KSNR (100.3 FM, "100.3 Cat Country") 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 ...

serving the

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

area broadcasting a

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.

Licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Fisher, Minnesota Fisher is a town in Polk County, Minnesota, Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Grand Forks, North Dakota, Grand Forks-North Dakota, ND-Minnesota, MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 422 at the 2020 United ...

, KSNR first began broadcasting in 1976 under 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 ...

KOSN in

Thief River Falls Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city and county seat of Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. History Thief River Falls takes its name fro ...

. The station is currently owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

. The station's main competitor is

Leighton Broadcasting Leighton Media, previously Leighton Broadcasting, is a radio broadcasting company based in St. Cloud, Minnesota that owns several radio stations in St. Cloud as well as in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Stations owned ...

's 97 KYCK (97.1 FM). KSNR also broadcasts

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

men's and women's basketball home games, while sister station

KQHT KQHT (96.1 FM, "96.1 The Fox") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format serving Grand Forks, North Dakota, that is licensed to Crookston, Minnesota. It began broadcasting in 1985. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. K ...

"96.1 The Fox" broadcasts

University of North Dakota men's ice hockey The North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team of the University of North Dakota. They are members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games as the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...

, and sister station KKXL-AM "1440 The Fan" broadcasts

University of North Dakota women's ice hockey The North Dakota Fighting Sioux women's ice hockey team was the college ice hockey team at the Grand Forks campus of the University of North Dakota. They were members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competed in National Col ...

History

The station began life at 99.3 FM as KOSN in

Thief River Falls, Minnesota Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city and county seat of Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. History Thief River Falls takes its name fro ...

in 1976. KOSN broadcast only 3,000 watts. The station changed call letters to KSNR in 1983 as it flipped to an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format, concentrating on 50s and 60s "Golden Oldies" format. After upgrading to 100,000 watts at 100.3 FM in 1987, the station attracted listeners in

, since the signal could be heard on most radios and KSNR was the only oldies station in the area until 1990. KSNR later became "Kool 100.3" in 1995 from studios in Grand Forks after KNOX-FM flipped from

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

as "Kool 94.7" to Classic Country as "Real Country 94.7", and KSNR as "Kool 100.3" also began playing 1970s era music after being sold. KSNR also played

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

from

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

annually until the format change in 2005. In 2000,

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

bought out KSNR and several other stations, and the format was changed to play 1960s and 1970s era music. It also became the

for

basketball play-by-play broadcasts. Kool 100.3 switched to

as "Cat Country" in October 2005, competing with

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

country station

KYCK KYCK (97.1 FM, "97 KYCK") is a radio station broadcasting a country format serving Grand Forks, North Dakota that's licensed to Crookston, Minnesota. It first began broadcasting in 1979 under the call sign KDWZ. The station is currently own ...

and classic country station KNOX-FM "Rooster 94.7". In 2006, sister station

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

"96.1 The Fox" began shifting towards to an updated classic hits version of the former "Kool 100.3"

format. In 2005, KSNR changed its

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

from

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia * Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elec ...

, which would allow it to move its transmitter tower closer to

Grand Forks Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the state, after Fargo and Bismarck. Grand For ...

in the future. In the fall of 2012, all local personalities were removed from Cat Country in favor of

Bobby Bones Show ''The Bobby Bones Show'' is an American, nationally Broadcast syndication, syndicated country music radio show aired during the morning hours. The Bobby Bones Show, which originally aired from Austin, Texas, now broadcasts from studios at WSIX-F ...

in the morning and

Premium Choice The majority of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia is distributed through its subsidiary, Premiere Networks, owned by the company since 1999 and purchased by antecedent Jacor in 1997. However, several music and talk shows originated on iHeartM ...

radio personalities in all other dayparts. The previous local morning show was moved to sister station

"96.1 The Fox", which carries an updated classic hits version of the former "Kool 100.3"

format. In 2016, Cat Country brought back some local personalities previously heard on the station. On October 29, 2018, it was announced that, as

would lose its grandfathered ownership limits in the Brunswick and Grand Forks markets as part of its bankruptcy restructuring, the company would place KSNR and

WHFX WHFX (107.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock format. Licensed to Darien, Georgia, United States, the station serves the Brunswick area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC. Histo ...

into the newly formed Sun & Snow Station Trust, under the oversight of former Backyard Broadcasting CEO Barry Drake, as preparation for an eventual sale of the signals. On December 23, 2020, iHeart filed to reclaim KSNR from the Sun & Snow Station Trust; the re-assignment of the license was consummated on March 29, 2021.

References

External links

100.3 Cat Country websiteUND Fighting Sioux game broadcast info
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SNR The initialism SNR may refer to: * Signal-to-noise ratio Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR or S/N) is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. SNR is defined as the ratio ...

Country radio stations in the United States 1976 establishments in Minnesota Radio stations established in 1976 IHeartMedia radio stations