WHO IS THE SPY?
The Spy is not a radio station. The Spy is a way of life. The Spy is a culture and a community. The Spy provides a soundtrack and a virtual gathering space for the sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies and dickheads. They listen, they connect to one another, and they evangelize the Gospel of Ferris O’Brien.
The Spy is your go-to location for independent, local music and features more than 20 unique specialty shows that include 80s New Wave, Soul, Classic Alternative, Blues and Roots, Reggae, and much, much more. Additional, The Spy hosts an all-vinyl show and an Oklahoma rock show. These specialty shows set The Spy apart from traditional corporate radio.
THE LEGACY OF FERRIS O’BRIEN
Ferris O’Brien’s brand of The Spy has existed since 1998 when he took over as the Program Director at 93.7 The Spy (KSPI-FM in Stillwater). When station owners took The Spy off the air in 2001, Ferris secured ownership of the brand and moved it to Oklahoma City. In 2002, Citadel Communications launched a deep alternative format radio station (KSYY) and asked Ferris to take the helm. The station was killed in June 2004, but Ferris kept “Spy Radio” on the air as a once weekly specialty show on 100.5 The Katt. In 2009, Ferris purchased 105.3fm from Citadel and relaunched The Spy. When that purchase agreement feel through in December 2010, he took the station completely digital at thespyfm.com. In 2012, The Spy and KOSU established a new partnership that allowed The Spy to return to the FM dial and gave KOSU a new listener base and a definite cool factor.
In the summer of 2012, Ferris O’Brien and KOSU’s Rachel Hubbard met for lunch to discuss the possibility of airing a show featuring Spy music on KOSU. However, it was during that lunch that they realized that a larger partnership was in order and public radio was the perfect fit for independent music from The Spy.
Through public radio’s unique community supported funding model, listeners could be in charge of making sure The Spy stays on the air. Our mutual values of discovery, independence, careful curation and community are perfect and allowed two community institutions to forge a lasting partnership.
You can hear The Spy on KOSU at 91.7 Oklahoma City, 107.5 Tulsa, 88.3 Stillwater, and 94.9 Ponca City every night from 7pm-5am and at various times on Sundays. Check out our daily schedule for full details.
You can listen to The Spy 7 days a week from 7pm to 5am, plus 10am-noon on Sundays, on KOSU-FM 91.7 Oklahoma City, 107.5 Tulsa, 88.3 Stillwater, and 94.9 Ponca City.
You can also listen to The Spy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the iHeart Radio app on iTunes and Google Play, TuneIn, iTunes radio, Roku, and more.
Old Spy Logos & Stickers
Read about The Spy in these news articles and blog posts:
- Lost Ogle Q&A: Ferris O’Brien from The Lost Ogle (November 2009)
- The Spy to Return to Oklahoma Radio from NewsOK (November 2009)
- 10 Questions with Ferris O’Brien from All Access (January 2010)
- The People We Love from NewsOK (January 2010)
- Modern Rock Under the Spy Glass with Ferris O’Brien from FMQB (January 2010)
- To celebrate its first year back on the air, The Spy throws an all-star shindig and continues its mission of supporting local musicians from The Oklahoma Gazette (November 2010)
- Spy vs. Spy from NewsOK (December 2010)
- Long Live the Spy from NewsOK (December 2010)
- The Real Spy Can Be Found at TheSpyFM.com from Oklahoma Rock Show (December 2010)
- Bye Bye 105.3 The Spy from The Lost Ogle (December 2010)
- The Spy Become Online-Only Station from The Oklahoma Gazette (December 2010)
- A Battle Between Spies from The City Sentinel (March 2011)
- This Year’s Grand Marshall: TheSpyFM from The Oklahoma Gazette (October 2011)
- The Spy Returns to Radio from Oklahoma Gazette (August 2012)
- The Spy Partners with KOSU from The O’Colly (September 2012)
- KOSU The Spy FM x Tree & Leaf from Tree & Leaf (October 2012)
- The Spy Returns to the FM Dial from NewsOK (May 2013)
- Branding Lessons for Turbulent Times from Confluence Con (November 2013)
- Ferris O’Brien: The Spy teams up with KOSU and reigns supreme again from ionOklahoma (December 2013)
- Ferris Doesn’t Take This Day Off from The Oklahoma Gazette (March 2014)
- Ferris O’Brien: DJ, “Spy” Master from 405 Magazine (November 2015)
- Spy Guy from 405 Magazine (November 2015)
- I Spy from Territory: OKC Magazine (Winter 2016)