KKWF

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KKWF
KKWF 100.7TheWolf logo.png
CitySeattle, Washington
Broadcast areaSeattle metropolitan area
Branding100.7 The Wolf
Slogan"#1 For Country"
Frequency100.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date1948 (as KIRO-FM)
FormatAnalog/HD1: Country
HD2: Classic country
ERP67,000 watts
68,000 with beam tilt
HAAT707 meters (2,320 ft)
ClassC
Facility ID6367
Callsign meaningK K The WolF
Former callsignsKIRO-FM (1948-1975)[1]
KSEA (1975[1]-1991)[2]
KWMX (1991-1992)[2]
KIRO-FM (1992-1999)[2]
KQBZ (1999-2005)[2]
OwnerEntercom
(Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stationsKHTP, KISW, KNDD, KSWD
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteSeattleWolf.com

KKWF (100.7 MHz "100.7 The Wolf") is a commercial FM radio station in Seattle, Washington. The station is owned by Entercom and it airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle.

KKWF has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 68,000 watts, using beam tilt. The transmitter is located in Issaquah on Tiger Mountain.

History[edit]

KIRO-FM[edit]

The station first signed on in 1948 as KIRO-FM, although not the same station as today's KIRO-FM, which broadcasts on 97.3 MHz.[3] It was owned by the Queen City Broadcasting Company and it simulcasted co-owned AM 710 KIRO. The two stations were CBS Radio Network affiliates, airing its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio." In 1952, KIRO-TV was added on Channel 7, as Seattle's CBS affiliate.

As network programming moved from radio to television, KIRO-AM-FM switched to a full service middle of the road format of pop music, news and sports. In 1963, Queen City Broadcasting, owned by Saul Haas, was sold to Bonneville International, a broadcasting corporation set up by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known as The Mormon Church.[4]

KSEA and KWMX[edit]

In the late 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began requiring FM stations in large cities to stop full time simulcasts of their co-owned AM stations. For a few years, KIRO-FM aired a Progressive Rock format, beginning in 1967. The station flipped to Beautiful Music in 1971, at first keeping the KIRO-FM call sign, and then as KSEA in 1975.

The format gradually evolved from mostly instrumental Beautiful Music to a mix of instrumentals and vocals as easy listening ("Easy 101") in the early 1980s.

In the mid-1980s, as the easy listening audience was aging, KSEA moved to soft adult contemporary music.[5] On February 17, 1989, KSEA shifted to a mainstream adult contemporary format.[6] The station shifted to hot adult contemporary as KWMX ("Mix 101") in April 1991, though this would last for only a short time.[7]

Return to KIRO-FM[edit]

On September 21, 1992, the station returned to a simulcast of then-sister station KIRO. With the change, the KIRO-FM call letters were reinstated.[8] The station broke the simulcast (except for mornings) on July 5, 1994, airing a separately programmed talk format, while retaining the KIRO-FM call sign.

The initial lineup included a simulcast of 710 KIRO's wake-up show in morning drive time (which would be replaced by local comedian Pat Cashman in September), Rick Enloe in late mornings (who would later be replaced by Amy Alpine), Dave Brenner and Dr. Laura Schlessinger's syndicated show in afternoons, Gil Gross (syndicated from San Francisco) in evenings), Leslie Marshall at night (who would later be replaced by Jim Bohannon), along with Bernie Ward and David Essel on weekends.[9]

Hot Talk KQBZ[edit]

On January 6, 1995, the station rebranded as "100.7 The Buzz," and added the syndicated Tom Leykis Show to the lineup.[10] KQBZ was sold by Bonneville to Entercom in March 1997.[11] The station changed its call letters to KQBZ in May 1999, and shifted to hot talk in 2000 with the slogan "Radio For Guys."

During the early 2000s, KQBZ carried Don & Mike in middays and Phil Hendrie in evenings.[12] By November 2005, the station's weekday lineup consisted of local personalities Robin & Maynard (who were previously on KZOK-FM) in mornings, BJ Shea in middays, Tom Leykis in afternoons, The Men's Room in evenings, and John and Jeff and All-Comedy Radio in late nights, with paid and specialty programming on weekends.[13]

The Wolf KKWF[edit]

At 8 a.m. on November 30, 2005, in the middle of "Robin & Maynard", the station began stunting with a countdown clock to Noon the same day. At that time, the station flipped to country as "100.7 The Wolf" with the new call letters KKWF.[14] The first song played on The Wolf was "How Do You Like Me Now?!" by Toby Keith.[15] With the flip, The Men's Room and BJ Shea moved over to sister station KISW. Tom Leykis moved over as well, but on tape delay, from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.[16]

After the flip of longtime country rival KMPS flipped to soft adult contemporary on December 4, 2017, KKWF was the only full-market country music station in the Seattle metropolitan area until KVRQ flipped to the format later that day. (Entercom acquired KMPS as part of a merger with CBS Radio the previous month.) [17][18]

HD radio[edit]

KKWF signed on HD Radio operations in 2006. 100.7 HD 2 carried a comedy radio format simply branded as "All Comedy Radio." The format had been heard overnights when the station was KQBZ.

On June 18, 2011, the signal flipped to Smooth Jazz, filling the void left open by KWJZ when that station flipped to Modern AC on December 27, 2010.

In late February 2012, the Blues format from sister station 103.7 HD2 was bumped to 100.7 HD2, effectively ending the smooth jazz format.

In early June 2018, 100.7-HD2 and 94.1-HD2 swapped formats, with the blues format moving to 94.1-HD2 and the classic country format moving to 100.7-HD2.[19]

External links[edit]


References[edit]

  1. ^ a b History Cards for KKWF, fcc.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  3. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 314
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1964 page B-172
  5. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk1zaPBQnug
  6. ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1989/RR-1989-02-17.pdf
  7. ^ 1991 KWMX TV commercial
  8. ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1992/RR-1992-09-11.pdf
  9. ^ http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?619489-When-did-100-7-go-talk/page2
  10. ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1995/RR-1995-01-13.pdf
  11. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1998 page D-442
  12. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20030602173347/http://thebuzzofseattle.com/programming.asp
  13. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20051104000431/http://www.thebuzzofseattle.com/programming.asp
  14. ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-12-09.pdf
  15. ^ http://formatchange.com/1007-kqbz-becomes-the-wolf-kkwf/
  16. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqrqG7HPm9w
  17. ^ Entercom Flips KMPS Seattle to Soft AC
  18. ^ Hubbard Launches Country 98.9 Seattle
  19. ^ HD Radio Guide for Seattle-Tacoma Archived 2015-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
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