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| Broadcast area | Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| Frequency | 100.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 100.3 KFAN: The Fan |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Subchannels | HD2:KTLKsimulcast (Conservative talk) |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1965 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "The Fan" (the "X" substitutes for the "A"; the KFAN-FM calls were unavailable due to their use ona station in Texas) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 54458 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 281 meters (922 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kfan.iheart.com |
KFXN-FM (100.3MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed toMinneapolis, Minnesota, broadcasting asports talkformat. The station is owned byiHeartMedia, and serves theTwin Cities market. KFXN-FM's transmitter is located in the suburb ofShoreview onKMSP-TV's tower. Itseffective radiated power is 100,000 watts (includingbeam tilt). The station's main studios are inSt. Louis Park.
KFXN-FM is theflagship station of theMinnesota Lynx,Minnesota Timberwolves,Minnesota Vikings,Minnesota Wild, andMinnesota Golden Gophers football.
At midnight on August 15, 2011, iHeartMedia (then known as Clear Channel Communications) swapped the formats ofKFAN (1130AM), and 100.3 FM's former conservativenews/talk format KTLK-FM. The new KFXN-FM call sign, shared with former AMsister station KFXN, was adopted the same day.
The station started broadcasting in1965 asWCTS, with a non-commercialChristian format, consisting of mostly Bible teachings, by the Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis. WCTS took its call letters from its owner - the Central Theological Seminary. WCTS continues broadcasting on 1030 AM.
Startup company Colfax Communications purchased WCTS-FM for $10 million in early1993.[citation needed] Part of the deal was that they needed to find an AM station for the Seminary to purchase in order to continue the format, which they did when they struck a deal to buyWMIN. Around the same time, Colfax took advantage of recently relaxedFederal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and became the Twin Cities market's firstduopoly when they purchasedKQQL to partner with the new station.[2] Once WCTS switched frequencies in January, Colfax took the FM station off the air for a few months, eventually signing back on in late April with a two-week long comedy format as astunt to create a buzz about the new station, with the permanentcountry music format debuting at 5 a.m. on May 13 as WBOB-FM ("Bob 100").[3][4][5] The slogan was "Turn your knob to Bob". WBOB faced stiff competition from the long establishedK102 and upstartKJJO-FM, which had switched to country only a few months prior. Despite this, WBOB was consistently the second highest-rated country station in the market behind K102, even finishing ahead of them in a few books. However, when KJJO left the format in 1995, it allowed K102 to aim their guns directly at Bob, a battle 100.3 soon lost swiftly.
In1996, both WBOB and KQQL were sold to Chancellor Broadcasting, which also owned KEEY,KFAN,KDWB,KTCZ andKTCJ. A format change for WBOB was expected, and on April 15, 1997, at 1:03 p.m., after an hour ofstunting, WBOB became WRQC, broadcasting anactive rock format withHoward Stern in the morning. WRQC took to the air asReal Rock 100, and thenRock 100.3.[6][7]
Stern's show was a mild success in the market, but consistently finished second or third in the ratings, while only taking away a smaller than expected number of listeners fromKQRS andTom Barnard. In addition, like many other Stern affiliates, ratings for the station the rest of the day were poor, and not helped by KQRS' owners flipping its sister station,KEGE, to a similar hard rock format in 1997.
WRQC and Stern left the Twin Cities airwaves at 10:30 a.m. on August 3, 1999, as the station began stunting by simulcasting co-ownedKFAN (a harbinger of its future format), followed by simulcasts of cross-country sister stationsKKSF in San Francisco,WTJM in New York City, andWUBT in Chicago.[8] When the new format debuted at 3 p.m. on August 5, the format was 1970s-eraclassic hits, which eventually went to full-blown classic hits, asClassic Hits 100.3 WLOL. The first song after the relaunch was "The Bitch is Back" byElton John.[9][10] Although ratings were decent initially, the station's overall performance was disappointing.
During its period as WLOL, the station owners, Chancellor Broadcasting, merged with Capstar Broadcasting to form AMFM Inc., which was absorbed into Clear Channel Communications (now its current owners,iHeartMedia) the next year.
