KNEK (1190 AM) was a radio station in

Washington, Louisiana Washington is a village in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 742 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Opelousas– Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area. Washington was the largest inland port between New Or ...

, United States, under ownership of

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

. The station simulcast sister station KNEK-FM, which broadcasts on the frequency of 104.7 FM. Its studios were located on Galbert Road in Lafayette, and its transmitter was located south of Washington, Louisiana. Because it shared the same frequency as

clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...

station XEWK-AM at

Guadalajara, Jalisco Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, Mexico, KNEK only operated during the

daytime Daytime or day as observed on Earth is the period of the day during which a given location experiences Daylight, natural illumination from direct sunlight. Daytime occurs when the Sun appears above the local horizon, that is, anywhere on the ...

hours.

History

KNEK started in August 1980 as a daytime-only,

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 ...

–formatted station, the first new AM outlet in the area since the 1940s. In 1994, KNEK AM dropped its then-current format of gospel music and adopted an all-

zydeco Zydeco ( ; ) is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by French speaking, Afro-Americans of Creole heritage. It blends African and Caribbean rhythms, blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana ...

format, the only one of its kind. The format was dropped in 1998, a year after Citywide Broadcasting of Lafayette bought the station from Dee Broadcasting; the new owners locked out the old disc jockeys and changed the format to satellite-delivered Motown music.

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

acquired all of Citywide's stations in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette markets for $34 million in late 1998. In 2006, Citadel placed KNEK-FM in The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC, upon its 2006 merger with ABC Radio. Citadel swapped KRDJ with KNEK-FM in 2008, opting to keep the latter. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. The station went off the air in May 2023 due to transmitter issues. Cumulus Media would surrender the KNEK license to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) in March 2024. The FCC canceled the station's license on April 26, 2024.

References

External links

Darnell's Black Radio Guide - Louisiana Stations
Radio stations in Louisiana Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1980 1980 establishments in Louisiana Daytime-only radio stations in Louisiana Washington, Louisiana Radio stations disestablished in 2024 2024 disestablishments in Louisiana Defunct mass media in Louisiana {{Louisiana-radio-station-stub