Philip John (P.J.) Meyer (1881-1952) was a local businessman best known for founding KFYR radio and its parent, Meyer Broadcasting Company.
Meyer was born October 14, 1881 in Minnesota. He married Etta Hoskins in 1911 at Tacoma, Washington. He became a partner in Hoskins’s retail operation in downtown Bismarck – founded by Etta’s father in 1898 and known as Hoskins-Meyer from 1922 onward.
In 1925, Meyer entered the broadcasting business upon founding KFYR radio, which broadcasted from the same building as the retail store. The call letters “KFYR” are homage to Philip Meyer, replacing “Ph” with “F.” KFYR’s first broadcast was the Elk Band Concert on February 8th, 1926.
The resulting Meyer Broadcasting Company eventually evolved into one of North Dakota’s largest privately owned companies, encompassing several North Dakota radio and television stations, along with Bismarck-Mandan’s cable provider.
Later in life, Philip took up a second residency in Florida while continuing to maintain a home in Bismarck. He died of a heart attack on April 6th, 1952 at his Florida home. It was the same day as Bismarck’s infamous 1952 flood, which shared the homepage with the news of his death.
