88.1 KWAO
-Air One – Christian Praise music -VASHON
88.5 KNKX
— Jazz/Blues/NPR News (Pacific Public Media) -TACOMA
Established on November 16, 1966 as KPLU-FM by Pacific Lutheran University, this station became an independent, community-licensed station in 2016. On November 12, 2015, Pacific Lutheran University announced its intention to sell the station to the University of Washington, owner of KUOW. The planned sale to UW triggered “public outcry” from KPLU’s listener base, who feared KPLU’s unique programming would be sacrificed if it became a sister station to KUOW. On November 23, the KPLU advisory board voted unanimously to oppose the sale. The board sought to negotiate with a community-based non-profit group, Friends of 88.5, to raise $7,000,000 to buy the radio station and its network of translators and rebroadcasters from the university, keeping it independent. By May 26, 2016, some 17,000 supporters met the goal. On August 12, 2016, it was announced that the station would adopt the new call letters KNKX. The new call sign went into effect when the station officially changed hands from PLU to Friends of 88.5 on August 30, 2016. In October 2018, it was announced that KNKX would move their Tacoma studio to downtown Tacoma, at 930 Broadway. The KNKX main studio is located on Broadway in Downtown, Tacoma, with a satellite studio on Fourth Avenue in Seattle. On August 29, 2019, the first live broadcast from their new Tacoma home was aired by Dick Stein. The station hosted a grand opening celebration on September 7, 2019. KNKX TOUR
KPLU personalities: Dick Stein, Ruby Brown, Nick Francis, Paige Hanson, Robin Lloyd, Dale Bundren, Phil Harper, Jim Wilke, Carol Handley, Abe Beeson, John Maynard, Richard Hagar, John Kessler, Steve Slaton, Gary Crawford [thanks for the update, cjjazz!], Mayowa Aina,
Florangela Davila, Lily Ann Fowler, Scott Greenstone, Will James, Amy Jeffries, Kirsten Kendrick, Grace Madigan, Vivian McCall, Dave Meyer,
Emil Moffatt, Freddy Monares, Guy Nelson, Bellamy Pailthorp, Kari Plog, Rebekah Way.
88.9 KSWS
— NPR News-Information (Washington State University) -CHEHALIS
In operation since 2010, KSWS serves Chehalis-Centralia-Olympia with Northwest Public Radio’s News & Public Affairs programming.
89.3 KAOS
— Community, eclectic music, volunteer DJs (Evergreen State College) -OLYMPIA
KAOS was founded by Dean Katz of The Evergreen State College and broadcasts began January 1, 1973.
KAOS’s mission is to present voices that are underrepresented in mainstream media. This includes Native American, Women’s, Hispanic, alternative news programs, and independent music. KAOS currently broadcasts several syndicated public affairs programs from Pacifica Radio, as well as original, locally produced public affairs shows. KAOS also features a wide variety of music, including world music, jazz, blues, metal, folk, experimental, garage, psychedelic, electronic, surf, alt country, prog, free jazz, indie rock, bluegrass, dance, dub, reggae, hip hop, Latino, roots rock, R&B, and more.
89.9 KGHP
— Rock (Peninsula High School) -GIG HARBOR
KGHP-FM (89.9), is a student-run high school radio station operating on a non-commercial license in Gig Harbor, Washington. Owned by the Peninsula School District #401, the station’s studio is located on the campus of Peninsula High School. With its two translators, K207AZ 89.3 and K229BL 93.7, the station’s signal covers most of Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and portions of Tacoma.
The station came on the air in 1988 and was one of three high school radio station in the state of Washington. The first manager and teacher was Don Hofmann, a former KNBQ-FM general manager. KSTW-TV technician Max Bice was the engineer.
The multi-format station is run by students at Peninsula High School and Gig Harbor High School during the day, and in the evening to night hours it is run by community volunteers. The station gives a variety of shows from the students which range from sports broadcasts to classic rock.
A variety of genres is played, including Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Roots & Americana, Classic rock and vintage music. As the station is also an educational tool for the students, KGHP also runs news briefs and fact segments, at various times throughout the day, along with taking requests via the phone. The station also provides emergency information during power outages and severe storms, and natural disasters.
89.7 KWFJ
— Religion (BBN Bible Broadcasting Network) -ROY
“Keep Working For Jesus”
90.3 KEXP
— Alternative (University of Washington) -SEATTLE
University of Washington also owns NPR affiliate 94.9 KUOW-FM. In 1972, the station started operations as KCMU. It aired mostly progressive rock and new wave music, with UW students serving as staff members and disc jockeys, broadcasting at 90.5 MHz. The “CMU” in the call sign referred to the campus’s Communications Building, where its studios and offices were located.
In 1982, the station’s power increased to 182 watts, allowing it to be heard outside the University District.
In 1986, KCMU switched frequencies to 90.3 MHz and increased its transmitter power to 400 watts, improving its broadcast radius to 15 miles. In 1996, KCMU moved from its long-time home in the Communications Building (CMU) to Kane Hall at the University of Washington.
In 2001, Paul Allen’s Experience Music Project (EMP) and KCMU formed a partnership that provided the station with significant funding through 2005. The station changed its call letters to KEXP. It moved to new studios near Downtown Seattle which were provided rent-free by EMP. KEXP increased its power to 720 watts.
In 2004, KEXP began simulcasting on 91.7 FM in Tacoma, which extended the station’s broadcast range to Tacoma, Olympia, and the South Puget Sound region. That station was renamed KXOT (now KYFQ). Before then, KXOT was known as KBTC, owned by Bates Technical College, and featuring a classic rock format. Bates sold the station to Public Radio Capital, a Washington-based non-profit radio organization. The cost was $5 million, with PRC leasing it to KEXP.
Personalities: John Kertzer KCMU/KEXP, Albina Cabrera, Brian Foss, Brit Hansen, Cheryl Waters, Darek Mazzone, Don Slack, Emily Fox, Eva Walker, Gabriel Teodros, Greg Vandy, Greta Rose, John Gilbreath, Johnny Horn, John Richards, Kennady Quille, Kevin Cole, Lace Cadence, Larry Mizell, Jr., Larry Rose, Lisa LeClair, Marco Collins, Martin Douglas, Michele Myers, Mike Ramos, Rachel Stevens, Reverend Dollars, Stevie Zoom, Tanner Ellison, Troy Nelson
90.5 KACS
-Christian, family-oriented music/programs (Chehalis Valley Educational Foundation) -CHEHALIS
KACS is a local listener-supported non-commercial independent radio network broadcasting a Christian format.
90.9 KVTI
— Classical-Northwest Public Radio NWPR (Clover Park Tech College) -LAKEWOOD
KCPS, (1955) owned by the Clover Park School District, began in 1955 and also had the call letters KPEC-FM from 1972 until 1983. During this time instructors were Bill Doane and Bob Piatt Pacific Lutheran University came on the air with KPLU in 1966, with KCPS moving to 90.9 FM. From March 1988 until June 2010 KVTI For many, years KVTI was “I-91″ offering CHR/top 40 hosted by students, (with news in the morning and afternoon), Tuesday nights featured live acoustic music from 7-10PM and Talk and Public Affairs from 10PM to Midnight. Call letters were changed to KPEC FM (1973 – MOR format) KVTI (1983)
Effective Monday, June 21, 2010, Washington State University’s Northwest Public Radio assumed management of Clover Park Technical College’s radio station KVTI, 90.9 FM. With this management change came a new music format, switching from Contemporary Top 40 to Classical and NPR News. Clover Park Technical College and Washington State University announced this new partnership in April with Northwest Public Radio, a service of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. While WSU will operate the station, Clover Park will retain the license and ownership. As part of the transition, the station went off the air starting Friday, June 18 and remained off the air through the weekend. Monday morning began the first day of the new format.
91.3 KBCS
— Folk, Jazz, Variety (Pacifica Foundation) -BELLEVUE
KBCS-FM went on the air on Monday, February 5, 1973, originally with 10 watts of power. It used equipment donated by Dorothy Stimson Bullitt of KING-FM. Its limited coverage meant the station could only be heard on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. By the late 1970s, the power was boosted to 100 watts. In the 1990s, the power was again increased, this time to 7,900 watts, allowing KBCS to be heard around the Seattle metropolitan area.
It remained student-run until 1988 when Bellevue College administrators hired a general manager for the station and adopted a community radio model. Over time, the station became self-sustaining, funded primarily by listener donations and on-air pledge drives.
91.7 KYFQ
— Christian hymns (Bible Broadcasting Network) -TACOMA
Operated by Tacoma Public Schools at Tacoma from Voc-Tech from 1949-1969; Bates Voc-Tech 1969-1986: KTOY was a great launching pad for many radio people. Many are still in the business locally and across the USA. KTOY programmed Top 40 [with R&B on weekends]. Instructors included Lee Perkins, Chuck Ellsworth, Al McMillan, Darren Lamb, Ken Keigley & Bill Luckhurst; KTPS FM Variety 1986-1992, KBTC FM Variety 1992-2004; 2004- 91.7 KXOT (Variety) NPR – Public Radio Capital licensed to KEXP; May 2006 KUOW licensed the station to broadcast secondary programming of its affiliation with the BBC and NPR. PRC had been seeking an operator for KXOT for a few years. From 2006 until July 2012 KXOT was operated by the University Of Washington as KUOW2, a secondary service of their 94.9 KUOW-FM Seattle. After a period off-the-air, KXOT was simulcasting the audio of cable public affairs network TVW, a local equivalent of C-SPAN since the start of 2013. KXOT was sold to Bible Broadcasting Network for $2.4 million in February 2015 and given KYFQ call letters. BBN Network broadcasts began in August 2015. Bible Broadcasting Network sister station is KWFJ/Roy, WA.
KTOY Personalities: Sam Lawson, Chris Lindstrom, Fred Elliot, Randy Goedker, Brent Stier, Lynn Benson, Dewey Boynton, David Sawyer, Slim/Leslie Nielsen, Dennis LaMarche, Rick Nordlund, Mario Briones, Martin Moreno, Jim Bach, Pat O’Day/Paul Berg, Chuck Ellsworth/Lee Perkins/Russ Stringham/Al McMillan-instructors, Ken Keigley & Bill Luckhurst -Chief Engineers 60/70s — other alumni of KTOY? Contact us!
92.1 K221GR
rebroadcasts 1280 KLDY Spanish Christian programming (Iglesia Pentecostal Visperia Del Fin) -LACEY
This station was part of a Northwest chain of stations broadcasting (ESPN Desportes) owned by Seattle Streaming Radio LLC until sold to Iglesia Pentecostal Visperia Del Fin in April 2015, which put a Spanish-religious format on the small network.