On June 19, 2003, at noon, following a goodbye show, 100.3 changed tosmooth jazz asSmooth Jazz 100.3 with new matching call letters KJZI. The last song on WLOL was "Tomorrow Never Knows" byThe Beatles, while the first song on KJZI wasSmooth Operator bySade. This was the first smooth jazz station in the Twin Cities sinceKMJZ switched tomodern AC in1998.[11]
Whenpublic broadcasterKBEM-FM, anotherjazz station, found itself in financial straits in early2005, Clear Channel donated $25,000 to help keep it operating. KJZI and its sister stationKTCZ carried announcements requesting support for KBEM-FM.[12] The generous move was lauded by many in the media.[13]
While satisfied with smooth jazz, Clear Channel was even more interested in launching anews/talk station in the Twin Cities, in order to air programming from company-ownedPremiere Radio Networks andFox News Radio. Having no available AM stations in the market on which they could run a news/talk format — (KFAN was already highly successful with their sports/talk format, and daytimerKFXN possessed too weak a signal), Clear Channel decided to put a talk format on one of their FM signals. The company had success with the introduction of news/talk on one of theirPittsburgh FM stations,WPGB, and was launching FM News/Talk in other markets. Since their other Twin Cities FM stations (KDWB-FM,KEEY-FM,KTCZ-FM, andKQQL) were already entrenched, management decided KJZI was the most expendable.
On January 2, 2006, KJZI switched to news/talk with new KTLK call letters, becoming the second FM talk station in the area after women-orientedWFMP. The station obtained the market rights toRush Limbaugh and laterSean Hannity's radio programs from KSTP. A mix of local and syndicated hosts such asGlenn Beck andLaura Ingraham filled out the rest of KTLK's schedule, including former KSTP hostJason Lewis and paranormal talk showDarkness Radio. The station had also resumed carrying Vikings football.
Clear Channel also owned an AM news/talk station in Los Angeles, California, that used theKTLK call sign. The LA station becameKEIB on January 2, 2014, after which Clear Channel reassigned KTLK to what was known asKTCN.
In the spring of 2008, former KTLK news director, Jeff Monosso, was honored with Congressional recognition for his reporting on the35W Bridge collapse. He and host, Jason Lewis, were also honored by the Minnesota Associated Press for best spot news coverage.
On August 8, 2011, Clear Channel announced a two-way frequency swap that moved KTLK-FM's talk format to 1130 AM and a translator at 103.5 FM, while KFAN's Sports Talk format would move to 100.3 FM. The swap took effect on August 15, 2011. The low-power signal at 103.5 FM and the HD2 subchannel at 100.3 FM both underwent the same format swap as did 1130 AM. There were plans to simulcast the talk station's signal on FM translator 103.5 FM, but this had been delayed while seeking FCC approval.[14] KTLK can currently be heard on translator K278BP (103.5 FM).
On September 27, 2023, theMinnesota Timberwolves andLynx announced that KFXN-FM would become the broadcast radio home for both franchises. Every game would be aired on the iHeartRadio app, while select Timberwolves games and the majority of Lynx games would air on KFXN-FM. The Timberwolves had aired on the AM KFAN signal from 1991 to 2011, when they moved toWCCO.[15]
According to the MinneapolisStar-Tribune, KFAN in 2006 "...has morphed from a sports-talk station to a talk station that sometimes discusses sports".[16]
The Power Trip Morning Show is hosted by Cory Cove,Chris Hawkey and Paul "Meatsauce" Lambert. Frequent guests on the show include FormerWCCO-TV sports anchor Mark Rosen, former Minnesota Vikings linebackerBen Leber, former Minnesota Wild playerMark Parrish, former Minnesota State Representative and wounded military veteranJohn Kriesel, Twins GeekJohn Bonnes, FanDuel Sports North reporterMarney Gellner, Zach Halverson, Max Fuller, andCarly Zucker.
