KNIT (AM)

KNIT
City Salt Lake City, Utah
Broadcast area Salt Lake City, Utah
Frequency 1320 kHz
First air date 1922 (as KDYL at 1220)
Format Silent (was Sports)
Power 5,000 watts unlimited
Class B
Facility ID 53500
Transmitter coordinates 40°38′36″N 111°55′24″W / 40.64333°N 111.92333°W / 40.64333; -111.92333Coordinates: 40°38′36″N 111°55′24″W / 40.64333°N 111.92333°W / 40.64333; -111.92333
Former callsigns KDYL (1922–1959)
KCPX (1959–1983)
KBUG (1983–1987)
KCPX (1987–1988)
KEMX (1988–1989)
KUTR (1989–1992)
KCPX (2/1992–8/1992)
KCNR (1992–1996)
KFNZ (1996–2017)
Former frequencies 1220 kHz (1922–1927)
1160 kHz (1927–1929)
1290 kHz (1929–1941)
Owner Vic Michael
(Kona Coast Radio, LLC)

KNIT (1320 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It serves the Wasatch Front area.[1] When under Cumulus Media ownership, the station broadcast a sports radio format from studios in South Salt Lake. The station is one of the oldest in Salt Lake City, established in 1922 as KDYL.

The station, formerly KFNZ, went silent in February 2017, after the decision was made to sell its transmitter location off Bullion Street (West 5800 South) near Interstate 215 in Taylorsville.[2] Cumulus Media subsequently sold the station's license to Vic Michael's Kona Coast Radio.[3] Kona Coast Radio will have to relocate the transmitter. The station remains dark during the process.

Station programming

KFNZ featured programming from the CBS Sports Radio network. It was the flagship station for the Utah Grizzlies. KFNZ was also responsible for providing analysis and coverage for the BYU Cougars, University of Utah Utes, Salt Lake Bees, Utah State Aggies, and Weber State Wildcats.

History

Former logo of KFNZ

Early years

The station first went on the air in 1922, and originally held the call sign KDYL.[4] Its license was granted on May 8, 1922.[4] The station was constructed by Ira J. Kaar for A.L. Fish and the defunct newspaper, The Salt Lake Telegram.[5] When it went on the air in 1922, it shared a frequency with two other commercial stations in Salt Lake City.[6] In 1926, the station was purchased by Sidney S. Fox.[5]

On September 1, 1932, KDYL became an NBC Red Network affiliate, switching from CBS Radio.[7] During the Golden Age of Radio it aired the NBC line-up of dramas, comedies, news, sports, game shows, soap operas and big band broadcasts. Sydney Fox later invested in the construction of its sister stations, in 1947 KDYL-FM (now 98.7 KBEE) and in 1949 KDYL-TV (now Channel 4 KTVX).[5] In 1953, Fox sold KDYL and its FM and TV sister stations to Time-Life Corporation for $2.1 million.[5]

Top 40 era

The station was purchased by Columbia Pictures in 1959. Through the 1960s and 70s, the station's call sign was changed to KCPX.[4] and it carried a Top 40 format that was very popular in the Salt Lake City area. During this time, the station competed heavily for listeners with crosstown rival 1280 KNAK (now KZNS.[8] As Top 40 listening switched to FM, the station's ratings fell.

Columbia Pictures, which had just been acquired by The Coca-Cola Company, sold KCPX and KCPX-FM to Price Broadcasting in 1982.[9][10] (The TV station had been sold to separate owners in 1975.) In 1983, the station's call sign was changed to KBUG.[11] Initially the station aired an adult contemporary format.[12][13] By 1986 the format had been changed to oldies.[14][15][16] In 1987,[17] the station's call sign was changed back to KCPX, and the station continued airing an oldies format.[18][19] On August 1, 1988, the station's call sign was changed to KEMX, and the station began airing an "Easy Mix" format consisting of softer songs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as country crossover hits from the 1980s.[19]

Latter Day Saints and all-news formats

On August 7, 1989, the station began airing the "LDS Contemporary" format that had previously aired on 860 KUTR (now KKAT).[20] On September 14, 1989, the station's call sign was changed to KUTR.[21] Citing insufficient support from advertisers, KUTR dropped the LDS music format on January 31, 1992 and began simulcasting the adult contemporary format of KCPX-FM.[22] with the slogan "continuous favorites, from yesterday to today";[23][24] On February 18, 1992, the station changed its call sign back to KCPX.[21] In April 1992, Citadel Associates (a forerunner of Citadel Broadcasting), owner of KLZX (93.3 FM) and KCNR (860 AM), began programming KCPX and KCPX-FM under a local marketing agreement. Later that year, Citadel moved KCNR's all-news format to the station.[23] On August 11, 1992, the station's call sign switched to KCNR to represent CNN Radio, its main supplier of national news.[21] In 1993, the station adopted a talk radio format.[25]

Sports Radio "KFAN"

