KKAT (860 kHz) is an AM

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 ...

broadcasting a talk

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 ...

. KKAT is licensed to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

and is owned by

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 ...

. The station's studios are located in South Salt Lake (behind the I-15/ I-80 interchange). KKAT broadcasts at 10,000

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 by day but must reduce its power to 196 watts at night because it is on a clear channel frequency reserved for CJBC

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, the dominant Class A station on 860 kHz. During critical hours, KKAT is powered at 3,000 watts. It uses a non-directional antenna at all times. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is off West 2590 South, near the Redwood Nature Area in West Valley City.

Programming

KKAT carries mostly

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

conservative talk hosts, largely from the co-owned Westwood One Network. Shows include Armstrong & Getty, Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino, Dave Ramsey,

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show '' The Mark Levin Show'', as well as ''Life, Liberty & Levin'' on Fox News. Levin worked in the admini ...

, John Batchelor, Michael Knowles, Red Eye Radio and First Light. On weekends, shows on money, real estate, gardening, real estate, food and wine are heard, as well as Chris Plante, Daniele Lin and repeats of weekday shows. World and national news from Fox News Radio airs at the beginning of most hours.

History

On November 15, 1955, the station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

the air. It had 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 ...

KWHO.History Cards for KKAT
fcc.gov. Accessed August 22, 2015 The station aired a classical music format. Initially, KWHO operated during daytime hours only with 1,000 watts of power. In July 1985, the station became KUTR, and it began airing an " LDS Contemporary" format, which consisted of mix of music that was 50% songs by Mormon artists and 50% standard

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

. On June 21, 1989, the station's callsign was changed to KLZX, and it began simulcasting the

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format of its sister station 93.3 KLZX-FM (now KUBL-FM). On November 15, 1990, the station changed its call letters to KCNR. As KCNR, the station carried programming from

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline Ne ...

and was branded "News Radio 860 AM." In 1992 KCNR's format and call sign moved to

1320 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1320 kHz: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commis ...

, and the station again simulcast its

sister station 93.3 KLZX-FM "Z-93". On August 11, 1992, the station again changed its call sign to KLZX. On September 6, 1994, the station began airing an all-news format from

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

Newsworld, and on January 23, 1995, the station's call sign was changed to KAPN. On August 20, 1996, KCNR's

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format moved from 1320 to 860, and on September 20, 1996 the station's call sign was changed back to KCNR. On November 18, 1996, the station became an affiliate of

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

. On March 3, 1999, the station's callsign was changed to

KBEE KBEE (98.7 FM), branded as B98.7, is a commercial radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is one of the oldest FM stations in the Western United States, tracing its history to 1947. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and it airs an ad ...

. In 2003, Radio Disney moved to AM 910, and on May 15, 2003, the station began airing a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

format from the Jones Radio Network.Lynn Arave,
Country's 'The Coyote' premieres on AM-860
, ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'', May 16, 2003. Accessed August 23, 2015 While a classic country station, the station was branded "The Coyote". On July 5, 2004, the station's callsign was changed to KKAT. In October 2007, the station changed formats from classic country to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

, carrying Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

. While airing an oldies format, the station was branded "The Wolf".Lynn Arave,
Radio dial: KKAT changes format from oldies music to 'Utah's Big Talker'
, ''

'', October 9, 2009. Accessed August 23, 2015 On October 5, 2009, the station changed to a talk format branded "Utah's Big Talker".

References

External links

Cumulus Media Salt Lake City

FCC History Cards for KKAT
{{Cumulus Media Mass media in Salt Lake City

KAT Kat or KAT may refer to: People * Kat Alano (born 1985), Anglo-Filipino model, actress, and television presenter/VJ in the Philippines * Kat Ashley (c1502–1565), governess to Queen Elizabeth I * Kat Bjelland (born 1963), American musician * Ka ...

Talk radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1956 1956 establishments in Utah

Programming

History

See also

References

External links