KYVL (1440 AM) is a radio station licensed to Medford, Oregon, United States, and serving the Medford-Ashland area. The station is owned by Bicoastal Media. It was established in 1926 as the original home of KMED, whose programming moved to 106.3 FM in 2023. History According to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) records, KMED's first license was granted on December 29, 1926. However, the station's founder, William J. Virgin, had been involved in radio dating back to at least the fall of 1921, when he and three others constructed a five-watt transmitter in Elmer Morrison's garage in Ashland. It is not clear if this transmitter was licensed at this time, or if the endeavor ever expanded beyond experimental transmissions. Beginning in May 1922, a series of announcements appeared stating that Virgin was planning to establish a broadcasting station at the family mill in Central Point. This station received its first license in August 1922, licensed to the E. J. Virgin Milling Co. in Central Point, for operation on the 360 meter (833 kHz) "entertainment" wavelength. It was assigned the call letters KFAY, and apparently never made any broadcasts from Central Point, as a short time later station ownership was changed to Virgin's Radio Service, and it was announced that construction had started to locate the station at the Jackson County fairgrounds in Medford. KFAY's debut broadcast was made from the fairgrounds on September 23. During its two-year life, KFAY faced significant financial pressures, especially since at this time it did not carry advertising. In 1924, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), which held a number of important radio patents, announced that existing stations would have to pay for the right to use its patents. Virgin reported that AT&T wanted a $500 licensing fee if KFAY was to continue operating. Around this time, KFAY ended its broadcasts, and its license was formally deleted in December 1924. Two years later, W. J. Virgin established KMED. There have been conflicting interpretations whether KMED should be considered a continuation of KFAY or a separate station. FCC records, inherited from the Department of Commerce, regulators of radio at the time, considered the two to be distinct stations. Moreover, a newspaper review of KMED that appeared on December 31, 1929 describes KFAY as W. J. Virgin's "first station", and the "History of KMED" section in a May 20, 1931 station advertisement also refers to KFAY and