KING-FM
47°30′14″N 121°58′34″W / 47.504°N 121.976°W / 47.504; -121.976
- Public file
- LMS
KING-FM (98.1 MHz; "Classical KING") is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Classic Radio, a nonprofit organization.[2] The studios and offices are on Mercer St in Seattle.[3] KING-FM holds periodic on-air fundraisers to help support the station through listener contributions.
KING-FM's transmitter is located in Issaquah on Tiger Mountain.[4] Its effective radiated power (ERP) is 66,000 watts (68,000 with beam tilt). KING-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio format, using two subchannels for alternate classical programming.[5]
History
Early years
The station that today is KING-FM first signed on the air in December 1947, originally at 94.9 MHz.[6] It was owned by King Broadcasting, whose co-owner and president was Dorothy Bullitt. The year before, Bullitt had purchased KEVR (1090 AM) and changed it to KING (now KPTR).[7][8] (Seattle is located in King County, for which its call letters were chosen.)
In 1949, King Broadcasting bought 98.1 KRSC-FM, which had gone on the air in February 1947 under different ownership.[7] KING-FM moved from 94.9 to 98.1 MHz, replacing KRSC-FM. The 94.9 transmitter was donated to Edison Vocational School, which used it to broadcast educational programming on that frequency. In 1958, the 94.9 frequency was taken over by KUOW-FM, owned by the University of Washington, and now a public news-talk station affiliated with NPR.
Concurrent with the purchase of KRSC-FM, King Broadcasting also acquired KRSC-TV (channel 5), which had signed on the previous year. The call letters were changed to KING-TV.[9] The three stations, KING-AM-FM-TV, had their studios and offices at 320 Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.
Switch to classical music
At first, KING-FM simulcast its AM counterpart. Over time, it began airing classical programs separate from the AM station, and by the late 1960s, it was exclusively a classical outlet, a format that has continued to be broadcast on the station since.
During the late 1970s, KING-FM carried syndicated concert broadcasts by the Philadelphia Orchestra, usually under direction of Eugene Ormandy, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony. Many of the syndicated concert programs featured well-known instrumentalists and conductors performing works which they never recorded commercially - e.g. Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic in a highly memorable 1976 reading of Bruckner's Sixth Symphony in A major.
In the mid-1970s, KING-FM's schedule also included specialized programs showcasing Quadraphonic LP recordings and historical recordings. In 1983, KING-FM was the first station in the Seattle area to utilize compact disc (CD) technology for its recordings.[citation needed]
Sale to non-profit group
In 1992, King Broadcasting was acquired by the parent company of The Providence Journal, a Rhode Island publishing and broadcasting company. While the new ownership wanted the TV station, the radio stations were sold to Classic Radio for $9.75 million.[10] The AM station was, in turn, sold to EZ Communications. KING-FM was run by a non-profit partnership, consisting of the Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, and the Arts Fund. Although KING-FM was owned by a non-profit entity, the station continued to operate for a time on a commercial basis, selling advertising as before. Even after the sale, the radio station was co-located with KING-TV for several more years.
Many radio transmitters in the Seattle-Tacoma radio market were moved to surrounding mountains for better reception in Seattle's hilly topography.[11] In 1993, KING-FM relocated its transmitter from Seattle's Queen Anne Hill to Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. A backup transmitter was on nearby Cougar Mountain.[12] This higher-elevation transmitter location provided a significant improvement in KING-FM's reception quality in its listener area. KING-FM also began broadcasting its programming online, becoming one of the first internet radio stations, streamed by RealNetworks c. 1995.[13]
Switch to public radio
On March 23, 2010, KING-FM announced that it would transition to a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio station in July 2011, citing reduced advertising revenue.[14] Several other commercial classical radio stations have made similar transitions to public radio status, including WQXR-FM in New York City, WCRB in Boston and KDFC in San Francisco. Successful fundraising efforts led KING-FM to announce on April 7, 2011, that the transition would instead take place on May 2, two months ahead of schedule.[15]
In 2011, KING-FM made the successful transition from a commercial to a non-commercial public radio station. As a listener-supported station, KING-FM has added new programming and added two additional channels of classical music using HD Radio technology. KING-FM is one a handful of non-commercial FM radio stations to broadcast outside the standard band for FM stations of its type (88-92 MHz; it is also one of two such stations in the Seattle market alongside KUOW-FM).
