KSWD (FM)

KSWD
City Seattle, Washington
Broadcast area Seattle metropolitan area
Branding 94.1 The Sound
Slogan Relaxing Favorites at Work
Frequency 94.1 MHz FM (also on HD Radio)
First air date 1961 (as KOL-FM)
Format Soft adult contemporary
HD2: Blues ("The Delta")
ERP 73,000 watts
HAAT 698 meters
Class C
Facility ID 20356
Transmitter coordinates 47°30′18″N 121°58′08″W / 47.505°N 121.969°W / 47.505; -121.969Coordinates: 47°30′18″N 121°58′08″W / 47.505°N 121.969°W / 47.505; -121.969
Callsign meaning K SoWnD (play on the word "sound")
Former callsigns KOL-FM (1961–1975)
KEUT (1975–1978)
KMPS-FM (1978–2017)
Owner Entercom
(CBS Radio Stations Inc.)
Sister stations KHTP, KISW, KKWF, KNDD
Webcast Listen Live
Website 941thesoundseattle.com

KSWD is a radio station based in Seattle, Washington. The Entercom outlet broadcasts at 94.1 MHz with its main transmitter operating at 73 kW effective radiated power and its three auxiliary transmitters operating at 57 kW, 55 kW and 53 kW ERP. All four of its transmitters are located near Issaquah on Tiger Mountain, and operates from studios on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle.

KSWD broadcasts in HD.[1]

History

The station's legacy on FM radio dates back to July 8, 1961, when it signed on as KOL-FM, a simulcast of their then-sister-station KOL/1300. It was owned from 1962 until 1967 by television producers and game show moguls Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and continued to simulcast KOL, which aired a Top 40 format. The pair of stations was sold to Buckley Broadcasting in 1967.[2] The station had a progressive rock format from 1968 to 1975, competing with KISW, and starting in 1974, KZOK-FM. In 1975, the station changed its call letters to KEUT, and changed to Beautiful Music.

The station changed to its long-running country format as KMPS-FM on February 1, 1978, with a simulcast of its AM sister station. (KMPS started its life as a country station in 1975, initially on AM 1300.) It was a direct challenger to then-dominant country station KAYO 1150 AM. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, KMPS was the dominant (and sometimes, only) country station in Seattle proper; it would pick up an FM competitor in KKWF in 2005.

EZ Communications bought KMPS-AM-FM from Hercules Broadcasting in 1986.[3] EZ would sell KMPS-AM (now KKOL) to Salem Communications in 1996. In July 1997, EZ would merge with American Radio Systems, with ARS merging with Infinity Broadcasting (owned by CBS) in September of that year. (Infinity would be renamed CBS Radio in December 2005.)

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. KMPS would be retained by the new company, making it a sister station to KKWF, as well as KHTP, KISW and KNDD.[4] To meet ownership limits set by the FCC, sister stations KFNQ, KJAQ and KZOK-FM will be acquired by iHeartMedia.[5] The merger was approved on November 9, and was consummated on the 17th.[6][7] The same day, KMPS switched to all-Christmas music; this led to speculation that the station was planning to switch to a new format after the holiday season. On-air personality Deanna Lee denied that this was the case, and stated that KMPS would remain a country station.[8][9]

However, on December 4, 2017, at 9:12 a.m., KMPS instead flipped to soft adult contemporary as "94.1 The Sound", launching with "Hello" by Lionel Richie. These changes briefly made KKWF the only country station in Seattle, before KVRQ abruptly flipped to the format later in the morning.[10][11][12] The station's call letters were changed to KSWD on December 11, 2017; these calls were previously used by KKLQ, an Entercom station divested during the merger which had also branded itself as "The Sound".[10][13] The KMPS calls were moved to sister station KRAK in Hesperia, California.

On January 16, 2018, John Fisher, former longtime morning host at KMTT, was announced as KSWD's morning host beginning January 22.[14] Ten days later on January 26, it was announced that Seattle resident and nationally-syndicated personality Delilah would become the station's midday host beginning January 29. Alongside her daytime program on weekdays, KSWD also carries her syndicated program on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.[15] The station has since added Smokey Rivers to its afternoon drive.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2015-05-31. HD Radio Guide for Seattle-Tacoma
  2. ↑ Skreen, S.J. (21 March 1967). "Leathernecks Land Again". The Seattle Times. p. 23.
  3. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Mediatrix/Mediatrix-Seattle-1986.pdf
  4. ↑ CBS Radio to Merge with Entercom
  5. ↑ Entercom Trades Boston/Seattle Spin-Offs to iHeartMedia For Richmond/Chattanooga
  6. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  8. ↑ http://www.insideradio.com/free/kmps-christmas-flip-fuels-talk-of-post-holiday-changes/article_0d51bc3c-ce41-11e7-8dbc-339949101329.html
  9. ↑ "KMPS Seattle Goes Christmas". RadioInsight. 2017-11-18. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  10. 1 2 "Entercom Flips KMPS Seattle To Soft AC". RadioInsight. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  11. ↑ "And Then Hubbard Launches Country 98.9 Seattle". RadioInsight. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  12. ↑ "Seattle radio's king of country goes soft rock". seattlepi.com. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  13. ↑ "Call Sign History (KSWD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  14. ↑ "John Fisher Joins 94.1 The Sound Seattle For Mornings". RadioInsight. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  15. ↑ "94.1 The Sound Adds Delilah For Middays". RadioInsight. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  16. ↑ http://www.941thesoundseattle.com/


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