KKNW (1150 AM) is a

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 serve

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. The station is owned by

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 ...

, Inc., and features a talk

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, ...

. KKNW mostly airs call-in and discussion shows where the host pays the station for the air time, known in the radio industry as " brokered time". Shows range from personal growth, health, psychology and pet care to Chinese,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n language shows. Nationally syndicated hosts are heard overnight, including family financial adviser

Clark Howard Clark Brian Howard (born June 20, 1955) is an American author and radio/podcast host, focused primarily on personal finance, consumer protection, and related topics. He has hosted ''The Clark Howard Show,'' which began in 1989 and has lasted ov ...

and

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as ...

host

Stephanie Miller Stephanie Catherine Miller (born September 29, 1961) is an American political commentator, comedian, and host of '' The Stephanie Miller Show'', a Progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles, California, by WYD Media Management and ...

. Many hours begin with national news from

NBC News Radio NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. It is also the home of

Washington Huskies women's basketball The Washington Huskies women's basketball team represents the University of Washington in NCAA Division I college basketball competing in the Big Ten Conference. Their home games are played at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, loca ...

. A

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 ...

site for the station is in Mercer Slough Nature Park in

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to: Places Australia * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales Canada * Bellevue, Alberta * Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...

. KKNW's studios are located in the Newport Corporate Center, also in Bellevue.

History

KKNW first began in 1927 as KRSC, with 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 as ...

standing for

Kelvinator Kelvinator was an American home appliance manufacturer and a line of domestic refrigerators that was the company's namesake. Although it is now defunct as a company, the name remains a brand owned by Electrolux AB. It takes its name from ...

Radio Sales Corporation. Under the ownership of Jessica Longston, it became KAYO in 1953 and was a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

station from the late 1950s until 1961, when it changed to MOR. It then went back to top 40 for 60 days in 1962 before flipping to a long-running

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format and was a competitor to KMPS (now KKOL) and KQIN (now KGNW). In 1980, the station flipped to a

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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

format after it was sold to Obie Broadcasting. In 1982, the station flipped to

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

and became known as KSPL. KSPL changed

call letters 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

to KGNW on September 19, 1984, and became a religious outlet under

Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wha ...

ownership. On December 31, 1986, KGNW moved to its current home at 820 AM, while 1150 AM was sold to Park Communications and began

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

ing the

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

format of KEZX-FM (now KPNW-FM) as KEZX. On April 20, 1987, KEZX dropped from the FM simulcast and flipped to

new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, which would then give way to another simulcast with KEZX-FM on April 1, 1988. In 1989, KEZX flipped to "Business Radio 1150", which aired business talk programming. Sandusky Radio bought the station in 1996. On January 13, 1999, the station flipped to classic R&B as KSRB. The programming was predominantly satellite-fed through ABC Radio's The Touch Network. On June 1, 2001, at 6 a.m., the station flipped to

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...

as "NewsChannel 1150", and changed call letters to KKNW, which carried the audio portion of

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by CNN Worldwide, the network primarily carries true-crime programming, recently drifting away from limited live news programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982, by Tur ...

. In the mid-2000s, the station shifted its programming to an "alternative talk" format featuring mostly local shows. In July 2013, Sandusky announced it would sell its radio holdings in Seattle and

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. The sale was completed that November. Hubbard Acquires Sandusky Radio
/ref> It is co-owned in the Seattle market with four other Hubbard stations,

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

880

KIXI KIXI (880 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station licensed to Mercer Island, Washington, Mercer Island/Seattle, Seattle, Washington. It operates 24 hours a day with a daytime power of 50,000 watts and a nighttime power of 10,000 watts from a tra ...

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

92.5 KQMV,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

98.9 KPNW-FM, and adult contemporary 106.9 KRWM.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KKNW1150 KKNWHubbard Radio's 1150 KKNW
{{Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. KNW Talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1927 Hubbard Broadcasting Progressive talk radio