October 25, 1984

After nearly two years of lobbying, frequent intervention by Senator Ted Stevens, and five inches of paperwork, the FCC grants KNOM and fifteen other high-power Alaskan stations protection against interference that is beyond what is afforded large Lower 48 stations, by creating a new class of station, 1-N (“N” for north).

It is the result of two years of work undertaken by Tom Busch, then president of the Alaska Broadcasters Association, and Augie Hiebert, KNOM friend and Alaska broadcasting pioneer. It was initiated by a petition by Canada to establish thirty AM stations in the western regions of their country, interference from which would have wiped out nighttime radio listenership throughout most of rural Alaska. Senator Ted Stevens prevailed to preserve the coverage rights of KNOM AM and the other rural Alaska radio stations.