KNOF (95.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

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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 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 ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, and serving the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

area. The station is broadcasts a

Christian Contemporary Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith an ...

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, ...

and is owned by Christian Heritage Broadcasting, Inc. KNOF's

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

s and offices are on Elliot Avenue in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. KNOF has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 900

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 (

horizontal polarization , or , is a property of transverse waves which specifies the geometrical orientation of the oscillations. In a transverse wave, the direction of the oscillation is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the wave. One example of a polarize ...

) and 820 watts (vertical). The

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is located atop the

IDS Center The IDS Center is an office skyscraper located at 80 South 8th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Completed in 1973, it is the tallest building in Minneapolis, and the tallest building in the state at a height of . It originally stood , thoug ...

History

KNOF was founded by the Rev. Fred and the Rev. Grace Adam, signing on the air on April 10, 1960, to broadcast Christian programming to the greater Twin Cities

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Their company was named the Selby Gospel Broadcasting Corporation because the offices and studios were on Selby Avenue in St. Paul. The station's

transmitted only 3,000

s on a 249-foot tower, while many local FM stations were powered at 100,000 watts on towers five times that height. In August 2007, 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) approved the transfer of control of Selby Gospel Broadcasting to

North Central University North Central University (NCU) is a Private university, private Christian university in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is owned and operated by 11 Assemblies of God USA, Assemblies of God districts of the upper Midwest. NCU was found ...

, as a gift to the college at the request of Rev. Grace Adam, an alumna of the university. The station operated from new state of the art studios on the campus of North Central University and transmitted a 6,000-watt signal from a 249-foot tower in St. Paul, its city of license.

New ownership

KNOF was sold to Praise Broadcasting (who began operating the station via a time brokerage agreement in 2009) effective October 17, 2014 for $5 million, and shifted to a contemporary Christian music format as "Praise FM". However, nearly eleven months later, on September 24, 2015, Praise Broadcasting announced the sale of KNOF to Northern Lights Broadcasting, in exchange for money, the move of the format to the HD2 sub channel of Northern Lights' KTWN, and a five-year sponsorship deal with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

for "Faith Night" from 2016 to 2020 and use of

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Tar ...

for Praise FM's annual concerts in 2016 and 2017. In total, the transaction was valued at $7.95 million, and was consummated on January 4, 2016. Speculation from media outlets had Northern Lights moving KTWN and its Alternative format to 95.3, paving the way for a new format to debut at 96.3. These rumors increased as Northern Lights requested the callsign KZGO for the station. On January 5, 2016, at 3 p.m., Northern Lights flipped the station to

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

as "Go 95.3", launching with "Crewed Up" by local

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

group

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, the first of 10,000 songs in a row to launch the new station. The move brought the format back to the Twin Cities for the first time since sister station KTWN (as KTTB) flipped to Top 40 in 2010. The newly launched "Go 95.3" featured a hybrid presentation of current R&B/Hip-Hop product mixed in with music from local and independent talent. The format was launched exactly one year to the minute that KTWN launched the "Go 96.3"

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

format. On January 22, 2016, KNOF changed its

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 ...

to KZGO.

On December 1, 2020, Go Media announced that they would sell KQGO (the former KTWN) and KZGO to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

for $2.45 million. With the announcement of the sale, the stations immediately dismissed all on-air staff and shifted to a jockless presentation, which it continued with until the sale closed. The FCC officially approved the sale on March 26, 2021, and was officially consummated on April 12. On the same day as the sale consummation, the former contemporary worship music "Praise FM" format (now under the name "PraiseLive") that aired on the station prior to the sale to Northern Lights/Go Media in 2016 returned to the station, as part of an agreement with Praise Broadcasting and EMF. Along with the change, KZGO changed back to the heritage KNOF call letters. Just days later, on April 23, Praise Broadcasting announced it would buy the station outright from EMF for $1.225 million. The sale was closed on July 20, 2021.

References

External links

Official website
* {{coord, 44, 58, 33.9, N, 93, 16, 20.8, W, type:landmark_region:US-MN_source:FCC, display=title Radio stations in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Radio stations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Minnesota Christian radio stations in Minnesota Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States