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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| Frequency | 690kHz |
| Branding | Hmong Radio AM 690 |
| Programming | |
| Language | Hmong language |
| Format | World ethnic |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | April 5,1962 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | derived from former sister stationKFAN |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 10141 |
| Class | D |
| Power |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KFXN (690AM; "Hmong Radio AM 690") is a radio station licensed toMinneapolis, Minnesota, serving theTwin Cities area.[citation needed] The station is owned by Kongsue Xiong, through licensee Asian American Broadcasting, LLC.[citation needed] It broadcasts an ethnic-based format catering to the localHmong-American population.
KFXN is essentially a daytime-only station, broadcasting at 1,700 watts, with five watts nighttime power for very limited night coverage. This is to protectCKGM inMontreal, Quebec, Canada. The transmitter and single tower antenna is located inNew Hope on Winnetka Avenue north of 36th Avenue. This has been the only transmitter location for the station since it signed on the air. In August 2009,KTTB (96.3 FM) relocated its transmission facilities fromWatertown to the KFXN site.
The station signed on in 1962 with thecall sign KTCR, and acountry music format. In 1968, new owner Al Tedesco purchased a companion FM station, KWFM, renaming it KTCR-FM.
In 1983, both stations were sold to John and Kathleen Parker, who gave the stations a makeover. The FM was changed to anadult album alternative/new-age music format asKTCZ-FM, and KTCR becamejazz as KTCJ to complement "Cities 97". The AM's jazz format lasted several years and the station was among the early market adopters ofAM stereo, but eventually ceded to a simulcast with KTCZ-FM. On April 17, 1997, KTCJ, the sole remaining AM simulcasting an FM in the market, switched toclassic country music. The callsign was changed to KXBR ("The Bear") that December.
In December 1998, KXBR dropped country and became KFXN, a complement tosports-formatted sisterKFAN. The station was branded as "Score 690", and featured mostlysyndicated shows fromFox Sports Radio andSporting News Radio. KFXN also carriedJim Rome's nationally syndicated program, and repeats of KFAN's local shows.
On July 21, 2010,Clear Channel Communications announced it would donate KFXN, along withWTOC inNewton, through the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC)-Clear Channel Ownership Diversity Initiative.[2] In September 2011, the station switched to an ethnic-based format catering to the localHmong-American community.[3] Clear Channel would continue "The Score" on theHD2 subchannel of KTCZ-FM. KFXN was sold by MMTC to Kongsue Xiong and Xeng Xiong's Asian American Broadcasting, LLC in a transaction that was consummated on May 5, 2014. The purchase price for the station was $255,000.[4] Kongsue Xiong bought full control of the station for $135,000 in 2018.[5]
Originally the station had used a three-tower antenna array to shape the then-500 watt signal to protect the Canadianclear channel station in Montreal (initiallyCBF; laterCINF andCKGM) as well asKUSD inVermillion, South Dakota. In 2020 the center tower of the KFXN array collapsed, severing the transmission lines feeding the other two towers. The station operated underspecial temporary authority from theFederal Communications Commission to operate non directional from the east tower at a reduced power of 120 watts. Engineering studies conducted after the collapse demonstrated that the station could increase power using a non-directional tower while protecting the signal of CKGM.[6]
