
When it began broadcasting in October 1923, KFKB operated at 500 watts, not 5,000. According to news reports, the signal was picked up “in Canada and by steamers in the Atlantic Ocean.”
Over the years, Brinkley applied for and got approval for a signal boost to 1,500 and then 5,000 watts by 1927. So we’re not inventing the “5,000 watts” part; we’re just compressing time to make his station as powerful now as it would be one day.