CA Radio: KIDD 630 AM Goes Silent

All-sports KIDD 630 AM, which was branded ESPN Central Coast, went off the air New Year’s Eve. Parent company Buckley Communications decided to shut it down for financial reasons, according to the Monterey Herald.

“We’re getting tons of calls. There are a lot of fans of the station,” said Kathy Baker, executive vice president of KIDD and a company employee for 34 years.

The station had an all-sports format for three years. The only other all-sports station in the Monterey Peninsula vicinity now is KNBR 680 AM in San Francisco.

Baker said Buckley Communications will remove the towers at Reservation Road and Seaside Court and try to sell the station’s frequency.

The towers are situated in a vernal pond at Locke-Paddon Wetland Community Park, which is considered a coastal wetland. The towers are considered a nonconforming use.

But there were other issues as well. The station received a complaint about replacing lights on the towers, which are in the flight path for the Marina Municipal Airport. A station spokesman said workers for a firm that does tower light replacement would not consider the job because of safety issues.