KFIL (1060 AM) is an American commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Preston, Minnesota Preston is a city in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,325 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fillmore County. The Root River runs through it, and Mystery Cave State Park is nearby. It bills itself as " ...

. The station is licensed to broadcast only during

daylight hours Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sun ...

. Established in 1966 by O.B. Borgen, KFIL is currently owned by

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

and the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

is held by Townsquare Media Rochester License, LLC.

Programming

KFIL broadcasts a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informati ...

in conjunction with its

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 ...

, KFIL-FM (103.1). The station is a "

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

", licensed to broadcast from local sunrise to local sunset, to avoid interfering with

clear-channel station A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

s KYW in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and XEEP in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

. Under a "pre-sunrise authority" granted by the FCC in 2007, the station begins its broadcast day at 6:00 a.m. year-round. KFIL serves Fillmore County and the greater

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Ac ...

, area. As a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * Fu ...

station, non-music programming includes

CNN Radio CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour United States cable news, ...

, agriculture news, market reports, and specialized weather reports. KFIL is an affiliate of the Linder Farm Network. KFIL also broadcasts a

tradio Tradio is a type of talk radio show format, though now considered archaic, where listeners call in to buy or sell items. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midwest. "Tradio" is a p ...

program called "Swap Shop" and a community calendar bulletin each weekday. Weekend programming includes five hours of local church services and other Christian programming on Sunday mornings. Sports programming on KFIL includes local

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

high school basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

, high school baseball, and high school softball during the season, ''KFIL Sports Round-up'' with sports director Devon Krueger each weekday, and ''Coaches Corner'' on Saturday mornings from August through April.

History

Borgen era

This station received its original

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

on May 21, 1966. It began regular broadcast operations in June 1966, with 500

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of 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 quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power. The station was assigned the

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 assig ...

"KFIL" by the

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

(FCC). The station was originally licensed to serve the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

. The station was originally owned and operated by KFIL, Inc., with Obed Samuel "O.B." Borgen as president of the corporation. In October 1991, ownership of KFIL, Inc., was transferred to sons Michael S. Borgen and Jeffrey T. Borgen. The station stayed in the Borgen family's control for more than 37 years. Obed Borgen died in July 1999.

Cumulus era

In December 2003, Michael S. Borgen and Jeffrey T. Borgen sold KFIL, Inc., to

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

through its Cumulus Broadcasting, LLC, subsidiary. The published combined sale price of KFIL, KFIL-FM, and KVGO (through KVGO, Inc.) was $3,000,000. The deal gained FCC approval on February 5, 2004, and the transaction was consummated on March 30, 2004. The

for KFIL was formally transferred from KFIL, Inc., to Cumulus Licensing, LLC, on December 31, 2004. Longtime KFIL/KFIL-FM air personality Mike Sveen retired from broadcasting in 2007. The former announcer, sports reporter, and

, city council member had worked at KFIL/KFIL-FM for more than 25 years.

Townsquare era

On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which

would acquire 53 Cumulus stations, including KFIL, for $238 million. The deal was part of Cumulus' acquisition of

Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...

; Townsquare and Dial Global were both controlled by

Oaktree Capital Management Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele. The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that ...

. The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.

References

External links

KFIL official website
{{Daytime-only radio stations in Minnesota Radio stations in Minnesota Radio stations established in 1966 Country radio stations in the United States Fillmore County, Minnesota Townsquare Media radio stations Daytime-only radio stations in Minnesota 1966 establishments in Minnesota