When the local radio station went off the air a few months ago, Kemmerer and Diamondville residents were disappointed. But now, there’s good news for locals who were frustrated with the silence.

SVI Media, owned by Dan Dockstader, bought KDWY (FM), 105.3 from SLC Divestiture Trust 1 and KMER (AM) 940 from Broadway Media. Dockstader filed an application to transfer the station licenses to SVI (formerly known as Star Valley Media) on June 28.

Dockstader has roots in the Kemmerer community.

“My great-grandfather worked out at the coal mines, and that great-grandfather’s brother worked with a little-known guy named J.C. Penney,” Dockstader told the Gazette.

Dockstader said starting the station back up again was made complicated because it was completely shut down, but they’re “figuring out how to make it work.”

“We’re looking to get everything fired up in the next couple of weeks,” Dockstader said. “Things are in rough shape. We need to update a lot of the equipment, because it’s really archaic. We use really modern equipment at SVI, so we want to make sure everything’s working together.”

Dockstader has been in the radio business for 20 years, newspaper business for 40 years. 

“I have a passion for both newspapers and radio,” Dockstader said. “The community deserves both a radio station and a newspaper. They’re a part of life.”

Dockstader said SVI is working on expanding their live-stream sports game coverage in Star Valley and Pinedale, then they will look at expanding to Kemmerer. 

“It’s no small affair when we livestream sports,” Dockstader said. “We bring in two broadcasters and two announcers, producers and five hi-definition cameras. We also have player graphics and instant replay. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right.”

Dockstader said the KMER and KDWY stations will have a sort of “soft opening” and will increase coverage as they purchase new equipment and get the station back up and running. 

No word yet if the popular morning “Tradio” program will still be aired on the local stations.

Licensing information for the station is available at publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-profile/kdwy and publicfiles.fcc.gov/am-profile/kmer.