 | |
| Broadcast area | Bakersfield metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 98.5MHz |
| Branding | 98.5 The Fox |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic rock |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KBFP,KBFP-FM,KHTY,KRAB | |
| History | |
First air date | November 1968; 57 years ago (1968-11) (as KDNO) |
Former call signs | KDNO (1968–1997) KKDJ (1997–1998) KKDJ-FM (7/1/1998) KSMJ (1998–2000) KDFO (2000–2001) KDFO-FM (2001–2008) KBKO-FM (2/15/2008–6/20/2008)[1] |
Call sign meaning | KDelanoFOx |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 64607 |
| Class | B1 |
| ERP | 8,000watts |
| HAAT | 177 meters (581 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°30′53″N119°3′41″W / 35.51472°N 119.06139°W /35.51472; -119.06139 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 985thefox.iheart.com |
KDFO (98.5FM, "98-5 The Fox") is acommercialradio station broadcasting aclassic rockformat. KDFO islicensed toDelano, California, and serves theBakersfield metropolitan area. It has studios on Mohawk Street near theKern River and is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc.[3] Weekdays begin with thesyndicatedBob and Tom Show fromIndianapolis. The rest of the schedule isvoicetracedDJs from iHeart rock stations in larger cities: Maria Milito,Ken Dashow andMarc Coppola fromWAXQNew York City and Big Rig fromWXTBTampa.[4]
KDFO is aClass B1 FM station. It has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 8,000watts. Thetransmitter andtower are off Porterville Highway (California State Highway 65) inShafter.[5]
The stationsigned on the air in November 1968; 57 years ago (1968-11).[6] Its originalcall sign was KDNO. It was aChristian radio station with studios and transmitter in Delano.
It was later owned byRichard Palmquist, who purchased the station from Chester Newell in 1970. Adopting the sloganUplift 98.5, the station was on the air until Palmquist sold it in 1997 to Mondosphere Corporation and went into retirement. Today, the KDNO call letters belong to a station inWyoming. At that point, KDNO was owned by a California Corporation, Tape Networks Inc., founded by Palmquist when he was a broadcast consultant in the Los Angeles area. After building KDNO for a client, that owner's bank loan was withdrawn. Palmquist arranged for his friend Chester Newell to purchase the station, and Palmquist became the manager. Later, Newell sold the station to Tape Networks, Inc.
Palmquist raised the purchase price by soliciting donations from KDNO listeners. The station, however, was devoted to ministry rather than revenue, so to supplement his income Palmquist purchased the Pixley Enterprise Newspaper and later the Terra Bella News. He merged them to form the "Enterprise News," and the newspaper became commercially successful, thus helping to support the radio ministry. After two unsuccessful efforts to sell the newspaper, Palmquist closed that business in 1993 to concentrate on improving the radio station's music and Bible teaching ministry. However, income from listener support, though supporting current expenses, could not pay off the half million dollar long term debt on the station. When Palmquist reached retirement age, he sold the station to honor his obligation to those who had helped purchase and build the station. After the sale of KDNO, Palmquist transferred much of the KDNO programming to an online format: www.truthradio.com and www.truthradio.info.
After Mondosphere took over, the station was downgraded from a class B at 50,000 watts to its current 8,000 watt power. The transmitter was moved to the same tower now used by 105.3KBFP-FM, a site closer to Bakersfield. It was known asStar 98.5 KKDJ and was anoldies andclassic hits station. Itsplaylist was made up of hits from the late 1960s, 70s and early 80s.
In 1998, a frequency switch was arranged.KKDJ moved to 105.3 FM and KSMJ moved to 98.5 FM. The station then was known asSmooth Jazz 98.5 KSMJ. It played asmooth jazz format of mostly instrumental jazz hits with someR&B andsoft rock vocals.
On March 24, 2000, the smooth jazz format was flipped to aclassic rock. The call letters were later changed to KDFO and the station branded as "98.5 The Fox". (Using aFoxmascot is popular on a number of classic rock stations around the U.S.) Later in 2000, the station was acquired bySan Antonio-basedClear Channel Communications.[7] (In 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, the current owner.)
On February 15, 2008, the call lettersKBKO and thecountry music format were briefly moved from96.5 FM to 98.5 FM in a frequency swap with KDFO where it was branded as "98.5 KBKO".[8] The flip only lasted four months. On June 20, 2008, the two stations were moved back to their previous frequencies.[9]