KEEY-FM (102.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, "K102") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, and serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul radio market. It broadcasts a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

s and offices are on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park. KEEY-FM carries two syndicated programs from co-owned Premiere Networks: '' CMT Nights with Cody Alan'', heard overnight, and '' The Bobby Bones Show'', heard Sunday evenings. KEEY-FM has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on Ramby Avenue in Shoreview, near Interstate 694. KEEY-FM broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

technology; the HD3 subchannel simulcasts the

Hmong language Hmong or Mong ( ; Romanized Popular Alphabet, RPA: , Chữ Hmông Việt, CHV: ''Hmôngz'', Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong, Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh: , ) is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmongic languages spoken by the Hmong p ...

format originating on WIXK (1590 AM); the HD3 sub-channel feeds

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

K294AM (106.7 MHz).

History

KSTP-FM

The 102.1 FM frequency was originally home to

KSTP-FM KSTP-FM (94.5 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in St. Paul, Minnesota, serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market, radio market. It is the flagship FM station of Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a hot adult contempor ...

, which launched in 1947. The station was the FM counterpart of

Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri ...

's AM 1500 KSTP. However, few people owned FM radios in those days, and management was doubtful the station could become profitable. Hubbard shut down the original KSTP-FM in 1952, and the license was cancelled. The current KSTP-FM was re-established in 1965 on its present-day 94.5 MHz frequency.

WMIN-FM

The owners of WMIN (1400 AM) relaunched the station on October 1, 1967. It originally had the WMIN-FM

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

and it simulcast the AM station. It became KEEY ("Key") in 1968, ending the simulcast. The FM station programmed Drake-Chenault's automated "Hit Parade '68", an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format with no

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

s. Drake's promotional materials indicated it was targeted to the 18-49 age group, for "those people who may not like Top 40 as a steady diet, and those who are not particularly fond of some of the outdated MOR stations".

K102

In 1971, KEEY-FM switched to beautiful music, along with its AM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

of the same name. The FM station was later co-owned with another AM station,

WDGY WDGY (740 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station city of license, licensed to Hudson, Wisconsin, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market, radio market. It is owned by WRPX, inc. and airs a Classic ...

. KEEY-FM played quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumental

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs, along with some Broadway and Hollywood show tunes. KEEY-FM and WDGY switched to the current country music format in late 1982 as "K102." KEEY-FM quickly became a dominant force in the market. In 2000, the station was acquired by AMFM, Inc., a forerunner of today's iHeartMedia, Inc.

Awards

K102 was named "Major Market Station of the Year" by the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

in 2005 while being programmed by Gregg Swedberg. In 2010, K102 was the Academy Of Country Music's "Major Market Station of the Year." In 2012, The K102 Wake-up Crew with Donna and Muss won the CMA award in the "Major Market Personalities" category. The station and its personalities have been nominated many times for CMA and ACM awards. In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

Radio & Records magazine station of the year award. Other nominees included WUSN Chicago, KYGO-FM Denver, WYCD Detroit,

WXTU WXTU (92.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, the station broadcasts a country music format. Its studios and offices are located at 1 Bala Plaza on East City Avenu ...

Philadelphia, and KSON-FM San Diego.

HD Radio

On April 25, 2006, iHeartMedia (then known as

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

) announced that KEEY-FM would broadcast an

signal. KEEY-FM's HD2 signal, known as "K*102 New", carried a format focusing on new hits from today's and up-and-coming

stars. Formerly during Christmas time, KEEY-HD2 carried

KQQL KQQL (107.9 FM broadcasting, FM, "KOOL 108") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market, radio market and is city of license, licensed to suburban Anoka, Minnesota, Anoka. It plays classic hit ...

's classic hits format when that co-owned station switched to all

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

. In November 2018, KEEY-FM launched an HD3 sub-channel carrying a

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format known as "The Breeze", as well as relaunching and rebranding KEEY-FM HD2 as "The Wolf 102.1 HD2". In May 2019, KEEY-HD2 reverted to its previous "K102 New" branding. Competitor country station KMNB now calls itself "102.9 The Wolf." In August 2019, KEEY-FM HD2's Country music format was replaced with Christian Contemporary music from iHeart's "UP!" network. As of April 2021, the "Breeze" programming that was airing on KEEY-HD3 moved to the HD2 sub-channel. The HD3 sub-channel was then flipped to a simulcast of

WIXK, and became the new relay for

K294AM (106.7 MHz, licensed to West St. Paul).No Twin Cities K-Love Upgrade as PraiseLive, Air 1 Get New Signals
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References

External links

K102 KEEY-FM official website

Radiotapes.com Featuring an aircheck of KEEY's Hit Parade '71, an aircheck when the station programmed Beautiful Music in 1976 plus airchecks and videos of other Minneapolis/St. Paul radio stations dating back to 1924
{{coord, 45.058306, N, 93.124389, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Radio stations in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Country radio stations in the United States HD Radio stations Radio stations established in 1967 IHeartMedia radio stations