KYAC was the first Black-owned radio station in Seattle, broadcasting from 1965 to 1981 with a focus on playing music by Black artists. In addition to music, KYAC broadcast local news relevant to Seattle’s Black population, ran radio contests, hosted live events for listeners, and engaged in activism in the Black community. Initially, KYAC was owned by a white man. In 1969, the mostly Black employees of the station went on strike in protest of low pay and poor treatment from the owner. Don Dudley, a Black manager at KING Broadcasting, was hired as general manager at KYAC and successfully negotiated for most of the employees’ demands. He also negotiated an option to buy the entire station. Dudley gathered a group of investors and purchased KYAC, becoming one of only seven Black radio station owners in the US and the only one on the West Coast. Under Dudley’s ownership, KYAC grew from a daytime only station broadcasting from a studio in Kirkland to a 24-hour station based in Seattle and simulcasting on 1250 AM and 96.5 FM.
This image shows Robert L. Scott (1954-1998), a DJ and director at KYAC. Scott’s career in radio began at age 14 when he convinced the manager of KUOW, UW’s radio station, to let him host a jazz show on weekends. Later that year, Scott was hired by KYAC and began hosting a show on that station as well. During his time at KYAC, Scott became the program, music, and news director. He would sometimes fill in to do the news broadcasts using the alias “Jack Friday,” but frequent listeners recognized his voice. After leaving KYAC, Scott worked at a number of other radio stations around Seattle. At KJR, he became Seattle’s first Black DJ on a Top 40 station.
Caption information source: “Morning Update Show 4/15/21,” Converge Media, retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9j578HqUP4&t=1584s. Caption information source: “Robert L. Scott’s Love for Radio Spanned 30-Year Career,” by Carole Beers, Seattle Times, April 22, 1998, retrieved from https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19980422&slug=2746499.