92.1 K221FJ
rebroadcasts 1480 KNTB Spanish Christian programming (Iglesia Pentecostal Visperia Del Fin) -LAKEWOOD
This station was part of a Northwest chain of stations broadcasting (ESPN Desportes) owned by Seattle Streaming Radio LLC until sold to Iglesia Pentecostal Visperia Del Fin in April 2015, which put a Spanish-religious format on the small network.
92.5 KQMV
— Rhythmic CHR (Hubbard) -SEATTLE
(Wikipedia) Urban KZAM (1961–1964) – KZAM began broadcasting on November 20, 1961. The Seattle-licensed station had an urban contemporary format, the first FM station in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest to target the African American community. It was owned by Monte Strohl’s Foremost Broadcasting.
MOR KFKF-FM (1964–1974)
In January 1964, KZAM was placed into receivership; the month prior, it left the air. It was acquired by Bellevue Broadcasters, a limited partnership led by Kemper Freeman. Bellevue, which owned KFKF 1540 AM in that city, relocated the station facilities and license from Seattle to Bellevue in January 1966, and later that year, KZAM became KFKF-FM. The two stations simulcasted a middle of the road (MOR) format.
In August 1972, Freeman sold the stations to a partnership headed by Stewart Ballinger, with the station changing its call sign to KBES (reflecting the new licensee, Bellevue/Eastside Radio), but retaining the MOR format.
Progressive KZAM-FM (1974–1983)
92.5 flipped to progressive rock and became KZAM on December 16, 1974 (changing to KZAM-FM shortly thereafter), with the full format launching April 1, 1975. In May 1978, Sandusky Newspapers bought the stations (1540 AM would be sold in January 1992 to different owners due to Sandusky’s acquisition of AM 880 KIXI from Sunbelt Communications). KZAM was also noteworthy for the number of women on its airstaff and its stronger-than-usual performance with women in the market. The decision to put women on the air was part of a deliberate effort to build a new audience counter-programming against then-dominant “high-testosterone” rock music stations. However, particularly after the Sandusky sale, the staff that had started the station began to leave.
KLSY Adult Contemporary (1983–2002)
KZAM flipped on July 18, 1983 to adult contemporary as “Classy” KLSY. The station saw its ratings increase, but it was challenged several times by other AC stations in the mid-1980s, and became the sister station of similarly formatted KRWM in 1996. From 1988 to December 2003, mornings on KLSY were hosted by Bruce Murdock, Tim Hunter and Alice Porter.
Adult Top 40 (2002–2006)
On February 1, 2002, at 9 a.m., the station altered its format to Adult Top 40 as “Mix 92.5” but retained the KLSY calls. In December 2003, the longtime morning team of Murdock, Hunter and Porter left the station; Mitch Elliot and Lisa Foster, who hosted afternoons, were moved to mornings.
Rhythmic AC (2006–2010)
On May 1, 2006, at 11 a.m., after playing “Closing Time” by Semisonic, KLSY began stunting with songs that had a “goodbye” or “farewell” theme, as well as playing slogans from various radio stations around the country (i.e. “The Best Songs of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and Today”). At noon, the station flipped to rhythmic AC as “MOViN 92.5”, giving Seattle its first adult-targeted rhythmic station in four years since the demise of KBTB (now KJEB) in 2002. (This format also aired on KBKS from 1996–1997.) The first song as “MOViN” was The C+C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”.
KQMV was the first station to use the “MOViN” branding, from the consultant firm Alan Burns & Associates. KLSY changed call letters to KQMV on May 8, 2006, to match the new branding. Unlike KBKS’ AC-leaning direction and KBTB’s Rhythmic oldies approach, KQMV featured a mix of rhythmic pop/dance currents, old-school hip hop and R&B, and disco and classic dance hits in a Top 40-like presentation, targeting females 25-44, and positioning itself to compete with rhythmic Top 40 KUBE and Mainstream Top 40 KBKS. Over the years, KQMV slowly dropped most disco tracks and began emphasizing more currents and old-school Hip Hop, R&B, and Dance tracks from artists like Prince, Destiny’s Child, and Janet Jackson.
Beginning in September 2009, the station began tightening its playlist by dropping most old-school tracks, and shifted towards an adult-oriented rhythmic CHR format, though not moving all the way to Rhythmic AC, as it had been. The amount of currents was heavily increased, though the station did retain some old-school titles. As of November 18, 2010, KQMV completed its shift towards a conventional rhythmic contemporary direction, with emphasis on current rhythmic pop/R&B hits. As a result of this shift, KQMV was added to the Mediabase Rhythmic panel.
Top 40/CHR (2010–present)
As of November 2010, Mediabase added KQMV to the CHR panel and would rival KBKS and KUBE. On the BDS overall Top 40/CHR panel, KQMV did not contribute its playlist to BDS’ monitored chart until 2012 (it also contributes to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart) because of the station’s rhythmic-heavy playlist. It initially avoided playing any Mainstream Pop/Rock crossovers to avoid overlapping with modern AC sister KLCK-FM.
Within three years, KQMV became the highest-rated CHR station in the market, and one of the top radio stations overall. KQMV’s success with the format would cause changes at KBKS and KUBE in January 2016: KUBE would move its Rhythmic format to co-owned 104.9 FM, with KUBE’s former frequency of 93.3 FM relaunching as Mainstream Top 40 “Power 93.3”, while KBKS switched to a Hot AC format and retained the “Kiss FM” branding; however, in May 2018, the KUBE call letters and Rhythmic format returned to 93.3, while KBKS dropped Hot AC and returned to Top 40/CHR.
In July 2013, Sandusky announced it would sell its radio holdings in Seattle and Phoenix to Hubbard Broadcasting, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. The sale was completed that November. Hubbard’s Seattle cluster now includes KQMV as well as KPNW-FM, KRWM, KIXI and KKNW.
Personalities: KZAM- [JAZZ] Joe Jones, Al Collins, Dick Crews, Jim Bee, Jim Norwood, Clarence Jones, Tee Alexander, Jim Babcock, Albert Tucker, Leroy Ray, Chris Wadsworth, Gordon DeWitty, Tommy Woolridge, Bob Summerise, Larry Braxton, Marty Wyatt, Sonny Buxton, Lou Coaston, Lonnie Williams …. ROCK: Tom Corddry (founding program director), Davidson Corry, Shelley Morrison, Leilani McCoy, Marian Seymour, Jeff Hanley, Jeff Heiman, Steve Suplin, Jude Noland, Lee Somerstein, Joni Balter, Nick Morrison, Jim Stutzman, Bruce Buls, Nils Von Veh, Carol Handley, Stephen Rabow, Steve Slaton, news director Denny Fleenor; Jon Kertzer, Dean Carlson, Diamond Jack Brady, Larry Snyder, Dave Scott, Bruce Funkhouser, Robert L. Scott, Paul Carlson, Matt Reidy, Steve Ward, Ken Vincent, and Michael Soto; [thanks for the updates, cjjazz & Brian Lord]; KBES- Lou Gillette [News] KLSY- John Bates, Janet Wilson, Jeff Conwell, Bobby Irwin, Larry Lomax, John Nixon, Alice Porter, John Thomas, Jim Williams, Delilah Rene, Bruce Murdock, Tim Hunter, Dave Sloan, Bob Brooks, Charlie Bush, Tony Marcus, John Rohde, Kelly Marshall, Bob Allen-weekends, Jim Bee, Jim Norwood, Randi Thomas-weekends [Lights Out], Pete Lukovich – Lights Out – Saturday; KFKF – Steve Montgomery, Ron MacArthur, Dick Ellingson, Stas Loutas, Larry Nelson, Gene Larson, John Forrest, Jack Hemingway; KQMV: Jim Kampmann, Jubal Flagg, Brooke Fox, Maynard, Mason, Justin, Kel, Cooper [weekends]
93.3 KJR-FM
— SportsRadio -NBC News (iHeart) -SEATTLE
Original 1962 application by owners of KNBX 1050 Kirkland asked for call sign ‘KOTO’. Eastside Broadcasting also owned KARI 550 Blaine and had an application for 104.3 Bellingham with the KBLE calls issued! 104.3 ended up being KERI and 93.3 KBLE-FM [1964] signed-on with “The Nashville Sound” and has a few religious programs late evenings presumably after the AM had signed off at sunset. KBLE-FM maintained this mix of country and religion for it’s entire duration. KBLE-FM was always hampered by it’s mono signal and lack of audio processing which gave the music it played a very ‘flat’ sound –KUBE FM, became KPWK in a format shuffle of iHeart stations in January 2016. KUBE call letters moved to 104.9 FM – As iHeart began selling off stations, KUBE call letters were moved to an iHeart station out of state. In May 2018, iHeart returned the KUBE call letters to 93.3 FM with the crappy rap format returning. Crummy format but the call letter brand recognition was welcome. At least one corporate entity has realized the value of the call letters. — February 19, 2022, KUBE simulcasts 106.1 KBKS as format change pending for KUBE. March 8, 2022 @ 12Noon, 93.3 begins simulcast of SportsRadio KJR, the first Sports station on FM in Seattle. April 10, 2022, KJR separates from FM, 950 AM programs CBS & FOX Sports, FM 93.3 programs local sportstalk personalities. 93.3 drops KUBE call letters which are replaced by KJR-FM.
Personalities: KBLE- Norm Abel, Larry Wade, Al Workman, Al Clarke; KUBE- Charlie Brown, Eric Powers, Shellie Hart, Bob Case, Ty Flint, Tom Huytler, Barry Beck, Kelly Bridges, Stitch Mitchell, Jerry Hart, Diane McKenzie, Jeff West, Mark Andrews, Todd Baker, Scott Burns, Gary Bryan, Michael O’Shea, Scott Ingram, Rick Reynolds, Bruce Butterfield, Bill Rice, Eddie Francis, Karen Wild, Nessa, Eric Powers & Dirty Harry, Tiffany Warner, DJ Supasam. Weekender: Harrison Woods.
KUBE/KJR SportsTalk personalities–Chuck Powell, Bucky Jacobsen, Jason Puckett, Jim Moore, Ian Furness, Dave ‘Softy’ Mahler, Dick Fain, and Curtis Crabtree.
93.7 KLSY
— Familia Hispanic Christian (Centro Familiar Cristiano) – BELFAIR
KLSY 05/19/2014, KANY 10/13/2005… KANY-Josh Broadcasting LLC/Country “Big Foot Country” This station received its original construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission on March 25, 2005.
