KNNZ ("89.1 Ken's FM") is a

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 ...

owned by Pioneer Public Broadcasting, licensed to

Hawley, Minnesota Hawley is a town in Clay County, Minnesota, United States, along the Buffalo River. The population was 2,219 at the 2020 census. History The town went through six quick name changes after 1871 until, in 1872, it was finally named after Thoma ...

and serving the

Fargo–Moorhead Fargo–Moorhead, also known as the FM area, is a common name given to the metropolitan area comprising Fargo, North Dakota; Moorhead, Minnesota; and the surrounding communities. These two cities lie on the North Dakota–Minnesota border, on opp ...

area. The station's offices are located in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

, while its transmitter is located at

Barnesville, Minnesota Barnesville is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,759 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Barnesville Potato Days is held annually in August. Interstate 94 in Minnesota, I ...

History

The station went on-air at 94.5 FM in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

as a

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station. The pirate radio station played a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

format known as "New Rock 94.5." In 2009, 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 ...

sent a letter to the pirate radio station forcing it to cease operations. In 2010, the owner of the pirate radio station received a Construction Permit from the FCC for a new FM radio station at 89.1 MHz (licensed to

) with the callsign KNNZ. On December 31, 2012, KNNZ officially signed on the air branded as "89.1 Ken's FM" (named after the station President, Ken Bartz) with the same

format that the pirate radio station had carried. In 2015, KNNZ upgraded to 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s of power.KNNZ now 100,000 watts
youtube.com

References

External links

* Radio stations in Minnesota Radio stations established in 2012 2012 establishments in Minnesota {{Minnesota-radio-station-stub