Radio station in Cave Creek, Arizona
KFNX
(1100
kHz
) is a
commercial
AM
radio station
licensed
to
Cave Creek, Arizona
, and serving the
Phoenix metropolitan area
. It airs a
talk radio
format
and is owned by Futures and Options, Inc., headed by William J. Brady.
By day, KFNX is powered at 50,000
watts
, the maximum for commercial AM stations. But
1100 AM
is a
clear channel frequency
. So to avoid interference to other stations, KFNX reduces power at night to 1,000 watts. It uses a
directional antenna
with a three-
tower array
. The
transmitter
is on East Carefree Highway in the Desert View Village neighborhood of Phoenix.
[1]
Programming
[
edit
]
Most programs on KFNX are
nationally syndicated
. Weekdays begin with
America in the Morning
followed by
Brian Kilmeade and Friends
,
The Dan Bongino Show
, Markley Van Camp & Robbins, The Bill Brady Show,
The Joe Pags Show
and
Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb
.
Weekends feature some specialty and
brokered programs
. Syndicated weekend programs include
Armstrong & Getty
,
The Weekend with Michael Brown
,
The Takeaway with Major Garrett
,
The Guy Benson Show
,
The CBS Weekend News Roundup
,
CBS Eye on Travel with Peter Greenberg
and
Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger
. KFNX is also the Phoenix market's broadcaster for
University of Arizona Wildcats
football and basketball.
[2]
KFNX was voted one of the top ten radio stations in Arizona by
Ranking Arizona
. Most hours begin with an update from
CBS Radio News
and local news from the KFNX newsroom. It also features traffic reports and local weather forecasts with former
KTVK
weatherman and former
Arizona Lottery
drawing host Jim Howl.
[3]
History
[
edit
]
The station was originally proposed by Peter V. Gureckis of
Rockville, Maryland
, doing business as Cave Creek Broadcasting Company.
[4]
A
construction permit
was awarded to Gureckis by the
Federal Communications Commission
on June 4, 1991. The
KCCF
call sign
was granted on July 12, 1991.
Gureckis enlisted Phoenix broadcast executive Ray Cox to build and sign on the station, with the target format of
adult standards
.
[5]
After six years of delays in securing a transmitter site, KCCF signed on June 27, 1997, with a full-service
middle of the road
format helmed by veteran DJ Bill Heywood instead of the adult standards/big band format Cox originally wanted.
[6]
Being a new music station on the AM dial was an uphill battle for KCCF, especially when most music formats had shifted to FM by 1997. They did not show up in the
Arbitron
ratings. Gureckis sold his stake in KCCF in early 1998 to Broadcast Development, LLC (partially owned by Cox), but that ownership wouldn't last long.
On June 8, 1998, Cox sold KCCF for $5.5 million to North American Broadcasting Company, headed by Francis Battaglia,
[7]
who promptly changed the format to brokered talk as a part-time simulcast of Battaglia's existing station,
WALE
in
Providence, Rhode Island
. On August 3, 1998, the station changed to the current call sign, KFNX.
[8]
In 2004, new general manager Mike Barna reduced the amount of brokered hours and added more local hosts.
[9]
Barna left the station within a year, and later became owner of
classic country
station
KSWG
in
Wickenburg
. The station shifted back to a format of syndicated and brokered talk.
In 2005, after years of operating in
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
, Battaglia sold a majority stake in KFNX to Lyle Campbell, reorganizing North American into Premier Radio Stations, LLC (not related to
iHeartMedia
-owned
Premiere Networks
). The format was not changed, and Battaglia still ran the station. Campbell filed for personal
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
, and in 2017, control of the station was reverted to a trustee.
On June 14, 2019, the bankruptcy trustee sold KFNX to Futures and Options, Inc., headed by William Brady of
Jupiter, Florida
, pending FCC and bankruptcy court approval.
[10]
Futures and Options closed on its deal on November 5 of the same year. Futures and Options is now the sole owner and operator. Soon afterward, KFNX affiliated with CBS News Radio and began featuring its top-of-the-hour news updates as well as audio rebroadcasts of
Face the Nation
and
60 Minutes
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Radio-Locator.com/KFNX
- ^
"Prime Time Hosts"
. KFNX
. Retrieved
November 16,
2015
.
- ^
"About KFNX"
. KFNX
. Retrieved
October 2,
2013
.
- ^
"New Stations: Actions"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting Magazine
. February 28, 1988. p. 70
. Retrieved
June 25,
2019
.
- ^
Newberg, Julie (January 25, 1992).
"KNNS finds niche with format change, offering news, sports"
.
Arizona Republic
. p. C7
. Retrieved
June 25,
2019
.
- ^
Van Dyke, Charlie (June 28, 1997).
"1 man's dream: KCCF finally hits Valley's AM band"
.
Arizona Republic
. p. D9
. Retrieved
June 25,
2019
.
- ^
"Changing Hands"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. June 15, 1998. p. 69
. Retrieved
June 25,
2019
.
- ^
"KFNX Call Sign History"
.
United States
Federal Communications Commission
, audio division
.
- ^
"KFNX Web Site: Program Schedule"
.
Internet Archive
. June 4, 2004. Archived from
the original
on June 4, 2004
. Retrieved
June 25,
2019
.
- ^
"Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction or License"
.
United States
Federal Communications Commission
, audio division
.
External links
[
edit
]