While still under construction, College Creek Media, LLC, reached an agreement in December 2006 to sell this station to Jodesha Broadcsting, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 23, 2007, and the transaction was consummated on March 16, 2007. KANY received its license to cover from the FCC on March 27, 2008. [Wiki] April 2012/FCC granted license assignment of license for KANY-FM 93.7 Montesano from Jodesha Broadcasting, Inc to Josh Broadcasting, LLC. Sold to Centro Familia Cristiano
Personalities: Doug McDowell.
94.1 KSWD
— EMMA 94.1 – HOT AC (Audacy) -SEATTLE
[1961] KOL-FM mono, full-time Top 40 simulcast of KOL-AM; 1967: simulcast AM 6am-6pm w/Top 40′ 6PM: “Progressive/Underground rock” – some of this was pre-recorded and voice-tracked by KOL-AM DJ Terry McManus, other shifts were hosted live. In 1970, KOL-FM boosted it’s output to 100,000 watts making it heard all over the northwest as far north as Vancouver & Victoria. To kick off their high power signal, they did a full weekend of live concert albums played in their entirety. Terry McManus and the KOL production team assembled this to sound as if it was a continuous rock concert and billed the weekend as such.
Personalities: Bruce Buls, Robin Mitchell Sept 1973: drops AOR, flips to automated Top-40; 1975: Purchased by Plough Broadcasting, flips to KEUT (beautiful/EZ listening); February 1, 1978:KMPS-FM (country) simulcast morning & afternoon drive, otherwise separate [thanks for the timeline: Mike Cherry] Flipped to Christmas music for 2 weeks December 4, 2017 changed format to THE SOUND Adult Pop 70s to Today, Adult Favorites/Soft AC. Changed call letters from KMPS to KSWD. KMPS call letters moved to KRAK/Hisperia, CA. Entercom became Audacy in 2021. September 4, 2024, KSWD tweaked their AC format to hotter hits, 2000s, some 90s tunes. EMMA is focused on the female listeners of Seattle. Remember when KETO tried a format called Music Only For A Woman? That bombed!
Personalities: KMPS- Fred Zaehler [KOL FM], Maxine Sartori, Dave Allen, Big Al Helseth, Peter Vail, Darryl Despie, Patrick McDonald, Rich Fitzgerald, John Chambless, Rick Stuart, Lee Rogers, Phil Harper, Bob Kelly, Mike O’Connor, Roger Dale, Ron Norwood, Todd Stacker, Ken Moultrie, Tam Henry [Weekends], Buck Wade, Steve Blackburn, Patti Par, Gary Vance, Greg Thunder, Jim Williams, Art Lind, Big Ed Dunaway, Dewey Boynton, Charley Parker, Becky Brenner, Jay Lawrence, Don Riggs, Ichabod Caine, Scallops, Tall Paul Fredricks, Stubbs, Tony Thomas, Jennifer Wood, Derek Murray, Jaye Albright, Jack Allen, Frank Catalano, Brady Wright, Dick Ellingson, Daryl Webster, Johnson & Johnson, Stephen Kilbreath, Cornbread [named 2009 Country Music Association Major Market Personality of the Year **WIL Radio], the Outlaw Pat Garrett, Dakota and Greg Valentine, Doug Duin (APD / MD / ON AIR 94.1 The Sound / Hot 103.7).
94.5 KRXY
— Contemporary & Classic Rock (Olympia Broadcasters Inc.) -SHELTON
Licensed: 2014-02-06 Bobby Hart mornings, Kris Marshall, Ken Carson, Gail Adams and Ron Harris.
94.9 KUOW
— Classical/NPR (University of Washington) -SEATTLE
1948: KING-FM. Seattle’s first FM station, KRSC-FM was on 98.1. When KUOW launched, it was first on 90.5 which later would become the second station licensed to UOW as student-run KCMU (now KEXP 90.3). When the Bullitts purchased KRSC-FM & TV on May 6, 1949 for $375,000, (Jessica Longston retained ownership of KRSC-AM 1150), they moved KING-FM to 98.1 and donated the 94.9 facility to the Univ of Wash for KUOW [thanks for the timeline: Mike Cherry] Personalities, KUOW producers, hosts and technicians: Alec Cowan, Alexandra Rochester, Andy Hurst, Angela King, Ann Dornfeld, Ashley Hiruko, Bernard Ouellette, Bill O’Grady, Bill Radke, Brandi Fullwood, Carol Smith, Caroline Chamberlain Gomez, Casey Martin, Catharine Smith, Charlotte Duren, Christy George, Clare McGrane, Diana Opong, Dyer Oxley, Ed Babb, Eden Stork, Eilis O’Neill, Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez, Hans Anderson, Isolde Raftery, Jason Burrows, Jason Pagano, Jim Gates, John O’Brien, John Ryan, Joshua McNichols, Kate Walters, Katherine Banwell, Katie Campbell, Katy Sewall, Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer, Kevin Kniestedt, Kim Malcolm, Kyle Norris, Libby Denkmann, Lila Kitaeff Lakehart, Liz Jones, Matt Martin, Mike Davis, Natalie Akane Newcomb, Noel Gasca, Paige Browning, Patricia Murphy, Rob Wood, Robert Jacobs-Springer, Sam Roffe, Sarah Leibovitz, Stephen Gomes, Tim Meinig, Tom Banse, Troy Landrum Jr., Vaughan Jones, Whitney Henry-Lester. Mark Wayne, Bill Snoopy, Robert L. Scott, Carolyn Adolph, Ashley Ahearn, Jenny Asarnow, Elizabeth Austen, Dave Beck, Ruby de Luna, Phyllis Fletcher, Nathan Friend, Jim Gates, Jeff Hansen, Jamala Henderson, Arvid Hokanson, Andy Hurst, David Hyde, Tami Kosch, Liz Jones, Sara Lerner, Patricia Murphy, Guy Nelson, Arwen Nicks, Bill O’Grady, Bernard Ouellette, Jason Pagano, Amy Radil, Ross Reynolds, John Ryan, Steve Scher, Katy Sewall, Marcie Sillman, Rachel Solomon, Megan Sukys, Sarah Waller, Jack Walters, Derek Wang, Deborah Wang, Amanda Wilde, Rob Wood, Jeannie Yande
95.1 KITI
— Oldies/Classic Rock (Premier Broadcasters, Inc.) -CENTRALIA
Licensed to Winlock, LIVE 95 KITI serves the Centralia-Chehalis area. The signal reaches portions of Olympia-Lacey.
95.3 K237FR
— KGY Oldies/CBS News (KGY Inc.) -MCCLEARY
AM KGY was sold to Catholic “Sacred Heart Radio” (2014) ending local, family operation of one of the oldest radio stations in Washington State. KGY-AM became KBUP. The owners of KGY Incorporated now use the KGY call letters for the station operating from KYYO-HD2 on a translator covering the Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater area extending up I5 just past Lakewood until drowned out by LPFM 95.3 KQTA Tacoma.
This segment was taken from the on-air celebration of KGY’s 100th anniversary.
(St. Martins University) 1946 – Father Sebastian Ruth explains some history of KGY Olympia on the 25th anniversary (3:50).The rest of that story: The station, 7YS, was silenced by the radio commission for three weeks, upgrades were made to the broadcast and transmitting equipment, power was increased and 7YS returned to the air as KGY, now a commercial station. Personalities: Dick Pust, Smilin’ Jay Andrews, Bob McLeod, Kevin Huffer, Matt Case, Doug Dahlgren, Michael Stein, Larry Bailey, Stephen Schlenker, Anna Winter, Brad Frederickson, Ed Evans, Jim Hewitt (Robin Sherwood), Mike Altman, Nathan Lee, Val Vaughn, PJ Kirkland (Phillip Pearl), Steve George [News Director], Tammy Bennett, Ty Flint, Wendy Robbins, Willie Kelley.
95.7 KJEB
— 70s/80s (iHeart) -SEATTLE
[1960] KGMJ was co-owned with KVOS Bellingham, [1963] the station became KIXI FM Easy Listening, KLTX Adult Contemporary [1980], later KMBX and then KBTB “The Beat” – KJR FM has flipped from Classic Rock to Oldies, most recently on December 26, 2010. THE JET moniker replaced KJR call letters in August 2014. Bob Rivers “retired” and Steve Slaton also left the station. Jodie Brothers Blau and Marty Riemer took over the morning show in October 2014 on the JET. The morning show later featured Jodie Brothers and Bender Cunningham. Call letters switched from KJR FM to KJEB April 20, 2022, shortly after KJR FM 93.3 became the new home for KJR SportsRadio.
Personalities: KIXI: Robert O. Smith, Terry MacDonald, Dan Murphy, Jim Martin, Don Simon [PD], Bill Norton [PD], Paul Wallace, Dave Ryan [Dave Sawyer]; KLTX- Chad Douglas, Jimmy Anderson, Glen Martin, Jim Dai, Sandy Hamilton – weekends; KBTB: Bill Rice KJR FM: Todd Baker, Charlie Brown, Gary Bryan, Mark Edwards, Christy Lynn, Jon Ballard, Casey Christopher, D.K. Erickson, Mike Forrester, Brian Gregory, Janet Wilson, Norm Gregory, Ric Hansen, JJ Hemingway, Jon Jensen, Jerry Kay, Glen Martin/Glen McCartney, Michael O’Shea, Bill Rice, Kacie Sommers, Jackson Dell Weaver, Heidi May, Randy Lundquist, Suzanne Strickland/Suzanne Thunder, Dave Yates, Mark Bronson, Bob Rivers, Steve Slaton, Jodie Brothers, Lori Bradley, Seth Thompson, Dan Roberts, “Spike” O’Neil, Joe “Downtown Joe” Bryant; Marty Reimer.
96.1 KXXO
— Adult Contemporary (3 Cities) -OLYMPIA
KXXO serves the Tacoma, Olympia, Puyallup, Centralia, Chehalis, and Shelton areas. KXXO personalities: Smilin’ Jay Andrews, Larry Lomax, R.P. McMurphy & Ann D’Angelo, Jennifer Mathis, Jessica West, Dave Mann, Ty Flint, Ann D’Angelo, Anna Winter, Dick Pust, Jeff Hirschberg, Chris Wojcik and Harmon Shay – Freeway Hero Traffic Reports, Markly Morrison, Dave Cowan, Joe Riley, JJ Syrja, Cari Palmer, Tip Felts, Tammy Tillinghast, Bill Ogden.