92Noon is hosted byPaul Allen. Allen is the voice of theMinnesota Vikings Radio Network andCanterbury Park.
The Common Man Progrum is hosted by "The Common Man" Dan Cole and bridge producer Brandon Mileski. The show features a mix of sports and political discussions on the local and national level.WCCO-TV sports anchor Mark Rosen makes regular appearances on The Progrum Monday thru Thursday.
Bumper to Bumper is hosted byDan Barreiro and sidekick/producer fan Justin Gaard. The show consists of Barreiro's insights on both popular culture and sports.Bumper to Bumper also features satirical call-in segments with eccentricGreen Bay Packers fanCarl Gerbschmidt, who appears to be a fictional character.[17]
FAN Outdoors: Thursdays 6-8 PM, hosted by "The Captain" Billy Hildebrand and "Cold front" Mike Curry and Saturdays 6-8 AM by Hildebrand andPheasants Forever member Bob St. Pierre. The hosts typically share their hunting and fishing experiences and strategies, along with insights on outdoor issues. One of the main weekly guests is local Minnesotan professional angler and fisher "Tackle" Terry Tuma, who gives weekly updates on where he is fishing and on how the waters are, fishing strategies including baiting and lures, and overall fishing banter. A sometimes weekly but mainly bi-weekly guest is naturalist, author, wildlife photographer and animal/bird professionalStan Tekiela. Tekiela provides deep and thorough analysis and information on current bird information such as feeding, nesting, breeding, behavior, migration and hatching of all the different bird species, as well as different animals around. Other guests usually include experts/professionals that relate to the current seasons (e.g. around/on spring fishing opener, they have fishing intensive guests).
In the Zone: Saturdays 8-10 AM, hosted by Dave Sinykin and formerNBA playerTrent Tucker.
Minnesota Viking Broadcast: Pregame coverage of Vikings games starts two hours before the day's Vikings game. Pregame was usually hosted by "Mr. Phunn" Joe Anderson; however, Anderson was let go sometime before 2009 and K102KEEY-FM's Mike "Muss" Mussman took over the duties of pregame coverage. KFAN's Vikings broadcast team consists of Paul Allen on play-by-play, and color commentary done by former Viking Linebacker and Assistant CoachPete Bercich. Sideline insight is brought to the game by former Viking LinebackerBen Leber. The halftime report is hosted by Mike Mussman. The postgame report is also hosted by Mussman and includes interviews with multiple Vikings players and coaching staff.
Viking Fan Line: Starts right after the Vikings post-game report and lasts about two hours. FormerNFL Wide ReceiverRon Johnson and morning show host Cory Cove take fan post-game reaction and provide their commentary on the game and the fans reactions. Prior to the 2016 season, former Vikings linebackerBen Leber hosted the program along with Cove, and former Vikings linebackerE.J. Henderson would fill Ben Leber's seat when he was unavailable. Prior to Ben Leber, previous Vikingslong snapperMike Morris was the usual co-host. Other former Vikings have guest co-hosted the show in the past.
"Vikings Overtime" is the same format as Fan Line but hosted by 'Meatsauce' Paul Lambert from The PowerTrip Morning Show. Runs to provide content between fan line and the Sunday night football coverage on weeks where Vikings play the late game or the Sunday/Monday/Thursday night game the show is omitted.
Packer Preview: Sundays 8am-9am during theGreen Bay Packers season, hosted by Dave Sinykin. The Preview examines the day's Packers game. Packer Preview is the only Packers show on KFAN and is very, very controversial among Viking fans. The show remains on air, however.
Fantasy Football Weekly: Saturdays during the football season and syndicated to otheriHeartRadio sports stations around the country. Hosted by Paul Charchian since 1994. Former co-hosts include John Tuvey, Christian Peterson, and Bo Mitchell. The current hosts are Mat Harrison, Brian Johnson and Scott Fish. Typical shows will offer advice and predictions for almost 200 players each week. Fantasy football questions are answered on this show, primarily during "Lightning Round" at the end of the show. Other recurring segments include "Take a Chance on Me" and "Five Tough Questions". Callers are known to call a couple of hours before the show is on-air to be put on hold. During the MN Golden Gophers football season, show is usually moved to the 6-8 AM Slot or the 8-10 AM Slot.
