Radio station in Tacoma, Washington
KYFQ
(91.7
MHz
) is a
non-commercial
FM
radio station
licensed
to
Tacoma
,
Washington
, and serving the
Seattle-Tacoma
radio market
. The station is owned by
Bible Broadcasting Network
, Inc. It airs a
Christian talk and teaching
radio format
.
National religious leaders heard on KYFQ include
Chuck Swindoll
,
Adrian Rogers
and
Joni Eareckson Tada
. Some news and programming is provided by the
Salem Radio Network
(SRN).
History
[
edit
]
Tacoma School District
[
edit
]
In 1949, the station first
signed on
as
KTOY
.
[3]
It was owned by the
Tacoma School District
and had its studios at its vocational school, which became
Bates Technical College
in 1991. During the day it was operated by Bates broadcasting students studying under former
KJR
DJ
Lee Perkins. It was powered at 3,500 watts, enough to cover Tacoma and adjacent communities but not the larger Seattle radio market.
From 1978 to 1984, KTOY aired educational programs during the day, with
Top 40
hits in the afternoon and evening. Starting at midnight on Friday and lasting until 6:00 p.m. Sunday, KTOY broadcast
hip hop music
and
urban contemporary
under the slogan "Giving You The Music of Tomorrow, Today." During 1983-1984, the late night hip-hop program's slogan was "R&B's best in the Pacific Northwest." By 1985, the urban format was no longer the entire weekend.
In the 1980s, the power was increased to 7,900 watts. The station changed its
call sign
to
KTPS-FM
for Tacoma Park Schools, in 1986.
[4]
Then in 1992, the call letters were switched to
KBTC
for Bates Technical College. The station only played hip-hop and urban music on Sunday for two hours in the form of a top 20 countdown.
Public Radio Capital
[
edit
]
KBTC was sold to Public Radio Capital, which then leased the frequency to the
University of Washington
's college station, 90.3
KEXP
. KEXP wanted to extend its signal into the South Sound. So it
simulcast
its regular
alternative rock
programming on 91.7, changing its call letters to
KXOT
.
On November 3, 2005, KEXP announced it was terminating operation on KXOT at the end of the calendar year due to a financial crunch. However, KEXP continued to simulcast on KXOT into 2006 while Public Radio Capital decided what to do with 91.7. On May 24, 2006,
NPR
network affiliate
94.9
KUOW-FM
announced it signed a new lease with PRC. KXOT returned to the air, run by KUOW-FM, but airing alternate programming as KUOW-2, in August 2006.
On May 15, 2012, PRC announced that it would drop its KUOW-2 programming on 91.7 on June 29. However, this was delayed until July 2. The station went
silent
at midnight on that day, as the station was awaiting a new programming provider.
[5]
On January 7, 2013, the station returned to the air, from a new transmitter site on
Gold Mountain
, coupled with an increase in power to 23,000 watts. The station aired the audio from Washington State's public affairs government television channel
TVW
.
Bible Broadcasting Network
[
edit
]
The
Bible Broadcasting Network
announced on February 4, 2015, that it would purchase KXOT from PRC for $2.4 million.
[6]
PRC then took the station
off-the-air
until the completion of the sale.
[7]
Upon taking control on May 13, BBN relaunched the station as
KYFQ
.
[8]
The station began running BBN's schedule of
Christian talk and teaching
programs.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
History Cards for KYFQ
, fcc.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Call Sign History
, fcc.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^
Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page A-249
- ^
Broadcasting Yearbook 1988 page B-303
- ^
"KXOT Tacoma To Drop KUOW2 Programming ? RadioInsight"
.
- ^
"Bible Broadcasting Network Acquires KXOT/Seattle"
.
Radio Online
. February 4, 2015
. Retrieved
April 7,
2015
.
- ^
"Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA"
.
CDBS Public Access
.
Federal Communications Commission
. February 13, 2015
. Retrieved
April 7,
2015
.
- ^
"Media Bureau Call Sign Actions"
(PDF)
.
Federal Communications Commission
. April 7, 2015
. Retrieved
April 7,
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
Religious radio stations in the state of
Washington
|
---|
Stations
| |
---|
Defunct
| |
---|
|
47°32′53″N
122°48′22″W
/
47.54806°N 122.80611°W
/
47.54806; -122.80611