96.5 KJAQ
— Jack FM (iHeart) -SEATTLE
96.5 – first license was granted 6-28-1960 KLSN MOR/Easy Listening original owners= Sight & Sound, KYAC R&B 1973-1977, and later KYYX AOR owned by Pat O’Day, co-owned with KXA. Other format and call letter changes: KKMI Soft AC. From the ashes of KYYX & a reorganization of the company owning the station – Madison Park Broadcasting, oldies based AC KKMI 96.5 was born. Owner Pat O’Day had originally requested the calls KQMY which was to stand for “My 96.5” but these were unavailable. In spite of the similar “MI” in the call sign, the station never did use the slogan during it’s few years on air in the Seattle market. Later, KQKT Top 40, KXRX AOR (sold in 1994 by Shamrock Broadcasting to Alliance Broadcasting), KYCW Country, KYPT 80s, KRQI Classic Alternative – later sold to CBS Radio. CBS Radio merged with Entercom November 2017; KJAQ was sold by CBS to iHeart
Personalities: KLSN- Big Bob Anthony; KYYX- Lan Roberts, Eric McKay, Bobby Simon, Stephen Rabow, Matt Alan, Jimmy Anderson, Pat O’Day, Jerry Kay, Brent Larson, Robin Mitchell, Moose Moran, Bob Summers; KKMI- Emperor Bob Hudson, Larry Lomax, Pat O’Day, Dick Curtis, Sam Lee; KQKT- Rick Austin, Myles Cameron, Howie Castle, Gary Semro; KYYX: Eric McKay; KYCW- Brademan, Scotty Brink, Uncle Wynn, Daryl Webster, Ken Moultrie; KYPT- Jason Prater, Tommy Hough, Bill Reid, Tami Bennett, ; KXRX- Gary Crow, Mike West, Beau Roberts, Robin Erickson, John Maynard, Marty Riemer, Brew Michaels, Dean Carlson, Scott Vanderpool, KQKT “KQ96″ aired “Art Good’s Jazztrax” syndicated show Sunday nights 7pm-11pm.
96.9 KYYO
— KAYO Country (KGY Inc.) -MCCLEARY
The FM station signed on the air on March 29, 1992 as Classic Rock 96.9 KGY-FM, by current owner, KGY, Inc. A format change in 1997 featured a shift to Real Country, originally one of the Satellite Music Network stations, with local information and sports, and Washington State Cougars football. On February 25, 2012, the station changed its format to country, branded as “96.9 KAYO Country”, taking the old format and branding of KDDS. The station also kicked the KGY call letters to the curb, opting to get some mileage off the old KAYO/Seattle call letters. Though the FCC granted KYYO, the station branded as KAYO. On November 19, 2013, the station took on the KYYO call sign. With the sale of the pioneer AM- KGY a year later, those call letters were lost forever. Many say that was unimportant in this day and age. Others of us disagree about branding. 96.9 formats previously had been “96.9 The Sound” with “Cool Classics and Hot Hits,” and before that, used the Real Country satellite classic country network. Personalities: Doug Dahlgren, Nat George, Kevin “The Busman”, Brittni Jean, Val Vaughn, Smilin’ Jay Andrews, Kevin Huffer, Nathan Lee, Steve George [News Director], Brad Frederickson.
97.3 KIRO
— CBS – News/Talk (Bonneville) -TACOMA
[1948] The Tacoma News Tribune’s FM channel KTNT ran an MOR format, simulcasting the AM, later splitting programming, and programmed a Country format for a few years in the 60s. Call letters were switched to KNBQ (January 1976) which began as an automated Top 40 with music from Broadcast Programming Inc., Bellingham; PD was Ed Dollar. In 1985 the Top 40 station, became KBSG Oldies; the station was sold, switching to KIRO FM August 2008; In 2011, the KIRO FM line-up included Dave Ross-mornings, Luke Burbank-9 t Noon, Dori Monson Noon-3, Ron & Don-afternoon drive, Frank Shiers in the evening. Shiers was replaced by John Curley who had hosted an Evening program on KING 5 tv. Curley eventually moved to the 9 am-Noon slot with Tom Tangney joining him. Ron & Don were fired, the evening hosts came and went. In 2020, Ursula Reutin and Gee Scott took over the 9am-Noon hours, Dori Monson Noon-3pm, Tom & Curley moved into afternoon drive. Tom Tangney retired in 2021. Sheri Elliker replaced Tangney. Spike O’Neill hosts KIRO Nights. Dori Monson died in 2023.
Personalities: KTNT AM/FM: Don St. Thomas, Virg DeHart (TV), Paul Herlinger (TV), Hal Hills, Tom Coleman, Don Vincent, Dennis Zerbe, Dick Thompson, Bob Robertson, Dusty Rose, Ron Sanford, Ted Bryant, Glenn Brooke, Len Higgins (TV), Bob Gleason (TV), Don Hill, Clay Huntington, Dewey Boynton, Bill McLain, Warren Reed, Rick Van Cise, Carl Sawyer, Tom Wilmot Read, Frank Catalano, Al Cummings, Murray Morgan, Bob Peters, Bob Piatt, John Common, Dave Dawson, Bruce Vanderhoof, Dick Weeks, Burt McMurtrie, Mike Altman; KNBQ: Tim Edwards, Dancin’ Danny Wright, Gary Bryan, Bob Reece, Ichabod Caine, Jay Philpott, Jaynie Jones, Matt Alan, Jerry Hill, Steve Randall, Beau Rockin’ Roberts, Peter McLain, Randy Rowland, Mark Pierce, Sean Lynch, Ron Harris, Harve Allen, Jennifer Michaels, Sandy Louie, Jeff Randall, Joel Block, Romie Cole [Thanks! to Brian Lord for assitions to this list]; KBSG: Ric [Richard Mattson] Hansen, Fastlane Phillips, Kacie Sommers, Wade Fisher/Chris Jeffries, Vic Orlando, Chet Rogers, Mark Christopher, Joe [Fleischauer] Michaels, Kim Wilson; Keith Abrams, Scott Burns, Laura Dane, Roger Pasquier, Jeff Pohjola, Mike Brown, Jim Valley, Eric Kirchner, Mike Forrester, Jay Coffey, Danny Holiday, Liz Sommars, Jerry Kay, Jim LaMarca, Dan Packard, Fastlane Phillips, John Ross, Kacie Sommers, Bobby Ryan, Gary Ryan, Brent Stier, Corry Reynolds, Scott Phillips, Judy St. John, Jerry Hill [weekender].
KIRO: Mike Jones, Janet Wilson [traffic reporter], Mike West, Heather Bosch, Linda Thomas, Dori Monson, Luke Burbank, Dave Ross, John Curley, Frank Shiers, Shari Elliker, Aaron Mason, Hanna Scott, Ron Upshaw, Don O’Neill, Bill Radke, Tom Tangney, Rachel Belle, Mike Lewis, Jason Rantz, Spike O’Neill, Lisa Brooks, Gee Scott, Matt Butler, Jack Stine.
97.7 KNWN
— ABC – NEWS (Lotus Communications) -OAKVILLE
Call letters: KOMO-FM 05/18/2009 – KFMY 04/13/1999 – KSWW 02/07/1984 – KFMY (Classic Hits “The Eagle”) South Sound Broadcasting was LMA’d by Fisher, simulcasting KOMO 1000. Fisher Communications sold their TV and radio properties to Sinclair Broadcast Group in August 2013. Sinclair sold all the Seattle radio holdings to Lotus Communications in June 2021. Those stations were KVI 570, KOMO 1000/KOMO FM 97.7 and 101.5 KPLZ. The deal did not include use of the KOMO call letters for radio. As of June 2021. It was speculated that Lotus, being heavily into support of Spanish language stations, might flip one of the Seattle stations to a Regional Mexican format. 2-2-22, KNWN “Northwest News” debuts. The new call letters replace KOMO.
Personalities: KOMO- Rick Van Cise, Gregg Hersholt, Bill Yeend, Manda Factor, Herb Weisbaum, Jane Shannon, John Carlson, Ken Schram, Bill Swartz, Jeff Pohjola, Brian Calvert, Kelly Bleyer, Ryan Harris, Carleen Johnson, Kim Shepard, Taylor Van Cise, Corwin Haeck, Marina Rockinger, Tom Hutyler, Eric Heintz, Manda Factor, Frank Lenzi, Mark Christopher; KFMY: Norm Gregory.
98.1 KING
— Classical (Classic Radio Inc.) -SEATTLE
In 1949, King Broadcasting bought 98.1 KRSC-FM, which had gone on the air in February 1947 under different ownership. KING-FM moved from 94.9 to 98.1 MHz in 1958, replacing KRSC-FM. The 94.9 transmitter was donated to Edison Vocational School, which used it to broadcast educational programming on that frequency. 94.9 eventually became KUOW-FM, owned by the University of Washington, and now a public news-talk station affiliated with NPR.
Also in 1949, King Broadcasting bought Channel 5 KRSC-TV, which had signed on the previous year. The call letters were changed to KING-TV. The three stations, KING-AM-FM-TV, had their studios and offices at 320 Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.
At first, KING-FM simulcast its AM counterpart. But over time, it began airing classical programs separate from the AM station, and by the late 1960s, it was exclusively a classical outlet, a format that has continued to be broadcast on the station since.
In 1992, King Broadcasting was acquired by the parent company of The Providence Journal, a Rhode Island publishing and broadcasting company. While the new owner wanted the TV station, the radio stations were sold to Classic Radio for $9.75 million. The AM station was, in turn, sold to EZ Communications. KING-FM was run by a non-profit partnership, consisting of the Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, and the Arts Fund. Although KING-FM was owned by a non-profit entity, the station continued to operate for a time on a commercial basis, selling advertising as before. Even after the sale, the radio station was co-located with KING-TV Channel 5 for several more years. KING-FM moved to an office building several blocks away in 1999. KING FM now has offices and studios at Seattle Center.
‘KING-FM was, and is, the premier classical music station for Seattle, and the Puget Sound area.’ After purchasing Seattle’s KEVR-AM in 1947 and changing its call letters to KING, Dorothy Bullitt made the decision to bring classical music to Seattle. She had been devoted to classical music since her childhood and believed that this type of music would raise the cultural status of Seattle. Besides, she once said, “I just like to hear it.”
When her attorney, business associate, and friend, Andrew Haley, asked her where she wanted her station to be located on the FM dial, Mrs. Bullitt replied, “Right in the middle.” Right in the middle, of course, would be 98.1 MHz. So, on June 26, 1948, KING-FM came on the air at 98.1 MHz.
Although KING-FM was a commercial station from the time it went on the air, to when the station was sold by the Bullitt family, it never made a profit. Dorothy Bullitt made the commitment to keep the station on the air whether it made a profit or not. Consequently, it was a humble but professional and successful operation. It just sounded good on the air.