Previous logo

In late August 1996, the station flipped to a sports talk format.[26] On August 30, 1996, the station's call sign was changed to KFNZ to go along with its new identification as "KFAN."[21] Citadel Broadcasting bought KFNZ and KBEE-FM outright from Price Broadcasting in 1997.[27] In 2007, Larry H. Miller, who owned the Utah Jazz and KJZZ-TV, began operating KFNZ.[28] The station's owner, Citadel Broadcasting, merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[29] The Larry H. Miller Group bought rival KZNS-FM (97.5) and KZNS in May 2012, after the end of its local marketing agreement (LMA) with KFNZ.[30] Most of the station's programming, including Utah Jazz broadcasts, were moved to KZNS.[31] while KFNZ retained the "KFAN" branding with a new Cumulus-programmed schedule.[32]

On February 27, 2017, KFNZ ceased broadcasting and went dark.[33] Cumulus elected to sell the station's transmitter site; it originally planned on surrendering the license, but subsequently received an offer to purchase the station.[34] Vic Michael of Kona Coast Radio, which owns radio stations in Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming, then agreed to buy the station's license for $100,000.[3] The sale was completed on August 22, 2017. On October 18, 2017, Kona Coast Radio changed the station's call letters to KNIT.[35]

References

  1. ↑ "KNIT Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/KNIT
  3. 1 2 Inside Radio article on KFNZ
  4. 1 2 3 History Cards for KNIT, fcc.gov. Accessed August 24, 2015
  5. 1 2 3 4 Tim Larson and Robert K. Avery, "Utah Broadcasting History", Utah History Encyclopedia, Utah Education Network. Accessed August 24, 2015
  6. ↑ Geo. J. Zaengle & Wm. S. Bowen, 3rd, "Radio Broadcasting Stations", Bulletin No. 1, Progressive Radio Company. Accessed August 24, 2015
  7. ↑ "KDYL Goes to NBC" (PDF). wpbc. September 1, 1932. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Wharton, Tom (September 15, 2015). "Whatever happened to ... KNAK and KCPX?". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 22, 1982. p. 50. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  10. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 22, 1982. p. 72. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 1, 1983. p. 64. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Ratings Report", Radio & Records, April 1984. p. 128. Accessed August 23, 2015
  13. ↑ "Ratings Report", Radio & Records, April 1985. p. 123. Accessed August 23, 2015
  14. ↑ "Ratings Report & Directory", Radio & Records, April 1986. p. 142. Accessed August 23, 2015
  15. ↑ James H, Duncan, Jr. "Winter 1986 Supplement", American Radio, Winter 1986. p. 47. Accessed August 23, 2015
  16. ↑ James H, Duncan, Jr. "Summer 1986 Supplement", American Radio, Summer 1986. p. 95. Accessed August 23, 2015
  17. ↑ Lynn Arave, "Radio dial: Utah radio stations go global", Deseret News, March 23, 2007. Accessed August 23, 2015
  18. ↑ "Ratings Report & Directory", Radio & Records, Fall 1987. p. 153. Accessed August 23, 2015
  19. 1 2 Lynn Arave, "KCPX-AM is Now KEMX and Has an `Easy Mix' Sound", Deseret News, August 5, 1988. Accessed August 23, 2015
  20. ↑ Lynn Arave, "KUTR Radio Returns to the Airwaves Monday", Deseret News, August 5, 1989. Accessed August 23, 2015
  21. 1 2 3 4 "KNIT Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  22. ↑ Arave, Lynn (February 11, 1992). "Shake-Ups Leave DJs Spinning In S.L. Area". Deseret News. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  23. 1 2 Lynn Arave, "KCPX Will Retain Format Despite Pact", Deseret News, May 1, 1992. Accessed August 23, 2015
  24. ↑ "Listeners React Favorably to KCPX Format Switch", Deseret News, November 10, 1990. Accessed August 23, 2015
  25. ↑ Lynn Arave, "All-News Format Returns to Utah", Deseret News, September 9, 1994. Accessed August 23, 2015
  26. ↑ Lynn Arave, "KCNR Set to Switch to All-Sports Format as Early as Wednesday", Deseret News, August 23, 1996. Accessed August 23, 2015
  27. ↑ "Citadel Broadcasting Company Form S-4" (TXT). Securities and Exchange Commission. September 30, 1997. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  28. ↑ Griggs, Brandon (August 30, 2007). "AM sports radio rumble". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  30. ↑ Pierce, Scott D. (May 24, 2012). "Miller Group buying The Zone, hopes for sports radio 'powerhouse'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  31. ↑ Furlong, Josh (May 24, 2012). "1320 KFAN merges with 1280 The Zone". KSL.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  32. ↑ Venta, Lance (May 28, 2012). "KFNZ Salt Lake City To Stick With Sports". RadioInsight. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  33. ↑ KFNZ Goes Dark
  34. ↑ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Media Bureau Call Sign Actions" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
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