jim White, “Jolly” George Schell, Joedy “Big Daddy” Linneman & Larry Payne were just some of the names of early KATI employees. KATI made it a pattern to hire young people new to the business of radio, many still in high school, to populate the airwaves of Casper’s new “Popular Music Radio Station.” Over year years, it’s estimated that well over a hundred announcers graced the KATI airwaves. Armond Noble and Jim Baker were already old timers having worked in broadcasting for a number of years. They joined Ken Prather as being former announcers for Don Hathaway at KSPR & KTWO-TV. Coming from the Chicago area, Jim Baker started his radio career at KVOC in 1954, he did mornings for Ken & Misha Prather beginning in 1958-59 and then put on his television hat by doing the nightly news on KTWO-TV.

KATI continued to update it’s sound with the beginnings of Top-40 Music and News for Casper listeners. Saturday mornings on the station were popular as local businessmen would appear with the morning DJ for a couple of hours, playing their favorite tunes, being interviewed and discuss the events of the day. This Saturday show ended up being a precursor to a new hour-long daily program, over the lunch hour, called “Free For All” hosted by Misha Prather. The program addressed the issues of the day in Casper and Wyoming in a time when the internet wasn’t even a dream. “Free For All,” started in 1957-58, continued to air every weekday for the next nearly 30-years.

KATI always tried to program the station a little milder and more “adult” during the daytime hours. Other stations in the market tried to convince merchants that only teenagers listened to KATI so they shouldn’t advertise with the station. The late-afternoon, evenings and weekends were generally dedicated to the younger audience and music showed their tastes. KATI was tied to the community with local news and programs like “Free For All”, the Newcomers Program, KATI School Report, new baby reports, and one of the most popular was the KATI Doggone Report. Shirley Meenan said it was of her proudest moments to re-unite hundreds, if not thousands, of lost animals to their grateful owners over the years. It was always Pat Meenan’s goal for KATI to be a voice for the community and not just a “Jukebox with a thermometer attached!” Music, News & Information was in the DNA of KATI from the beginning.