There was a small master control studio operation located in a wooden structure just south of the KING 320 Aurora Avenue North building and there was the transmitter on Queen Anne Hill. The control board and the transmitter, that was it. And, of course, until the early 1970s, when stereo was introduced to the station, it was strictly monophonic. From April 4, 1970 to April 8, 1972, I was the 6 am to 11 am Saturday morning KING-FM host. Monday through Friday, I worked at KING-TV as an engineer, so the Saturday KING-FM experience was just an extra day.
Jim Wilke was a wonderful person to work for. He really knew classical music and what Dorothy Bullitt wanted to hear on the station. He once said to me, when Dorothy Bullitt makes a suggestion, it should always be interpreted as an order.
After the station went stereophonic, I requested that its old vacuum tube monophonic transmitter be donated to KBCS-FM, Bellevue Community College. I contacted Lee Mudgett, KING transmitter supervisor, who contacted Eric Bremner, KING Broadcasting President, who contacted Dorothy Bullitt, who was very supportive of the request. I was the engineer that initially constructed and placed KBCS-FM on the air in February of 1973, and I made sure that old KING-FM monophonic transmitter found a good home, instead of being discarded as a piece of electronic cast off, which was its ultimate fate.
One Saturday, in 1970, Dorothy Bullitt invited all KING-FM staff members up to her home on Capital Hill for a brunch. Although she was able to meet the KING-TV people in the lunch room in the main building every day, she was not able to converse with the KING-FM people because of the diverse on air assignments. She told all of us of her appreciation for our efforts and for our dedication. What a nice, thoughtful thing to say. I miss her kindness, her wisdom, and her guidance.
After Dorothy Bullitt’s passing, the Bullitt family decided to sell the company. However, they made the wise decision to purchase KING-FM back from the new owners and to donate it to the Seattle Arts Council, thereby insuring that it would always remain a classical music station.
KING-FM continues to this day providing the kind of cultural heritage that Dorothy Stimson Bullitt always intended. In my small way, I am very proud to have been associated with it.
—Jerry Burling
Personalities: Wayne Bryant, Mary Fain, Brad Eaton, Jim Wilke, Tom Olson, Tom Dahlstrom, George Sangrow, Bryan Lowe, Dave Beck, Seth Tompkins, Dave Beck, Maggie Molloy, Ted Askew, Nikhil Sarma, Mike Brooks, Lisa Bergman, Sean MacLean, Jamala Henderson, Peter Newman, David Dodman, Lisa Bergman, Marta Zekan.
98.5 KNBQ
— Christian Popular Music K-LOVE (Educational Media Foundation) -CENTRAL PARK
Owned by Educational Media Foundation, K-LOVE religious broadcaster. Previously owned and operated by Jodesha Broadcasting, owners of several Aberdeen stations, including KBKW. KNBQ took to the air in April 2015, stunting with all-Christmas music as North Pole Radio. Testing of KOMO FM audio on KNBQ 98.5 the last two weeks of September 2016 and a return to Christmas music in early October. Sold to K-LOVE network owned by EMF in February 2017. KNBQ 02/12/2015,
KBFR 02/05/2015
98.9 KPNW
— Country (Hubbard) -SEATTLE
1949 KOMO FM, which became silent in 1953; In 1958, KMCS Easy Listening owner debuted, owned by MarketCasters Inc, [the people that brought you supermarket background music] and just a change of call letters in October 1965 to KBBX Easy Listening – then in 1972 (Music Only For A Woman) –— December 1975 station sold to *Park Broadcasting and became KEZX Easy Listening; [Mike Cherry writes: “they were essentially an AAA/soft-rock format from the mid-eighties until it flipped to KWJZ in 1991. Their progressive, free-wheeling format included jazz, folk, reggae and vintage tracks. To my ears, it was the logical successor to KZAM (the 2nd one)”] …As KEZX slowly morphed from beautiful/EZ listening to an AAA/adult-progressive station during its long life, Park Broadcasting owner Roy Park had no idea that this was happening. As an out-of-market owner, he assumed his property in Seattle was airing the same ‘elevator music’ heard on his other stations. As the story is told, somewhere around 1991 he made a personal appearance in Seattle and arrived in station manager Peg Dempsey’s office. To his horror, KEZX wasn’t airing Frank Mills, Kenny G or The Carpenters but instead The Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Robert Cray, Tom Waits & Quarterflash were blasting out of the hallway monitors with plenty of KEZX IDs – no mistaking what Mr Park heard that day!!! A few weeks later, suddenly one Monday morning with NO warning whatsoever, our beloved free-wheeling KEZX was gone and Frank Mills, The Carpenters and Living Strings were back!!! A rather vocal, noisy protest by KEZX listeners made no difference! Sometime shortly after, KEZX flipped to the newly popular ‘smooth-jazz’ format and adopted the KWJZ calls…Smooth Jazz KWJZ; switched to a Modern Rock format as Click 98.9 on December 27, 2010…Flipped to Classic Rock 3/16/16 after 5 days of stunting [Sinatra, show tunes, TV themes] in competition with long-time Classic Rockers KISW 99.9 and KZOK 102.5…flipped to COUNTRY Dec. 4, 2017 when Country KMPS flipped to SOFT ROCK. Changed call letters to KNUC on February 8, 2018. February 2023: Rebranded to “Country for the PNW” and adopted new call letters KPNW FM (effective February 14, 2023) with approval of KPNW AM/Eugene, Or, a Bicoastal media station. KNUC 98.9 flipped from Country to 98.9 KPNW Seattle’s Home For Music Lovers, at 9am Valentine’s Day 2023. The station’s main competition would be 90.3 KEXP and 107.7 KNDD The End.
KPNW flipped back to COUNTRY on April 1st, 2024, resurrecting THE BULL moniker and Cory Fitzner (FITZ) will host the morning show as he did from 2019 to 2021. When Hubbard brought adult-alternative back to Seattle on 98.9 in February 2023, it marked the first commercial launch of the format in 15 years. Research turned up a void in Seattle from the demise of Entercom’s “103.7 The Mountain” KMTT in 2013. So Hubbard programmers set about building an updated version of the format, including hiring market vets Marco Collins and John Fisher as air talent.
In the year since switching formats, KPNW failed to rise above a 1.0 6+ AQH share, significantly lower than the numbers “98.9 The Bull” usually pulled. In the wake of the flip, KKWF shot to No. 1 in the market and spent several months there, achieving all-time share highs multiple times. In Nielsen Audio’s February 2024 PPM market survey, KKWF ranked second with a 7.2, compared to KPNW’s 0.8, which placed it in 26th place.
Personalities: KMCS: Mark Wayne; KEZX: Tami Bennett, Jill Kenly, Suzanne Strickland/Suzanne Thunder, Janet Wilson, Cedric James, Robert L. Scott, Dianna Rose, Carol Handley, Peyton Mays, Abbi Kaplan, Jay Phillips, John Nelson, Jack Allen, Leilani McCoy, Alice Porter, Neil Scott, J.J. Hemingway, Norman B., Gretchen Hart, Dean Carlson, John Posey, Wes Longino, Charlie Burd. KLCK: Dan Kennedy, Alicia, Tanner, and Nic. —KPNW: John Fisher, Marco Collins.
99.3 KDDS
— La Gran D (Bustos Media) -ABERDEEN
La Gran D Regional Mexican music – KDDS-FM 06/10/2005, KAYO-FM 04/24/1984, KJMD 02/25/1980 KDDS-FM is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Elma, it serves the Seattle area. In September 2010, Bustos transferred most of its licenses to Adelante Media Group as part of a settlement with its lenders.
Formerly, 99.3 was KAYO, licensed to Aberdeen, and played a country music format. On June 8, 2005, the station switched to their current call letters and format. Effective December 10, 2014, Bustos Media reacquired KDDS-FM, along with eight other stations and a translator, from Adelante Media for $6 million.
99.9 KISW
— AOR (Audacy) -SEATTLE
Original owner: E.W. Lippincott; Was a Classical music station in the 60s – 1969: the station was purchased by Kaye-Smith, a partnership of famed entertainer Danny Kaye and Lester Smith. At that time Kaye-Smith, owners of the number one pop music station in Seattle, KJR-AM. By 1971 KISW had switched to a rock based progressive or underground style of format pioneered by Tom Donahue at KMPX and KSAN in San Francisco. In 1987, Nationwide Communications, a subsidiary of Nationwide Insurance, acquired KISW. Nationwide sold off its radio stations by 1997. In 1991, as an April Fool’s Day prank, the radio station changed its format to soft rock for a day. The station was bought by Entercom Communications in 1996.[Wikipedia] Entercom became Audacy in 2021.
Personalities: Don Riggs, Dick Lawrence, Ron Lind, Dan Wilke, Al Cummings [1971], Jack Hemingway, Steve Nicolet, Steve Slaton, Duane Smart, Tracy Mitchell, Terry MacDonald, Brent Alberts, Mike West, Jim Kampmann, Steve Norby, Spencer Haywood, Gary Crow, Lee Michaels, Bob Hovanes, John Evans, John Langan later known as C. Foster Kane, Ron Chavis, Paige Claire, Jim Arnold, Tommy Hough, Steve Akrish, Larry Sharp; “Sharpie”, Beau Phillips, Steve Cooper, Paul Chambers, John Lisle, Jesse Brandon, Dr. Rock Jeff McIntosh, Carla Steele, John Napier, Rick Evens, Mike Luchino, Dan Wilke, Marie McCallister, Beau Roberts, Gary Bryan, John Maynard, Robin Erickson, Lisa Walker, Dean Carlson, Cathy Faulkner, Mike Jones, Damon Stewart, Sky Daniels, Steve Young, Jon Ballard, “Scott ‘the worm’ Vanderpool”, Mike Bell, John Rody, Twisted Radio (Bob Rivers, “Spike” O’Neil, Joe “Downtown Joe” Bryant), Taryn Daly, Steve O’Neill (Steve,O), Bill Reid, Mr. T (Mike Trochalakis), Andy Guyer, Adam Gehrke, John Sebastian, Lisa Wood, Reed Wacker, Rover, Kylee Brooks, Andy Schuon, Scott Forrest, Ditch, Kenna, Will Dixon, Seaman, Ricker, Double R, BJ Shea, Ryan Castle, Jolene, Miles Montgomery, Steve “The Thrill” Hill, Ted Smith, Ben Muppet.
