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| Broadcast area | Seattle-Tacoma Puget Sound region |
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| Frequency | 97.3 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM ("KIRO" pronounced as "Cairo") |
| Programming | |
| Format | News-Talk |
| Subchannels |
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| Network | CBS News Radio |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KIRO (AM), KTTH | |
| History | |
First air date | October 26, 1948; 75 years ago (1948-10-26) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | See KIRO (AM) |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 33682 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 55,000 watts |
| HAAT | 729 meters (2,392 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 47°30′14″N 121°58′29″W / 47.50389°N 121.97472°W / 47.50389; -121.97472 (KIRO-FM Tower) |
| Links | |
Public license information |
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| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kiroradio.com |
KIRO-FM (97.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensedtoTacoma, Washington, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma radio market. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International, a broadcasting company owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The studios and offices are located on Eastlake Avenue East in Seattle's Eastlake district.[4]
KIRO-FM starts weekdays with a news block, hosted by Dave Ross with Colleen O'Brien. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of local talk hosts. At night, nationally syndicated shows are heard, Prime Time with John Dickerson, CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. Weekends feature shows on money, health, food, travel, home repair and veterans, some of which are paid brokered programming. Nights and weekends, an update from CBS News Radio begins most hours.
KIRO-FM's transmitter is on Tiger MountaininIssaquah.[5] Its effective radiated power (ERP) is 55,000 watts.[6] KIRO-FM broadcasts in the HD (digital) radio format.[7] The HD-2 digital subchannel simulcasts co-owned KIRO (710 AM)'s sports radio format. The HD-3 signal airs KTTH (770 AM)'s conservative talk format.
The station was founded as KTNT-FM and was owned by The Tacoma News Tribune. It signed on the air on October 26, 1948; 75 years ago (1948-10-26).[8] The station was powered at 10,000 watts, a fraction of its current output, and exclusively targeted Tacoma and South Puget Sound.
The Tacoma News Tribune added an AM station in 1952, KTNT (1400 kHz, now KITZ); and in 1953, KTNT-TV (channel 11, now KSTW). The call signs for the three stations were derived from the newspaper's initials.
In 1976, the call letters were changed to KNBQ.[9] While the AM station carried a personality adult top 40 sound, the FM station switched to an automated adult contemporary format ("Mellow sounds in contemporary music") branded as "97 KNBQ". In early 1977, that format evolved to an automated music-intensive Top 40 format as "Q-97 FM". That automated Top 40 format shifted over time from using syndicated programming tapes (such as from Drake-Chenault's XT-40 format) to a locally programmed approach, and eventually added live DJs. By 1980, the station was live and local with a full DJ staff and a personality intensive approach. (The KNBQ call letters later were found on FM 102.9 and currently on FM 98.5.)
In the 1980s, the Tacoma News Tribune boosted KNBQ's power to 100,000 watts. The Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to increase the antenna height to 1,480 feet, moving the transmitter to Tiger Mountain. That greatly increased the station's value, now able to compete in the entire Seattle-Tacoma media market. In 1987, KNBQ was sold to the original iteration of Viacom.[10] Viacom kept the Top 40 format but used a "no talking over the music" policy to differentiate KNBQ from other Seattle Top 40 outlets.
On February 1, 1988, the station flipped to an oldies format as "K-Best 97.3". It picked up the KBSG-FM call letters.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] K-Best concentrated on the biggest hits of the 1960s, with some 1970s songs with a few late 1950s hits. As the station moved into the 1990s, the 1970s titles were increased and the 1950s songs were removed.
Entercom bought the station in 1996. For many years, KBSG-FM was simulcast on co-owned KBSG in Auburn (1210 AM, now KMIA). This lasted until 2002, when KBSG flipped to all-news radio (KBSG would later be sold to Bustos Media, which specialized in Spanish language formats). On August 1, 2007, after Entercom traded KBSG, KIRO and KTTHtoBonneville as part of a multi-market station swap. KBSG was rebranded from "KBSG 97.3" to "The New B97.3", and dropped the word "oldies" from the station's title.[18][19] The station's playlist was moved to more 1970s and 80s music, with fewer 60s titles. The format moved from oldies to classic hits.
Exactly one year later, on August 1, 2008, the station's call letters were switched to KIRO-FM.[20]
On August 12, 2008, at 4:23 a.m., the 97.3 frequency began to simulcast co-owned news/talk radio station AM 710 KIRO. The final song on 97.3 as a classic hits station, "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones, faded out as the FM station joined KIRO AM's Wall Street Journal This Morning in progress.[21][22][23][24][25][26]
On April 1, 2009, KIRO-FM became the primary station as the simulcasting on KIRO (AM) came to an end. It marked the completion of the station's transition to the FM frequency that began in August 2008.[27] KIRO (AM) is now a sports talk station, branded as "710 ESPN Seattle".
Also moved from KIRO to KIRO-FM were the NFL broadcasts of the Seattle Seahawks Radio Network (later named the Bing Radio Network and the American Family Insurance Radio Network, currently the Delta Air Lines Seahawks Radio Network). KIRO-FM is now the flagship station for the team's play-by-play and the pre- and post-game shows. The Seahawks had been heard on KIRO (AM) since the NFL franchise was launched in 1976.
Towers: 47°30′14″N 121°58′29″W / 47.50389°N 121.97472°W / 47.50389; -121.97472 (KIRO-FM Tower), on Tiger Mountain
Headquarters: 47°38′8″N 122°19′29″W / 47.63556°N 122.32472°W / 47.63556; -122.32472 (KIRO studios), Seattle, Washington on the shores of Lake Union
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News/Talk radio stations in the state of Washington
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