Saturdays with Sauce: Saturdays 12–2. Hosted by The Power Trip Morning Show's Paul "Meatsauce" Lambert along with Eric "Nordo" Nordquist from noon to two, (but special shows such as NFL draft coverage shows, Vikings training camp specials, etc. can go over the normal time slot) on Saturday afternoons. Saturdays with Sauce also airs on other days for aforementioned reasons (Vikings training camp, etc.). During MN Golden Gophers Football season, is usually usurped. However, they will sometimes host MN Gophers fan line (MN Gophers whine line)
Tee to Green: Saturdays. Golf related show hosted by Dan Cole during the summer months, talks all things golf related with co-host and master teaching professional Craig Waryn. Also regular co-host is "Ping Guy" Paul Peterson.
Fox Sports Radio: The programming that is on when none of the programs above are on the air. Fox Sports Radio programming on KFAN includesThe Ben Maller Show and multiple weekend shows. Fox Sports Radio is usually heard weeknights 9 P.M. to 5:30 A.M. and weekends when local programming or sports events are not happening.
Infinity Sports Network: The programming that can also be heard during the weekends (weekends only) in addition to Fox Sports Radio. The rotation is usually a pre-determined schedule but can be subject to change at any given time. Infinity joined KFAN's lineup sometime around the end of 2018/beginning of 2019 (under its former name, CBS Sports Radio) whenNBC Sports Radio programming was removed and replaced by the former. At first there was more Infinity than Fox Sports Radio, but the rotation has since evened out, if not returned to more Fox Sports Radio.
Vikings Live/Vikings Country: Thursdays [usually] - almost always begins with Paul Allen (play-by-play voice of the Minnesota Vikings and host of the 9-noon weekday show) interviewing the Minnesota Vikings head coach (currently Kevin O'Conell) and other Vikings' coaching staff at Winter Park. Vikings Country live is usually right after; it usually takes place at Sky Deck Sports Grille & Lanes at the Mall of America. The second segment contains "The Scouting Report" where they discuss the previous football week/Vikings game as well as the upcoming week.
Minnesota Wild Broadcast: KFAN FM 100.3 is the official flagship home of the Minnesota Wild. Since the 2011-12 NHL season, KFAN has broadcast all Wild preseason, regular season and Stanley Cup Playoff games on the State of Hockey's top-rated sports talk station. Bob Kurtz (play-by-play), Tom Reid (analyst) and Kevin Falness (studio host) capture all of the action and suspense. Coverage begins with a 15-minute pre-game show. Conflicting games are moved to KOOL 108 FM. Additional Wild-related programming on KFAN features the “Wild Weekly” show and “Wild Fanline,” which airs after select Wild games.[18]
Beyond The Pond: Hockey related show during the winter months. Hosted by former Minnesota Wild and Minnesota GopherJordan Leopold and former Minnesota GopherPat Micheletti, and Common Man Progrum bridge producer Brandon Mileski. Former Golden Gopher Nate Miller was a co-host until 2016, departing the show for other ventures. Kevin Falness is a typical fill-in when any of the hosts cannot be on-air. In the off-season, show is re-branded/re-titled "Beyond the Pod," correlating with the fact that it is only an all-podcast/podcast exclusive show.
