History for Chron

Nov. 30, 2022 Updated Wed., Nov. 30, 2022 at 4:09 p.m.

Bing Crosby and KXLY president Ed Craney, who owned both the KXLY radio and TV stations, announced that they had sold them to the Northern Pacific Radio and Television corporations.

The legendary entertainer and Craney, who served as president of both stations, owned the stations operated by Symons Broadcasting, Inc. as CBS outlets.

One of the nation’s pioneer radio stations, KXLY first went on the air in 1922 as KFPY. The call letters were changed to KXLY on Jan. 1, 1947.

Although the deal was still pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission, the new owners would be Joseph Harris, New York-businessman Norman Eisenstein and Richard E. Jones, who recently moved to Spokane from Detroit.

A native of Michigan, Jones is a former vice president of the Storer Broadcasting company. He also directed stations in New York, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

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