R.I.P.: Ken Orchard, Influential California Radio Owner

Ken Orchard (1938-2023)

The 85-year-old Ken Orchard, a radio giant in California's Victor Valley, died on Aug. 17 in Hemet, CA, after battling heart disease and Parkinson’s in his later years.

Orchard enjoyed a long life with many successes, twists and turns, and a broadcast career that spanned six decades. He never worked a day in his life because he loved radio as much as he loved his family, his daughter said. 

The Daily Press reports KVVQ took the High Desert by storm as the Victorville-based station flooded nearly every home, office, school bus, and car with waves of popular music by singers such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Prince and Billy Joel.

Born in Blunt, South Dakota, Orchard married his high school sweetheart, Millie, at age 19 in 1957 in Van Nuys. They spent their honeymoon traveling to Crescent City for his first job in radio.

After radio jobs in Georgia and Tennessee, the Orchards headed back to Los Angeles, where Orchard took an engineering job with RKO General-owned KHJ radio and television in 1959. He spent 21 years at KHJ while also becoming a real estate broker. His dream was to build, own and operate a radio station through money made in real estate investments.

Orchard applied for a construction permit to build his first FM station in Victorville. Once approved by the FCC, he left his KHJ job and sold his rental properties to fund construction and equipment. KVVQ 103.1 FM went on the air in August 1980. The call letters stood for Victor Valley Q-munities. 

Orchard at KHJ early '60s

The radio station dominated the airways.  KVVQ, “will play hit after hit,” said Ken, who explained that his family’s faith in God would prevent the station from playing songs with “double entendres” or “innuendoes.”

Ken’s second station, KLLY 95.3 FM, was built in Bakersfield. It went on the air in January 1985. He called it “Kelly 95” after his daughter. He sold the Bakersfield station in the late 80s to build KVVQ AM 910. 

Orchard used the radio station’s platform to help the campaign for Hesperia's cityhood. After several years of hearings and testimony, environmental impact reports and fees, KVVQ-AM went on the air on Feb. 1, 1990.  Ken later acquired KIQQ AM 1310 in Barstow. Two more translators were built to boost the AM and FM signals up Interstate 15 and north of Barstow.

In 1991, local radio stations began experiencing financial difficulties when George Air Force Base was shuttered. By 1997, most of the advertising dollars had vanished and stations began closing.  Financial issues eventually forced the closure of KVVQ in 1997.

In 1999, Ken began a consulting firm, Orchard Media Services, with his daughter.  The company provided radio and TV stations with much-needed assistance with FCC compliance. Ken visited thousands of broadcast stations all over the country, conducting “mock" FCC inspections and offering services to help them maintain their license to broadcast, Kelly said.