KNKX

Tacoma, Washington United States
Broadcast area	Seattle metropolitan area
Frequency	88.5MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	88.5 KNKX
Programming
Format	Jazz All-news radio
Subchannels	HD2: Jazz24
Affiliations	NPR
Ownership
Owner	Pacific Public Media
History
First air date	November 16, 1966 (as KPLU-FM)
Former call signs	KPLU-FM (1966–2016)
Call sign meaning	"Connects"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	51199
Class	C
ERP	68,000watts
HAAT	707 meters (2,320 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	47°30′14″N121°58′34″W / 47.504°N 121.976°W /47.504; -121.976
Translator(s)	See§ Translators
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	KNKX Web PlayerKNKX AAC+ Jazz24 Web PlayerJazz24 AAC+(HD2)
Website	www.knkx.org

KNKX (88.5 MHz) is apublicradio station licensed toTacoma, Washington, United States. A member ofNational Public Radio (NPR), it airs ajazz andnews format for theSeattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by Pacific Public Media, a community-based non-profit organization. It operates from studios in downtown Seattle and downtown Tacoma. KNKX broadcasts fromWest Tiger Mountain in theIssaquah Alps with a power of 68,000watts.

The station originally debuted in 1966 asKPLU-FM, owned byParkland-basedPacific Lutheran University (PLU). It became a community licensee in 2016 after a proposed sale to theUniversity of Washington, owner of fellow NPR stationKUOW-FM inSeattle, resulted in opposition from station listeners.

KNKX runs jazz programs middays, evenings and overnight, and carries a variety of NPR programs in otherdayparts, includingAll Things Considered,Morning Edition,Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! andFresh Air. The locally producedBirdNote airs every morning.

KNKX was the brainchild of Chris Knudzen, a regent of PLU fromBurlington who, in 1951, donated the then-under construction Eastvold Chapel (now the Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts^[2]) with aradio studio to the university under the desire of having it host a radio station. While the studio was used extensively, it took 15 years for the station to debut; the station formally signed on the air asKPLU-FM on November 16, 1966, with the inaugural broadcast featuring a short speech from President Robert Mortvedt and interviews with local community leaders.^[3] It was primarily run by university students and played jazz,blues and other music not usually heard on commercial radio stations. Originally, it broadcast from a tower on campus that was only 140 feet tall, effectively limiting its coverage area to Tacoma and adjacent suburbs.^[4] Over time, the station added news programs from NPR to its schedule. It improved its coverage area, both by increasing its power and relocating to a tower that is 2,320 feet (710 meters)Height Above Average Terrain, allowing it to challenge established NPR memberKUOW. For listeners outside the Tacoma-Seattle area, it set up eleventranslators andsimulcast stations.

On November 12, 2015, Pacific Lutheran University announced its intention to sell the station to theUniversity of Washington, owner of KUOW.^[5] The planned sale to UW triggered public outcry from KPLU's listener base, who feared KPLU's unique programming would be sacrificed if it became asister station to KUOW. On November 23, the KPLU advisory board voted unanimously to oppose the sale.^[6] The board sought to negotiate with a community-based non-profit group, Friends of 88.5, to raise $7,000,000 to buy the radio station and its network of translators and rebroadcasters from the university, keeping it independent.^[7] By May 26, 2016, some 20,000 supporters met the goal. Friends of 88.5 began negotiating with PLU to purchase the station.^[7]

On August 12, 2016, it was announced that the station would adopt the newcall lettersKNKX, pronounced like "Connects", which was chosen among several other choices by the station's listening audience. The new call sign went into effect when the station officially changed hands from PLU to Friends of 88.5 on August 30, 2016; the change was made as the station could not keep the KPLU callsign (as it was university property) during the sale negotiations.^[8][9][10] In October 2018, it was announced that KNKX would move their Tacoma studio to downtown Tacoma, at 930 Broadway.^[11] On August 29, 2019, the first live broadcast from their new home was aired by Dick Stein. The station hosted a grand opening celebration on September 7, 2019.^[12]

KNKX announced plans to relocate its Seattle studio to the Madore Building, part ofPike Place Market, in March 2022.^[13] A grand opening and public open house is scheduled for August 26, 2023. The larger space, on the fifth floor of the Madore Building, was obtained with a 10-year lease and include five studios.^[14]

KNKX is also carried on the following satellite andbroadcast translator stations to improve reception of the station:

The West Seattle translator serves portions of Seattle that are shielded by hilly terrain from the main KNKX signal.^{[citation needed]} It was at 88.1 FM until 2012.^[15]

• List of jazz radio stations in the United States

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 51199 (KNKX) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KNKX inNielsen Audio's FM station database

• HD Radio stations
• Radio stations in Seattle
• NPR member stations
• Jazz radio stations in the United States
• Radio stations established in 1966
• 1966 establishments in Washington (state)

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