KCFI (1250 AM) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to serve the

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, area. The station primarily broadcasts an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

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but airs

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baseball and some sports overflow from sister station KCNZ. KCFI is licensed to James Coloff's Coloff Media, LLC. It was first licensed on July 13, 1960. During daylight hours, KCFI uses two towers in a

directional array An antenna array (or array antenna) is a set of multiple connected antennas which work together as a single antenna, to transmit or receive radio waves. The individual antennas (called ''elements'') are usually connected to a single receiver ...

that concentrates the broadcast signal southeast toward

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

. At night, three towers are used to create a three lobe pattern that slightly favors the south and west.

History

KCFI was initially licensed to Jane A. Roberts, for 500 watts, daytime-only, on 1250 kHz in Cedar Falls, Iowa. On June 16, 1995, the station's call letters were changed to KCNZ.

Expanded Band assignment

On March 17, 1997, the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with KCNZ authorized to move from 1250 to 1650 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. This notice lists the station under its earlier (and later) call sign of KCFI. A

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for the new station on 1650 kHz, also located in Cedar Falls, was issued the call sign KDNZ on August 3, 1998. The FCC's initial policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred the new assignment or elected to remain on the original frequency. However, this deadline has been extended multiple times, and both stations have remained authorized. One restriction is that the FCC has generally required paired original and expanded band stations to remain under common ownership."Re: WDDD (AM) Application for Consent to Assignment of AM Broadcast Station License"
(August 23, 2010 correspondence from Peter H. Doyle, Chief, FCC Audio Division, Media Bureau. Reference Number 1800B3-TSN)

Later history

On March 31, 2004, the two stations swapped call letters, with KCNZ moving from 1250 AM to 1650 AM, and KDNZ transferred to 1250 AM from 1650 AM. On May 24, 2012, 1250 AM went back to its original call sign of KCFI.

References

External links

* * * *
FCC History Cards for KCFI
(covering 1956–1981) {{Oldies Radio Stations in Iowa CFI Cedar Falls, Iowa Oldies radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Iowa