 | |
| Broadcast area | Seattle metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 820kHz |
| Branding | 820 AM The Word |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian talk and teaching |
| Network | SRN News |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KKOL | |
| History | |
First air date | October 10, 1970; 55 years ago (1970-10-10) (as KQIN at 800) |
Former call signs | KQIN (1970[1] -1986)[2] |
Former frequencies | 800 kHz (1970–1986) |
Call sign meaning | KinG (County)NorthWest |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 28819 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000watts days 5,000 watts nights |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kgnw.com |
KGNW (820kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationlicensed toBurien, Washington, and serving theSeattle metropolitan area. It airs aChristian talk and teachingradio format and is owned by theSalem Media Group. Theradio studios and offices are on 5th Avenue South indowntown Seattle.
By day, KGNW is powered at 50,000watts, the maximum for commercial stations. But820 AM is aclear channel frequency reserved forClass AWBAPFort Worth. So to avoid interference, at night KGNW reduces power to 5,000 watts. It uses adirectional antenna with a three-tower array at all times. Thetransmitter is off 105th Street SW onVashon Island.[4] The station is licensed to broadcast in theHD Radio format.[5]
KGNW airs a mix of local preachers and national Christian leaders. They includeDavid Jeremiah,Chuck Swindoll,Jim Daly,Alistair Begg,Greg Laurie,John MacArthur,J. Vernon McGee andCharles Stanley. Two secular programs are also heard fromEric Metaxas andJay Sekulow.
KGNW uses abrokered programming model. Hosts pay for their time on the station and may ask for donations to their ministries during their shows. National news is supplied bySRN News.
The stationsigned on the air on October 10, 1970. Its originalcall sign was KQIN and it broadcast on 800 kHz. The station was adaytimer, required to go off the air at sunset. It was owned and operated by John Mowbray who also served as general manager.[6]
KQIN playedcountry music and competed with 1150 KAYO (nowKKNW), 101.5 KETO (nowKPLZ) and later KMPS-FM 94.1 (nowKSWD). As more country music listeners switched to the FM band, KQIN changed to aBeautiful Music format in 1977. But that put it in competition with such FMeasy listening stations as 94.1 KEUT (now KSWD), 98.9 KEZX (nowKPNW-FM), 100.7 KSEA (nowKKWF) and 103.7 KBRD (nowKHTP). KQIN also airedChristian radio programs as well as old-time radio dramas and comedies. KQIN changed to anAdult Contemporary music format in 1983.
On September 19, 1984, Salem Communications acquired 1150 AM in Seattle and changed its call letters to KGNW. Salem is the nation's largest owner ofChristian radio stations and gave the 1150 station a Christian talk and teaching format. But that station does not have a very good signal. Salem had plans to acquire KQIN's daytime-only signal on 800 AM and improve it, making it a place to relocate KGNW.[7]
In the mid-1980s, theFederal Communications Commission relaxed rules that restricted lesser-class stations on Class A, clear channel frequencies. Fort Worth and Seattle are separated by more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km). So Salem Media engineers applied to move KQIN to 820 AM, even though WBAP 820 Fort Worth is a Class A station powered at 50,000 watts.
KQIN moved to the 820 AM dial position on January 1, 1987. The KGNW call letters and its Christian talk and teaching format were removed from 1150 AM and relocated to 820 AM. The move allowed KGNW to increase its daytime power to 50,000 watts and add nighttime power at 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna.[8] Today, the KQIN call sign belongs to aPBS-affiliated television station owned byIowa Public Television inDavenport, Iowa. The 1150 AM station in Seattle was sold toHubbard Broadcasting and is nowtalk radio outletKKNW.
47°26′00″N122°28′02″W / 47.43333°N 122.46722°W /47.43333; -122.46722