Sunday Sermons: Hosted by Dan Barreiro. Short version of Bumper to Bumper, with KFAN former intern and weekend producer Ryan Donaldson. Show typically recaps past week and provides coverage of weekend events. During the Minnesota Vikings season, it is typically shortened to 1 hour (except in case of scheduled Sunday Night, Monday Night, Thursday Night games), generally providing in-depth and heavy analysis to the week's game ("pre-game to the pre-game")
Rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves broadcasts were lost in 2006. KFAN had held these rights since the Wolves' inaugural season in 1989. The Wolves returned to KFAN beginning in the 2008–09 season, until the 2010–11 season, when the team moved toWCCO (AM).Video Games Weekly: was on Tuesday evenings hosted by Paul Charchian, who discussed new video games for many different platforms. The show was co-hosted by staff members ofGame Informer Magazine, typically Managing Editor Andrew Reiner.Game Informer, owned byGameStop Corporation, is a monthly magazine based out of Minneapolis. Cory Cove sometimes joined to talk about games. Charchian joined fellow radio cohorts on "Saturdays with Sauce" when they have their annual Video Game bracket/tournament.
It opened in 2004 and closed in 2005. The food services were managed by Grand Management, which operates a chain of Sidney's restaurants in the Twin Cities. Clear Channel Communications considered it to be a pilot project and may have tried to create similar restaurants across the country if it succeeded. In September 2005, the KFAN name was dropped and the restaurant became known as the Big City Tavern. In July 2006, Big City Tavern closed. The restaurant was taken over by Major's Sports Cafe in September 2006, then changed owners again in 2008 to the Roseville location of Grumpy's Bar & Grill.
KFXN, also known as "Score 690", was KFAN's sister station and aired a complementary sports talk format from 1998 until September 2011. Prior to being donated to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, the station aired mostly syndicated shows fromFox Sports andESPN Radio, in addition to theDan Patrick Show and theJim Rome Show. For a time, KFXN also aired repeats of KFAN's local shows.
With the divestiture and format change of KFXN, Clear Channel moved the sports format of "The Score" to theHD2 subchannel ofKQQL, with plans to eventually air it on translator K278BP (103.5 FM).
| Location | Call sign | Frequency (kHz) | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bemidji, Minnesota | KBUN-FM | 104.5 FM | Hubbard Broadcasting |
| Bismarck-Mandan | KXMR | 710 AM | iHeartMedia |
| Brainerd, Minnesota | KLIZ | 1380 AM, 105.1 FM | Hubbard Broadcasting |
| Duluth-Superior (MN-WI) | WEBC | 560 AM, 106.5 FM | Townsquare Media |
| Eau Claire, Wisconsin | WBIZ | 1400 AM, 98.7 FM | iHeartMedia |
| Fargo-Moorhead (ND-MN) | KNFL | 740 AM, 107.3 FM | Midwest Communications |
| Grand Forks (ND-MN) | KKXL | 1440 AM | iHeartMedia |
| Mankato, Minnesota | KFSP | 1230 AM, 103.1 FM, 106.3 FM | Linder Radio Group |
| Marshall, Minnesota | KNSG | 107.5 FM | Linder Radio Group |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN-WI) | KFXN-FM | 100.3 FM | iHeartMedia |
| Owatonna, Minnesota | KFOW | 1170 AM, 106.3 FM | Linder Radio Group |
| Rochester, Minnesota | KFAN | 1270 AM, 93.5 FM | iHeartMedia |
| St. Cloud, Minnesota | KXSS | 1390 AM, 93.9 FM | Townsquare Media |
| Worthington, Minnesota | KWOA | 730 AM, 100.3 FM | Absolute Communications |
By February 2005, the station was one of a handful of stations in Minnesota to useiBiquity'sHD Radio system fordigital radio broadcasts. On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that KTLK's HD2 subchannel will carry a format focusing on classic country hits from their Format Lab. In August 2009, the format was changed toclassic rock.
On August 22, 2010, the HD2 channel began instead carrying the audio ofKFAN (1130), mainly in order to allow KFAN's signal to be relayed toK279AZ, an analogtranslator station at 103.7 FM atop theIDS Center. The station later moved to 103.5 as K278BP.
KFXN-FM's HD3 sub channel carried EMF'sK-Love contemporary Christian format, rebroadcasting on K260BA 99.9 FM. That format and translator moved toKTCZ-HD2 which resulted in the HD3 sub channel getting turned off.
45°03′30″N93°07′28″W / 45.058278°N 93.124361°W /45.058278; -93.124361
