KKED (104.7 FM) is an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

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 ...

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

. The station is owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

History

The KKED license traces its roots to the oldest FM radio station in Interior Alaska. On October 1, 1962, the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for ...

launched KUAC, the first public radio station in the state of Alaska, at 104.9 FM. It replaced an older carrier current station on the campus. In July 1968, the station moved to 104.7 MHz and increased the effective radiated power of its transmitter atop the Student Union Building to 10,500 watts. Until 1982, the portion of the FM band below 100 MHz, including the typical noncommercial educational reserved band of 88–92 MHz, was reserved in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

for telecommunications purposes. As a result, KUAC, as well as other public radio stations in Alaska such as

KSKA KSKA (91.1 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. The station airs public radio programming from the National Public Radio network and the BBC World Service. KSKA also airs some locally originated programmi ...

, operated on licenses that, if sold, could be converted to commercial operation. In 1995, the station landed a $178,000 federal grant to build a new, more powerful facility broadcasting with 38,000 watts at 89.9 MHz—in the reserved band—atop the Ester Dome. By comparison, the 104.7 facility was atop the shorter Bender Mountain at 10,000 watts. 89.9 MHz, bearing the call letters KUAB, came to air in April 1997 while the 104.7 studio-transmitter link was broken. The new facility in the reserved band opened up the ability for the University of Alaska Fairbanks to sell the 104.7 license, which traded call letters to become KUAB, to a commercial buyer. Capstar, a forerunner to iHeartMedia, acquired the facility for $205,000 in February 1998. On June 22, the frequency became a commercial alternative rock outlet known as "The Edge"; the call letters changed to KKED on July 10. The "Edge" moniker was used until 2016, when the station rebranded as Alt 104.7, retaining the alternative format.

Programming

KKED has no local air talent. Its personalities are syndicated through the internal Premium Choice service.

References

External links

Alt 104.7's official website
{{coord, 64.915, N, 147.650, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States KED Radio stations established in 1998 1998 establishments in Alaska IHeartMedia radio stations