KJNW (88.5 FM, "Life 88.5") is a listener-supported, non-

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

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. The station is owned by

Northwestern Media Northwestern Media is the Christian radio ministry of the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, an evangelical university in Roseville, Minnesota. Northwestern Media operates three radio networks serving listeners primarily in the Midwestern U ...

, a ministry of

University of Northwestern – St. Paul The University of Northwestern – St. Paul (UNWSP) is a Private university, private Evangelical Christianity, evangelical Christian university in Roseville, Minnesota, United States. History The predecessor to the current university was fir ...

, and airs a

Christian adult contemporary Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC, CAC, or Christian Adult Contemporary Airplay, is a form of radio-played contemporary Christian music, ranging from 1960s Jesus music and 1970s Christian soft rock music to predominately ...

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, ...

. KJNW's studios and offices located on Indian Creek Parkway, Overland Park, Kansas City, while its

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 located on Wallace Avenue in Kansas City, near

Interstate 435 Interstate 435 (I-435) is an Interstate Highway beltway that encircles much of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the states of Kansas and Missouri in the United States. Route description I-435, a loop route of I-35, is long and i ...

. It broadcasts an

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 ...

signal, and features a Christian talk and music format on its HD2 subchannel.

History

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on August 9, 1970. Its

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 ...

was KLJC and was owned by the

Calvary Bible College Calvary University is a private Christian university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. In 2019, total enrollment was 430, with undergraduate enrollment of 348 and graduate enrollment of 82. History The university originally opened in 1 ...

. The station aired a

Christian radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

format, including music and teaching programs. At first, the station ran at only at 510 watts, a fraction of its current power. By 1980, the power was boosted to 6,000 watts, allowing it to cover Kansas City and its adjacent suburbs. It added news from the ABC Information Network. In the early 2000s, the power was raised to the maximum 100,000 watts, using Kansas City's tallest FM and TV antenna on Wallace Avenue, giving KLJC coverage over much of Western

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and Eastern

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. After running the station for 33 years, the college sold the station University of Northwestern - St. Paul in January 2013 for $6 million. On June 16, 2013, the call letters were changed to KJNW, to reflect the station's new owner. In 2014, KJNW was a top 3 finalist for CMB Large Market Station of the Year. That same year, "Life 88.5" also finished as runner-Up for the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Station of the Year. In 2021, KJNW was named the CMB Large Market Station of the Year.

References

External links

JNW Northwestern Media JNW Christian adult contemporary radio stations in the United States 1970 establishments in Missouri Radio stations established in 1970 {{Missouri-radio-station-stub