100.3 K262CY
rebroadcasting KRXY HD 2 (Northwest Indy Radio) -OLYMPIA
The South Sound’s Best Classic Rock– Licensed date: 2019-08-14
100.7 KKWF
— The Wolf -Country (Audacy) -SEATTLE
The station first signed on in 1948 as KIRO-FM. It was owned by the Queen City Broadcasting Company and it simulcasted co-owned AM 710 KIRO. The two stations were CBS Radio Network affiliates, airing its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the “Golden Age of Radio.” In 1958, KIRO-TV signed on the air as Seattle’s CBS Television affiliate, which it still is today (with exception of a hiatus from 1995 to 1997, when it was a UPN station).
As network programming moved from radio to television, KIRO-AM-FM switched to a full service middle of the road format of pop music, news and sports. In 1963, Queen City Broadcasting, owned by Saul Haas, was sold to Bonneville International, a broadcasting corporation set up by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.KSEA and KWMX
In the late 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began requiring FM stations in large cities to stop full time simulcasts of their co-owned AM stations. For a few years, KIRO-FM aired a Progressive Rock format, beginning in 1967. The station flipped to Beautiful Music in 1971, at first keeping the KIRO-FM call sign, and then as KSEA in 1975.
The format gradually evolved from mostly instrumental Beautiful Music to a mix of instrumentals and vocals as easy listening (“Easy 101”) in the early 1980s.
In the mid-1980s, as the easy listening audience was aging, KSEA moved to soft adult contemporary music. On February 17, 1989, KSEA shifted to a mainstream adult contemporary format. KSEA also telecasted its audio on KIRO-TV throughout the late 1980s into the early 1990s when KIRO was off-air, mainly during sign-off time in overnights. The station shifted to hot adult contemporary as KWMX (“Mix 101”) in April 1991, though this would last for only a short time.
On September 21, 1992, the station returned to a simulcast of then-sister station KIRO. With the change, the KIRO-FM call letters were reinstated. From February to September of 1993, KIRO-FM was promoted as being part of the “KIRO News Network”, with KIRO’s radio and TV personalities working together as part of an experiment dubbed “News Outside the Box”. The station broke the simulcast (except for mornings) on July 5, 1994, airing a separately programmed talk format, while retaining the KIRO-FM call sign.
The initial lineup included a simulcast of 710 KIRO in morning drive time (which would be replaced by local comedian Pat Cashman in September), Rick Enloe in late mornings (who would later be replaced by Amy Alpine), Dave Brenner and Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s syndicated show in afternoons, Gil Gross (syndicated from San Francisco) in evenings), Leslie Marshall at night (who would later be replaced by Jim Bohannon), along with Bernie Ward and David Essel on weekends.
On January 6, 1995, the station rebranded as “100.7 The Buzz,” and added the syndicated Tom Leykis Show to the lineup. KQBZ was sold by Bonneville to Entercom in March 1997. The station changed its call letters to KQBZ in May 1999, and shifted to hot talk in 2000 with the slogan “Radio For Guys.”
During the early 2000s, KQBZ carried Don & Mike in middays and Phil Hendrie in evenings. By November 2005, the station’s weekday lineup consisted of local personalities Robin & Maynard (who were previously on KZOK-FM) in mornings, BJ Shea in middays, Tom Leykis in afternoons, The Mens Room in evenings, and John and Jeff and All-Comedy Radio in late nights, with paid and specialty programming on weekends.
At 8 a.m. on November 30, 2005, in the middle of “Robin & Maynard”, the station began stunting with a countdown clock (using Microsoft Sam) to Noon the same day. At that time, the station flipped to country as “100.7 The Wolf” with the new call letters KKWF. With the flip, The Men’s Room and BJ Shea moved over to sister station KISW. Tom Leykis moved over as well, but on tape delay, from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Entercom acquired KKWF’s long-time country rival KMPS in November 2017, as a result of its merger with CBS Radio. In the immediate aftermath of the merger’s completion, KMPS dropped its country format in defense of KKWF (making it the only full-market country station in the Seattle market), and ultimately flipped to soft adult contemporary on December 4, 2017. Rock station KVRQ would flip to country later the same day.
Personalities: KSEA- Steve Schy, Frank Shiers, Rich Germaine, Dave Young, Dan Murphy, Jack Allen, Milo King, Mark Edwards, Bill Thomas, Bill Rice, Bill Wippel, Mike Moran, Greg Cook, Anne Barnaby, Tom Huytler, Frank Shiers; KWMX Mix 101: Greg Cook, Dan Murphy, Tom Huytler, Scott Burns, Dave Young, Fitz in the morning, DeAnna Lee, Nick at Nite, and Wingnut; [Thanks! to Brian Lord for some additions to this list]
101.1 K266BM
–Rebroadcasts 680 KBRD Big Band format. (NorthWest Rock & Roll Preservation Society) -OLYMPIA
Operators: John Spencer and Paul Kelly – NorthWest Rock & Roll Preservation Society, owners of 99.9 KGHO LP (Grays Harbor LPFM)/Hoquiam
101.5 KPLZ
— Country (Lotus Communications) -SEATTLE
On September 1, 1959, the station signed on as KETO-FM. It was owned by Chem-Air, Inc. and featured an easy listening format. It was powered at only 10,000 watts, a tenth of its current output. The 1960 edition of “Broadcasting Yearbook” showed an advertisement for KETO-FM as “Your key to good listening.” A sketch of a pelican was included in the ad, wearing headphones and holding a key (for KEY-to). However, in the 1960s, few people owned FM radios and the audience was limited.
By 1970, KETO-FM had increased its power to 100,000 watts and tried a country music format, competing against juggernaut KAYO 1150.
Golden West Broadcasters, owned by entertainer Gene Autry, bought KETO-FM in 1976. Golden West already owned KVI, which had a popular Middle of the Road/Adult Contemporary format. Management decided to switch the FM station’s call sign to KVI-FM, calling it “The FM KVI,” and wanted to give it a younger sound to complement the AM station. KVI-FM flipped to a Top 40 format, becoming the company’s first station with the format. The FM KVI’s first Program Director was Frank Colbourn, who relocated to Seattle from Monterey, California, to sign-on the new format.
In 1978, KVI-FM became “K-Plus 101” and changed its call letters to KPLZ. Fisher Communications bought the station in 1994. Fisher Communications sold their TV and radio properties to Sinclair Broadcast Group in August 2013. Sinclair sold all the Seattle radio holdings to Lotus Communications in June 2021. Those stations were KVI 570, KOMO 1000/KOMO FM 97.7 and 101.5 KPLZ. The deal did not include use of the KOMO call letters for radio. As of June 2021. It was speculated that Lotus, being heavily into support of Spanish language stations, might flip one of the Seattle stations to a Regional Mexican format.
On April 1, 2024, KPLZ flipped format from Top 40 to Country as HANK FM – a satellite-delivered format. KPLZ ratings were in the dumpster under the previous Rock and Top 40 format.
Personalities: KETO-Jack Hemingway, Mike Altman, Bill Beattie, Marc Hayes, Greg Thunder, Leo Rumsey, Jim Reed, Doug Setterberg; KVI FM: Bill Rice, Fran Hawkins; KPLZ- Kent & Alan, Ric [Richard Mattson] Hansen, Ichabod Caine, Eric Funk, Mark Allen, BJ Donovan, Lady Jay Davis, Todd Baker, Bill Meyer, Bill Phillipy real name Bryce Phillipy, Bill Rice, Paul Thompson, Tom Reddick, Jill Taylor, Lisa Adams, Julian Nieh, Sean McBee, Jen Pirak, Curt Kruse & Corine, John Moug, Angie Parker.
101.9 K270CJ
— (KRXY HD-3) – OLYMPIA
VSiN Sports Betting Network
102.1 KSWW
— Contemporary – Oldies (Jodesha Broadcasting) -ELMA
On the air since 1998 – Personalities: Rhys Davis, Andrew Jaye, Nat George, Rick Brady, Scott Curtis, Scott Connors, Dave Bogart, A.J. In The Morning, LaLaine, Brian Curry and Dave Hunter. Many of those are syndicated jocks.
102.5 KZOK
— AOR (iHeart) -SEATTLE
Before David Segal successfully launched KTW-FM, a previous CP was issued to another company in 1963, but never built. Plains Radio Broadcasting had a CP for 19 kW and 1090 ft antenna with KPRN call sign issued.
In December 1964, the station signed on as KTW-FM. It was owned by David Segal, who called his format “The Wonderful Sound of Seattle.” At first, it mostly simulcast co-owned KTW (1250 AM, now KKDZ).
The station’s formats in its early years included Top 40 for nine months, then a country music format called “The Nashville Sound.” KTW-FM, along with KTW (AM), was acquired by Norwood and Dawn Patterson of Central California. Nordawn, Inc. switched the stations to a “paid religion” format. In 1970, the stations were put into court-ordered receivership, administered by attorney Walter Webster, Jr. Norwood J. Patterson was sentenced to two years in federal prison for failure to pay the government employee withholding taxes. He also sabotaged both AM and FM transmitters the afternoon that the stations were placed in receivership by driving to the West Seattle transmitter site and pulling the “finals.” He failed to check the engineering locker where spares were located.
In 1974, KTW-FM stopped simulcasting the AM station and changed to progressive rock, while also changing call letters to KZOK-FM. The FM station was sold to the Sterling Recreation Organization with AM 1250 sold off to Don Dudley, owner of KYAC. SRO would then pair KZOK with KUUU (1590 AM), which aired an oldies format.
In August 1975, KZOK moved from its free-form progressive format to a more mass-appeal and better–researched AOR format. With the success of KZOK’s rock format on FM, in 1982, the AM station switched to a different rock format, modern rock, allowing KZOK’s advertisers to have two choices for their commercials aimed at Seattle’s rock audience. The AM station was renamed KJET.
In 1985, KZOK tried moving to a more adult soft rock/adult album alternative format, but with a dip in the ratings, the station shifted to classic rock in October of the following year.
Adams Communications bought the stations in 1989. Adams would rename the AM station KZOK (AM), subscribing to the satellite-delivered syndicated “Z Rock Network.” In November 1992, Adams Communications filed for bankruptcy, selling KZOK-AM-FM to CLG Media, a subsidiary of the Chrysler Capital Corporation.
