KNBQ
Encyclopedia
KNBQ is a sports talk formatted radio station serving the Seattle
-Tacoma
area. The station is licensed to Centralia, Washington
. It became active in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, KNBQ moved to a taller tower, providing better coverage to become a Seattle-Tacoma market station.
At 7 AM on November 4, 2011
, KNBQ started simulcasting sports talk station KJR (AM), becoming "Sports Radio 950 and 102.9 KJR". The station's calls were not changed because its sister station KJR-FM
, located on 95.7 FM, already has them. This is a similar move made by KFRC-FM
/San Francisco, WCFS-FM/Chicago
, and WSBB-FM/Atlanta after those stations began simulcasting KCBS-AM, WBBM-AM and WSB-AM (respectively) due to their sister stations owning the same calls with the -FM suffix having a different format from the AM counterpart and did not want to transfer them over.
In the 1980s, the call letters KNBQ were on 97.3 (now KIRO-FM), which at the time broadcast a top-40 format and served Tacoma and the South Sound. Famous DJs included Ric Hansen mid-days and Beau "Rockin'" Roberts at night.
This station is now located near downtown Seattle in the Belltown
neighborhood.
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
-Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
area. The station is licensed to Centralia, Washington
Centralia, Washington
Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,336 at the 2010 census.-History:In pioneer days, Centralia was the halfway stopover point for stagecoaches operating between the Columbia River and Seattle. In 1850, J. G. Cochran came from Missouri with his...
. It became active in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, KNBQ moved to a taller tower, providing better coverage to become a Seattle-Tacoma market station.
At 7 AM on November 4, 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...
, KNBQ started simulcasting sports talk station KJR (AM), becoming "Sports Radio 950 and 102.9 KJR". The station's calls were not changed because its sister station KJR-FM
KJR-FM
KJR-FM is a Seattle, Washington,radio station that is broadcasting a classic hits format. It operates at 95.7 MHz at 98 kW, and also on the Internet via streaming audio. KJR-FM is owned by Clear Channel Communications, Inc.- KJR :...
, located on 95.7 FM, already has them. This is a similar move made by KFRC-FM
KFRC-FM
KFRC-FM is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It simulcasts sister station KCBS, which carries an all-news format...
/San Francisco, WCFS-FM/Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and WSBB-FM/Atlanta after those stations began simulcasting KCBS-AM, WBBM-AM and WSB-AM (respectively) due to their sister stations owning the same calls with the -FM suffix having a different format from the AM counterpart and did not want to transfer them over.
History
This station signed on in 1980 as KELA with a country music format. In 1983, the station changed its callsign to KELA-FM, but only held this callsign for less than a month before the calls changed to KMNT. The country music format and KMNT calls were moved to 104.3 FM in 2005. A new country station would be launched after the move; 102.9 would acquire the KNBQ call letters and would be branded as "Q Country 102.9".In the 1980s, the call letters KNBQ were on 97.3 (now KIRO-FM), which at the time broadcast a top-40 format and served Tacoma and the South Sound. Famous DJs included Ric Hansen mid-days and Beau "Rockin'" Roberts at night.
This station is now located near downtown Seattle in the Belltown
Belltown, Seattle, Washington
Belltown is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States, in the 98121 Zip Code, located on the city's downtown waterfront, on land that was artificially flattened as part of a regrading project...
neighborhood.