The station relocated its recording studio and offices to the Seattle Opera's Seattle Center building in 2020.[16] In 2022, KING-FM renamed itself Classical KING and changed its logo as a means of reducing perceived elitism.[17] The following year, Classical KING redesigned its website to improve accessibility.[18]
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KING-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Data". transition.fcc.gov. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
- ^ "Classical KING contact-us". Classical KING. ClassicalKING.org. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
- ^ "Radio-Locator KING-FM". Radio-locator.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ "HD Radio station guide for Seattle–Tacoma, WA". Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015. HD Radio Guide for Seattle-Tacoma
- ^ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1949" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1949. p. 315. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ a b Blecha, Peter (March 6, 2010). "KRSC: Seattle's Radio and TV Pioneers". HistoryLink. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
- ^ Duncan, Don (August 22, 1990). "Pioneers In Broadcasting". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
- ^ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1950" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1950. p. 314. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ "Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1994 page B-399" (PDF). Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ Bill Virgin (December 26, 2007). "On Radio: Keep experimenting to get better reception". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- ^ Irwin, Doug (November 2013), "Build better backups", Radio, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 14, 16–21, 24
- ^ Melinda Bargreen (November 30, 2003). "Behind the Scenes ; KING-FM streaming audio guru / Bryan Lowe". The Seattle Times. p. K1. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
KING-FM ... one of the first radio stations to broadcast live over the Internet...almost eight years ago when the station was chosen by Seattle-based RealNetworks
- ^ "Classic-music KING FM to rely on listeners". Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals. March 23, 2010. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
- ^ Rolph, Amy (April 7, 2011). "KING FM will become listener-supported sooner than thought". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- ^ Connelly, Joel (June 18, 2019). "Cohabitation in the arts: KING-FM will move in with Seattle Opera". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ "Classical-KING Rebranding". Classical KING. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ^ "An Amazing Team brought you this Website". August 4, 2023. Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
External links
- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 11755 (KING-FM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- KING-FM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- v
- t
- e
LPFM | |
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Translators |
frequency
by frequency & subchannel
- 88.5-1
- 88.5-2
- 89.5-1
- 89.9-1
- 89.9-2
- 90.3-1
- 91.3-1
- 92.5-1
- 93.3-1
- 93.3-2
- 94.1-1
- 94.1-2
- 94.9-1
- 95.7-1
- 95.7-2
- 95.7-3
- 96.5-1
- 96.5-2
- 96.5-3
- 97.3-1
- 97.3-2
- 97.3-3
- 98.1-1
- 98.1-2
- 98.1-3
- 98.9-1
- 98.9-2
- 99.9-1
- 99.9-2
- 100.7-1
- 100.7-2
- 102.5-1
- 102.5-2
- 102.9-1
- 103.7-1
- 103.7-2
- 104.1-1
- 104.9-1
- 105.3-1
- 105.3-2
- 105.3-3
- 106.1-1
- 106.1-2
- 106.9-1
- 106.9-2
- 106.9-3
- 107.7-1
- 107.7-2
- K201EN
- K205DF
- K206CJ
- K206DM
- K207AP
- K207AZ
- K209FO
- K209FQ
- K211FH
- K212GL
- K221FJ
- K221FR
- K233BU
- K237GN
- K249DX
- K253CG
- K262CX
- K266CJ
- K271BS
- K277AE
- K281CI
- K281CQ
- K289AK
- K289BZ
- K293AY
- K297BD
- KAPY-LP
- KARR
- KASB
- KBCS
- KBFG-LP
- KBKS-FM
- KBLE
- KBRO
- KCIS
- KCMS
- KCSC-LP
- KDDS-FM
- KEXP-FM
- KGHP
- KGNW
- KGRG
- KGRG-FM
- HD2
- KHB60
- KHHO
- KHTP
- KHUH-LP
- KING-FM
- HD2
- HD3
- KIRO
- KIRO-FM
- KISW
- KITZ
- KIXI
- KJAQ
- KJEB
- KJR
- KJR-FM
- KKDZ
- KKMO
- KKNW
- KKOL
- KKWF
- KKXA
- KLAY
- KLFE
- KLSW
- KLSY
- KMGP-LP
- KMIA
- KMIH
- KNCL518
- KNDD
- KNHC
- KNKX
- KNTB
- KNTS
- KNWN
- KODX-LP
- KPLZ-FM
- KPNW-FM
- KPTR
- KQES-LP
- KQMV
- KQWZ-LP
- KQXI
- KRIZ
- KRKO
- KRWM
- KSER
- KSUH
- KSWD
- HD2
- KTAH-LP
- KTDD
- KTQA-LP
- KTTH
- KUCP-LP
- KUOW-FM
- KUPS
- KVI
- KVRU-LP
- KVSH-LP
- KVTI
- KWJZ-LP
- KWYZ
- KXIR
- KXPA
- KXSU-LP
- KXXO
- KYFQ
- KYIZ
- KZIZ
- KZOK-FM
- KZTM
- WWG24
- WXM62
- KDXB-LP
- KFC
- KKZU
- KNLI-LP
- Nearby regions
- Longview-Kelso
- Northwest Washington
- Olympia-Centralia
- Portland
- Wenatchee
- Yakima
- See also
- List of radio stations in Washington
- Notes
- 1. Travelers' information station for WSDOT.