In July 1994, CLG Media sold KZOK-FM to EZ Communications, while KZOK-AM was sold to Salem Media Group to carry its religious programming as KPOZ. In July 1997, EZ was bought out by American Radio Systems. Westinghouse/CBS bought American Radio Systems’ stations (including KZOK) on September 19, 1997. In June 1998, CBS split off the radio division under the revived Infinity Broadcasting name, which would be renamed CBS Radio in December 2005. In 2011, KZOK-FM hired actor and radio personality Danny Bonaduce to host its morning show. Bonaduce had been a child actor, seen in the classic TV sitcom The Partridge Family in the 1970s.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom (which locally owns KHTP, KISW, KKWF, and KNDD). On October 10, CBS announced that as part of the process of obtaining regulatory approval of the merger, KZOK would be one of sixteen stations that would be divested by Entercom, along with sister stations KJAQ and KFNQ. (KMPS would be retained by Entercom.) On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia announced that it will acquire KZOK-FM, KJAQ and KFNQ. To meet ownership limits set by the FCC, KFNY (formerly KFOO) and KTDD (formerly KUBE) were divested to the Ocean Stations Trust in order to be sold to a different owner. Until the completion of the divestment of KFNY and KTDD to the trust, CBS placed KZOK, KJAQ and KFNQ into the Entercom Divestiture Trust.
The merger of CBS and Entercom was approved on November 9, and was consummated on November 17. The sale of KZOK to iHeart was completed on December 19, 2017.
Personalities: [KZOK] Bob Rivers, Bobby Simon, Dan Wilke, Mike West, Cedric James, James Young, Jimmy Kimmel, T. J. Killorin, Susan McKenzie, Vic The Dude, Ken Carson, Chris Russell, Pete Stacker, Brademan, Gary Crow, Carey Curelop, Randy Dixon, Mark Edwards, Brian Gregory, Norm Gregory, John Langan, Gary Lockwood, Leilani McCoy, Tommy Hough, Bill Minckler, Jay Nelson, Gabby Parsons, Jeff Salgo, Norm Flint, Eddie Mason, Stacy Ireland, Nate Connors, Dan Wilke, Rockfish, Kevin Hammond, Bo Roberts, Steve Slaton, Robin Erickson, John Maynard, Burl Barer, John Rody, John Posey, Marty Riemer, Dr. Rock/Jeff McIntosh, Bob Hovanes, Mike Jones, Sue Falconer, Steve Akrish, Lori Holder, Larry Sharp, Craig Martin, Mike Bell, Jerry Hill, Connie Cole, Rick Riley/Rick Shannon, Suds Coleman, Steve O’Neill, Sara Johnson, Danny Bonaduce, Scott Vanderpool, BJ Shea.
102.9 KZTM
— Hispanic (Bustos Media) -MCKENNA/OLYMPIA
[1965] Centralia, Wash.-Charles 0. Ellsworth. 102.9 mc, channel 275, 31 kw. Ant. height above average terrain 135 feet. P. 0. address 2916 Dale Lane East, Tacoma, Wash. Estimated construction cost $9,800; first year operating cost $9,000; revenue $10,780. Mr. Ellsworth, sole owner, is instructor and program director of KTOY (FM) Tacoma. KGME (operated by Chuck Ellsworth from Chehalis), [1968] KELA FM — Old call letters: KELA Chehalis changes to KMNT early 1983, Steve Richert was PD. [1991] KMNT was assigned to Centralia, moved their transmitter site … KMNT moved dial position to 104.3 in 2005. 102.9 became KNBQ Country (Jacor Communications, which was purchased by Clear Channel in 2009) KNBQ began simulcasting 950 KJR SportsRadio on November 5, 2011 – 102.9 KNBQ flipped to HOT AC as NOW 102.9 KYNW June 14, 2013. KYNW format changed to Alternative “Tacoma’s Rock Alternative” January 2016, call letters changed from KYNW to KFOO. Clear Channel later changed identification to iHeart Radio. Call letters changed from KFOO to KFNY in November 2017 prior to sale of the station by iHeart. Format changed from Alternative to Smooth Jazz December 2017. -Sold to Bustos Media June 2019. Call letters changed from KFNY to KZTM.
Here is the history, as reviewed by Clay Freinwald in July 2021: McKenna is the new City of License for 102.9 KZTM. The station is operated by Bustos Media, with its transmitter on Capital Peak. FYI – The station was licensed to Centralia where it was started back in 1964 as KGME by the late Chuck Ellsworth. Then it was operating from Cook Hill, NW of Centralia. Later, after Chuck passed, it was purchased by the owners of 1470-KELA (back when Bill Tilton, K7OKC was the Chief Engineer). The transmitter was moved to Crego Hill (SW of Centralia) where it operated for several years. Later, Citicasters purchased KELA (AM and FM). They became part of Clear Channel that moved the transmitter to it’s present location. Capital Peak provided a considerable upgrade to the performance of the station, enabling it to be heard to the West into Grays Harbor and to the NNE into Seattle.
KZTM compliments the other Busto’s station, KDDS, on South Mountain which performs better in the Puget Sound Basin due to the fact that KDDS uses a directional antenna protecting a Canadian station on the same frequency.
And where is McKenna?
> Just East of Yelm
> Southeast of Olympia
> South of Tacoma
103.3 KMAS
— Oldies (Jeff Slakey/Tracing The Fjord Foundation) -SHELTON
KMAS Sept 21, 1962: 1280 kc; 1 kw-D. ABT Inc. Robert E. Sheetz, pres, gen mgr, prog dir & chief engr, Thomas C. Townsend, coml mgr; Bruce E. Jorgenson, stn mgr. Format: COUNTRY & WESTERN; — Changed frequency and format in 1984 to 1030/Adult Contemporary, same ownership. In 1987, Harold S. Greenberg became pres, gen & gen sls mgr [Sound Broadcasting Co.]; the station was purchased by Olympic Broadcast & Media (President and General Manager Dale Hubbard, Secretary, Treasurer Jerry Eckenrode) in 2006. KMAS went to the Oldies format in August 2007.Switched to News-Talk format January 3, 2012 [America’s Radio News Network & ABC News]
Personalities: Dale Hubbard, Dedrick Allen [News], Randy Roadz, Jeff Slakey.
103.7 KHTP
— Rhythmic Hip-Hop/Old School (Audacy) -TACOMA
103.9 KTWR [Thomas Wilmot Read 1958 original owner] MOR – some brokered programming which eventually ended up running on KTNT, KMO, KLAY over the years, such as polka/German music & international shows. —KTWR Tacoma, Wash.—Granted license for fm station January 1958. — station on-air July 1958; KTWR (FM) Tacoma, later months off-air for technical reasons—returned to the air Aug. 3, 1959. It had been off the air several months while installing new transmitting gear. KTWR is on 103.9 with 1 kw; KTWR(FM) Tacoma, -Cp to change frequency from 103.9 Inc to 103.7 mc and increase ERP from 830 w to 3.4 kw. Ann. Nov. 9, 1961; KTWR(FM) Tacoma, Wash.—Granted assignment of license from Thomas Wilmot Read (100’%) to Tacoma Broadcasters Inc., owned by Jerry P. Geehan, Richard R. Hodge, J. A. Woodworth, S. E. Tokstad, A. E. Blair, M. S. Erdahl, F. A. Haines Jr, John P. Condon, Louis A. Misener, C. M. .Johnson, Arthur D. Ayrault, Charles J. Ayrault, R H. Michael, W. D. Ryan, Thomas L. Dempsey, and James Dempsey. Consideration $20,000. 
Personalities: KTAC FM: Robert O. Smith, Rick Nordlund, Brent Stier, Ken Sethney/Seth Buchanan, Brian Zerr, Tim Robinson, Dave Perry, Peter Talbot; KBRD FM: Michael O’Brien, Bob Cochran, Russel Neil, Cliff Clinton, Ray Brown – weekends, Freddie Williams- Weekends, Mel Scott – Weekends, Bill Conway, Lou Robbins, Bill Ogden [News], Jaynie Jones [Jane Robbins], Ed Dunaway, [KTWR] Tom Read, John Mangan, Steve Sibulsky; KMTT- Archer, Lou Robbins, Nancy Walton, Jay Phillips, Dean Carlson, Brad Dolbeer, John Fisher, John Nelson, Paul Nelson, Marlin Spear, Tami Bennett, Marty Riemer, Gary Crow.
104.3 KMNT
— Country (Bicoastal Media) -CHEHALIS
[original dial position 102.9] —Personalities: Pete & Kathryn, Major Logan, Ryan Trotter, and Michael Preston.
104.5 KLSW
— Religion K-LOVE (Educational Media Foundation) -COVINGTON
This Dalles/Hood River station [1984] moved-in [2008] KMIH moved to 88.9 – Began as an Oldies station, no commercials KMCQ. Queen Cities Broadcasting LLC sold KMCQ to Educational Media Foundation in February 2015, a “non-profit” religious formatted operation, operated by Mike Novak [K-Love] (disclosed price: $7million) FORMAT CHANGED TO K-LOVE JUNE 1, 2015.
104.7 K284CG
rebroadcasting 1240 KBUP Catholic Radio (Sacred Heart Radio) – OLYMPIA
104.9 KTDD
— Religion (Worship 24/7 Broadcasting) -EATONVILLE
1995 – KJUN-FM country music. The call letters were changed to KKBY-FM in 1996, with a classic country format. In 1998, KKBY became an urban contemporary station as “Y 104.9”. Funky Monkey (1999-2009) August 16, 1999 grunge rock/metal rock format and moniker “Funky Monkey 104-9”. The call letters were changed to KFNK October 21. Ackerley Communications bought the station from Rock on Radio, Inc. in 2001, later, iHeartMedia (as Clear Channel Communications) in 2002.
On November 10, 2010, at Noon, the station dropped its 11-year-old active rock format and flipped to a ’90s-leaning adult hits format as KSGX, “GenX 104-9”.
On October 28, 2011, at 5 p.m., the station dropped the “GenX” format and began stunting with Halloween music as “Freddy 104-9”.
At 12:01 a.m. on November 1, 2011, the station reverted to active rock as “The Brew 104-9”.
This station was part of a major format shuffle involving four of iHeart’s Seattle stations, on January 19, 2016, at Noon. KKBW’s format moved to sister KYNW and was modified to alternative as “Alt 102.9.” At the same time, KUBE’s long-time Rhythmic CHR format and branding moved to KKBW as “KUBE 104.9”, with the format targeting the Tacoma and South Sound areas, as their former 93.3 FM frequency adopted KBKS’s Mainstream Top 40 format and relaunched as KPWK, “Power 93.3” (KBKS, in turn, adopted KYNW’s Adult Top 40 format).
On November 1, 2017, iHeart announced that it would acquire KFNQ, KJAQ, and KZOK from Entercom as part of Entercom’s merger with CBS Radio. The company planned to divest KUBE and KFOO to Ocean Station Trust in preparation for their sale to a third-party (which was completed on December 19). As part of the impending divestment, the station swapped call signs with KTDD in San Bernardino, California on November 14, 2017. On December 11, 2017, at noon, KTDD switched to an unbranded Contemporary Christian music format fed from sister station KZFS in Spokane. It used the “Positive Hit Music” slogan as an interim format, the KUBE callsign and format was restored to the 93.3 frequency in full in May 2018.
