KIXI (880
AM) is a
radio station licensed to
Mercer Island/
Seattle, Washington. It operates
24 hours a day
In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty- ...
with a daytime power of 50,000
watts and a nighttime power of 10,000 watts from a transmitter in Mercer Slough Nature Park in Bellevue, where studios are also located (although in a separate location).
Format
KIXI features nostalgic music, such as
big band and
musical standards. It is the only station in the Seattle area to feature the
Imagination Theatre
''Imagination Theatre'' is an American syndicated radio drama program airing on FM and AM radio stations across the United States. It features modern radio dramas. The program first aired in 1996. Originally produced by Jim French Productions, t ...
and ''
Twilight Zone'' radio dramas.
KIXI remains one of the few AM radio stations that continues to successfully program music on the AM band. It also enjoys some of the highest ratings of any "Nostalgia" formatted station in the US.
On June 1, 2006, KIXI started to carry the nationally syndicated format
Music of Your Life format from Jones Radio Networks. Jones stopped carrying Music of Your Life via satellite in January 2008 in favor of its own standards format, called "
Jones Standards" (which has since been discontinued and absorbed into
Dial Global's
America's Best Music network). However, KIXI remained until April 2009 an affiliate of Music of Your Life, now distributed by Planet Halo, Incorporated.
The station was the first AM station in Seattle to transmit its signal in
IBOC digital radio
Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.
Types
In digital broadcasting syst ...
during a joint demonstration with Harris Corporation and iBiquity, the licensee of the new digital AM transmission method. KIXI can also be heard in
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
on
KRWM 106.9 FM HD2.
History
KIXI took the air in 1947 as KXRN, a 250-watt
Renton station broadcasting at 1220 kHz during daytime hours only. KXRN was owned by the Interlake Broadcasting Company. It was built by Frank C. Cook, who was also the radio announcer. In 1951, the station moved to 1230 kHz and changed its call letters to KLAN a year later.
KLAN became a full-time station broadcasting with 1,000 watts at 910 kHz in 1957. Purchased the following year by former KRSC and
KJR personality Wally Nelskog, the station became
top-40 KQDE, or "Cutie Radio." A sister station on 1230 kHz in
Everett, KQTY, also used the same branding. One of Seattle's first black deejays, Bob Summarise, brought an R&B influence to his airshift on KQDE. (Summarise would later own
soul-formatted KYAC, which took the air in 1964.) In 1960, KQDE would change its call letters to the more phonetic KUDY and changed its
city of license to Seattle.
Failing to make an impact in the top-40 battle dominated by KJR and KOL, the station became
beautiful music KIXI in late 1961. (The call letters were a
Roman numeral representation of the station's "9-1" dial position.) Bob Liddle, formerly of
Portland, Oregon stations KXL and KEX, joined the airstaff and would stay with KIXI for 45 years. During the 1970s, Liddle teamed with Dean Smith on ''News 90'', one of Seattle's first all-news morning drive programs.
A partnership led by J. Elroy McCaw, owner of Tacoma television station
KTVW and father of future
cellular telephone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...
tycoon
Craig McCaw, purchased a 50-percent interest in KIXI in 1963. The group also acquired FM beautiful music station
KGMJ from Rogan Jones, founder of the pioneering radio automation firm IGM. KGMJ became KIXI-FM and simulcasted the AM station's programming. McCaw died suddenly of a stroke in 1969, exposing a considerable amount of debt accumulated from his
speculation
In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, good (economics), goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline i ...
on radio and television stations, including
WINS WINS may refer to:
*WINS (AM), an all-news radio station in New York City
*WINS-FM, a radio station in New York City
*World Institute for Nuclear Security
*Windows Internet Name Service
*WINS (solution stack), a set of software subsystems
*Wireles ...
in New York and
KYA
Kya, kya or KYA may also refer to:
People or fictional characters
* Kya Lau, chef and contestant on ''MasterChef Junior'', season 4
* Kya, mother of Katara and Sokka, in ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''
* Kya, daughter of Aang and Katara in ''The ...
in San Francisco. With the exception of a small
cable television system in
Centralia, McCaw's entire broadcasting portfolio was sold off to pay down the debt service. Wally Nelskog and two
Richland physicians purchased KIXI and KIXI-FM in 1971.
The beautiful music simulcast ended in 1980, with the AM side adopting an
oldies format and the FM station programming
adult contemporary as "KIXI Lite." A move to the 880 kHz frequency a year later allowed for a daytime power boost to 50,000 watts, and in 1986, a nighttime increase to 10,000 watts. With the move, KIXI (AM) began running a satellite-fed
adult standards format. That same year, Nelskog sold the station to Thunder Bay Communications. In December 1987, the group sold the AM station to Sunbelt Communications, while the FM station, which had become KLTX, was sold to Ackerley.
KIXI was purchased by
Sandusky Radio Sandusky may refer to:
Places in the United States Cities and towns
* Sandusky, Indiana
* Sandusky, Iowa
* Sandusky, Michigan
* Sandusky, Ohio
* Upper Sandusky, Ohio
* Sandusky, West Virginia
* Sandusky, Wisconsin
Townships
* Sandusky Township, ...
, owners of
KLSY, in November 1991. Hiring personalities such as Jim Dai and Dan Murphy in 1993, the station dropped the AM Only satellite service for a locally voicetracked lineup. Bob Dearborn, best known for his work at
WCFL in
Chicago, was the KIXI
program director from 1994 to 1999. He was replaced by Bob Brooks, formerly of KLSY.
While the aging demographics of the adult standards audience forced many stations in larger markets to drop the format in the late 1990s, KIXI continued to enjoy modest success, often selling advertising time as an "add-on" to spots on KLSY or the other stations in the Sandusky Seattle group. Finally, in a move that led to an outcry from a loyal listener base, KIXI abruptly began airing
Music of Your Life satellite programming on June 1, 2006. With the exception of Dan Murphy, who continued to voice station promotions and weekday weather forecasts, the entire KIXI airstaff was terminated. In April 2009, KIXI dropped the Music of Your Life programming after three years and returned to local programming. In July 2013, Sandusky announced it would sell its radio holdings in Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona to
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, ...
. The sale was completed that November.
Hubbard Acquires Sandusky Broadcasting
/ref> However, the station is now largely voicetracked and automated - with total operations being overseen by Dan Murphy. Covid 19 forced cuts at KIXI May 12, 2020. Dan Murphy was cut from the staff by Hubbard Broadcasting
References
External links
AM 880
FCC History Cards for KIXI
{{coord, 47, 34, 59, N, 122, 10, 52, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
IXI
Radio stations established in 1947
1947 establishments in Washington (state)
Hubbard Broadcasting
Adult standards radio stations in the United States