On August 31, 2020, it was announced that 247 Media Ministries would be acquiring the station from the Trust. Upon closure of the sale, the station joined the “Worship 24/7” contemporary worship music network, becoming the second station in that network, joining with KURT in Bend, Oregon. The purchase was consummated on November 3, 2020, at a price of $320,000. (Wikipedia) KKBY personalities- Jaynie Dillon; KKBW: Shroom, Pyke, Aly, Klinger.
105.3 KCMS
— Christian (Christa Ministries) -EDMONDS
[1960] King’s Garden: KGFM, KBIQ Easy Listening then KGDN with religion format, purchased by Christa Ministries and switched to KCMS [1984] KBIQ personalities: John Pricer, Rich Germaine KCMS personalities: Larry Lomax, Bill Wippel, Matt Case, Duane Smart, Suzanne Strickland/Suzanne Thunder, Scott Thunder, Pat Hughes, Kip Johns, Lynette Morgan, Mark Holland, Paul Wescot-weekends, Keith Black-weekends, Scott & Sam, Sarah Taylor, Martha Hadley, Erica Parkerson, Donna Totey.
105.7 KJET
— Rebroadcasting Sunny 102.1 HOT AC (Jodesha Broadcasting) -UNION
The FCC has granted a license modification to Jodesha Broadcasting for KJET-FM 105.7 Union. It will operate at .51 kW non-directional at 47-19-12 123-20-44.8 (South Mountain) at 627 meters HAAT.
106.1 KBKS
— HOT AC (iHeart) -TACOMA
The station signed on the air May 1959 as KLAY-FM. It was originally on 106.3 MHz, and was only powered at 830 watts, a fraction of its current output. KLAY-FM was owned by Clay Huntington and aired a beautiful music format, playing 15 minute music sweeps of mostly instrumental cover versions of pop songs, Broadway and Hollywood showtunes. KLAY-FM was the first FM station in the Pacific Northwest broadcasting in stereo.
In 1961, the station moved to 106.1 MHz, its current dial position, and increased power to 25,000 watts. With a tower only 700 feet tall, the station was still limited to the area around Tacoma and not the larger Seattle radio market. (The transmitter would be moved to Tiger Mountain in 1980.)
On May 1, 1972, KLAY-FM began airing a progressive rock format during the evening and overnight hours, with the beautiful music format remaining in other dayparts. By October 1972, the rock format was airing full-time. Several famous Seattle radio personalities got their start here during this time period.
In March 1980, the station was sold to Ray Court. The station then flipped to country music as “K106,” and the call sign changed to KRPM. The station competed against EZ Communications-owned KMPS. In 1984, Olympic Highsmith Broadcasting bought the station, with Heritage Media buying it four years later. The station was simulcast on KRPM/KULL 770 AM from 1986 to 1991, and again for a brief time beginning in January 1995. On November 1, 1995, the station switched its call sign to KCIN-FM when the station rebranded to “Kickin’ Country K106.” The AM simulcast moved to AM 1090 as part of a format swap with 770, with 1090 taking the KRPM calls.
In the Spring of 1996, shortly after the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Heritage swapped KCIN and KRPM to EZ Communications in exchange for EZ’s New Orleans cluster. The transaction made KMPS and KCIN sister stations. EZ immediately took over the stations via a local marketing agreement until the purchase was completed later that year. EZ also bought rival KYCW-FM from Infinity Broadcasting two weeks prior, which then lead to the end of the country format on KCIN and KRPM.
On March 18, 1996, KCIN/KRPM dropped regular programming and began simulcasting KMPS from Monday (March 18) to Thursday (March 21), then began simulcasting KYCW on Friday (March 22) and Saturday (March 23). At Midnight on Sunday (March 24), KCIN/KRPM began a 39-hour stunt with random audio soundbites, while announcing a change to come the following afternoon.
On March 25, 1996, at 3 p.m., KCIN/KRPM flipped to a gold-leaning Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format, branded as “Kiss 106.” KCIN reacquired the KRPM-FM call sign on April 5, but would adopt the KBKS call letters on April 15, with the -FM suffix being added on January 12, 2004. (KRPM AM continued to simulcast until February 1, 1999, when it flipped to classic country.)
EZ and American Radio Systems merged in July 1997. Westinghouse/CBS bought American Radio Systems’ stations (including KBKS) on September 19, 1997. In June 1998, CBS split off the radio division under the revived Infinity Broadcasting name, which would be renamed CBS Radio in December 2005.
On December 10, 2008, CBS Radio announced it would swap five stations, including KBKS, to Clear Channel Communications while trading two stations in Houston, Texas. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 31, 2009, and consummated on April 1.
The acquisition by Clear Channel joined KBKS with former long-time rival rhythmic top 40 station KUBE, as KBKS began competing against Sandusky Broadcasting’s Top 40 KQMV (Movin’ 92.5) and Modern AC KLCK-FM (Click 98.9), as well as Fisher Broadcasting’s Hot AC KPLZ-FM (Star 101.5). (KLCK-FM has since switched to country music as KNUC.)
As part of a major format shuffle involving four of iHeartMedia’s Seattle stations, on January 19, 2016, at Noon, KBKS’s Top 40 format moved to 93.3 FM (as KPWK, “Power 93.3”), displacing KUBE’s Rhythmic Top 40 format (which moved to co-owned KKBW). At the same time, KBKS shifted to Hot AC, adopting the format from KYNW, which flipped to alternative (then, after a sale to Bustos Media in 2019, Regional Mexican).
Personalities: KLAY- Stan Naccarato – General Manager, Bruce Bond, Steve Slaton, Win McCracken, Tom Read, George Heard, Jaynie Dillon, Larry Sharp; KRPM -Phil Harper, Bill Fink [PD], Johnny Clark, Laura Dane, Tracy Steele, Lou Robbins, Jack Morton, R.P. McMurphy, Mark Pierce, Ken Moultrie, Thane Phelan producer/weekender, Tim Edwards, Sunshine Smith, Brademan, Steve Chapman, Ellis B Feaster, George Fisher, Wade Fisher/Chris Jeffries, Kacie Sommers, Ken Speck, Jim Williams; KBKS- Karen Wild, Chris Collins, Greg MacArthur, Mike Preston, Jackie & Bender, Tyler, Sisanie, Danielle, Ben Schubert.
106.3 K292HN
rebroadcasting KLSY FM Spanish Christian programming (Iglesia Pentecostal Visperia Del Fin) -CENTRALIA
This station was part of a Northwest chain of stations broadcasting (ESPN Desportes) owned by Seattle Streaming Radio LLC until sold to Iglesia Pentecostal Visperia Del Fin in April 2015, which put a Spanish-religious format on the small network.
106.5 K293DE
Facilities of KGTK 920 rebroadcasting KGHO-LP 99.9 Hoquiam (Oldies) OLYMPIA
106.9 KRWM
— Soft Adult Contemporary (Hubbard) -BREMERTON
Original call letters KFIN a 1963 CP for 35 kW & 1100 ft antenna owned by Fine Music broadcasters Inc. Yes, this was licensed to Seattle, not Bremerton where KBRO would eventually launch on 106.9 — [1964] KBRO-FM AC, Country 1972, [1984] KWWA Country, [1984] KHIT, [1986] KNUA, [1990] KKNW, switched to KRWM [1992]
KBRO personalities: Tom Hood; KHIT: Smokin’ Joe Dawson, John Frost, Jerry Kay, Robert Wikstrom, Rick Shannon, Suds Coleman, Andy Barber, Randy Lundquist, A.J. Roberts, Mo Matthews, Dale Bundren, Justin Case, Peter McLaine, Steve Rabow, Jeff Chase, Wade Fisher/Chris Jeffries, Rod Jeffries, Jennifer Michaels, Howard Hoffman; KKNW: Peyton Mays and Paul Nelson, Mark Christopher, Barbara Blake, Eric Dahlberg, Cedric James, Jeff Mosier; KRWM: John Bates, Will Johnson, Sean Michaels, Laura Dane [Program Director/Music Director 2005- ], Dale Hubbard, Tony Coles, Tom McCarthy, Mike Purdy, Daryl Summers, Delilah Renee. Weekenders: Rees Kirk, Sean Michaels, Maya, Jonathan West, Shellie Hart, Sue Romero, Matt Case, Dianna Rose.
107.1 KRQT
-Classic Rock (BiCoastal Media) -CASTLE ROCK
107.3 KANY
— TOP 40 (Jodesha Broadcasting) -COSMOPOLIS
107.7 KNDD
— AOR (Audacy) -SEATTLE
[1962] KRAB FM Eclectic. [KRAB was the brainchild of Lorenzo Milam. KRAB’s programming was founded on the assumption that the listeners were intelligent and imaginative, with a lively curiosity and interest in the challenge of new ideas and information. This attitude towards the listeners cultivated a community of broad tastes and ideologies, and made KRAB into a cultural institution, providing the Pacific Northwest with otherwise unheard or neglected tastes and points of view. KRAB served as a national role model, stimulating the formation of twelve “KRAB Nebula” stations across the country, starting community radio in the United States.–JackStraw.org] [1985] KMGI Top 40, switched to KNDD [August 23, 1991] Entercom became Audacy in 2021.
Personalities: KRAB: Jamie Garner, Jeremy Lansman, George Shangrow; KMGI [co-owned with KIXI]- Randy Lundquist, Jeff King, Ron Harris, Angie Good, Rich Ellis, Kelly Stevens, Alpha Trivette, Bobby Rich, Mark Andrews, Janet Wilson, Frank Shiers, Stitch Mitchell, Scott Mitchell, Greg Cook, Rob Conrad, Scott Phillips, Jill Taylor, Kevin Cassidy; KNDD: Marco Collins, Reverend Adumb Green, Ken Heman, Jason Hughes, Tami Bennett, Andy Savage, Bill Reid, Kim Monroe, Brian Beck, Steve The Producer, Jordin Silver, DJ No Name, Lazlo, Chris Travis, Jim Keller, Dick Rossetti, Paul Nelson, Rob Femur, Dan Pounder, Flip-Flops Windex, Kiera, Mike Kaplan, Whitney Knoerlin, Red, Andrew Harms, GregR, Bryce
KLSY went AC in ’83, not Top 40…
Updated that with the very thorough Wikipedia info, thank you!