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| Broadcast area | Greater San Diego |
| Frequency | 97.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 97.3 The Fan |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Subchannels | HD3: The Bet (Sports gambling) |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | January 15, 1964; 61 years ago (1964-01-15) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Fan" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 30832 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 38,000 watts |
| HAAT | 152 meters (499 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°43′48″N117°05′06″W / 32.73000°N 117.08500°W /32.73000; -117.08500 |
| Repeater(s) |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | www |
KWFN (97.3FM) – branded as97.3 The Fan – is acommercialsportsradio station licensed to serveSan Diego,California. Owned byAudacy, Inc., the station covers both theGreater San Diego market and theSan Diego–Tijuana transborder agglomeration, and is the flagship station for theSan Diego Padres Radio Network, in addition to being the market affiliate forInfinity Sports Network.
The KWFN studios are located in San Diego's Stonecrest neighborhood, while the main station transmitter resides in San Diego'sEmerald Hills neighborhood; to expand KWFN's overall reach, the station also utilizes a series ofbooster relays synchronized with the main signal. In addition to a standardanalog transmission, KWFN and the booster relay network broadcast over twoHD Radiodigital subchannels,[2] and is available online viaAudacy.
97.3 firstsigned on as KSEA on January 15, 1964. It was owned by Broodmoor Broadcasting, along with KSON (1240 AM).[3] The two stationssimulcast their programming. In its early days, KSEA was powered at 25,000 watts, using an antenna at only 220 feet inheight above average terrain. Today, KWFN's power and antenna height are double that of KSEA. As of 1998,KSEA is aRegional Mexican station inGreenfield, California.
In 1967, 97.3 began its long run as acountry music station, still simulcast with its AMsister station. In 1975, the stationcall sign was changed to KSON-FM to match its co-owned AM station. KSON-FM had previously been used on stations at 101.5 and at 105.3.
In 1985,Jefferson-Pilot Communications acquired KSON-AM-FM.[4] The company filed an application in 1989 to construct a single full-on repeater to help improve KSON-FM's coverage in the rapidly growing suburbs of Northern San Diego County.[5] Plans were cancelled in 1991. In 2003, Jefferson-Pilot instead acquired another station at92.1 FM, licensed toEscondido, and converted it into a simulcast for KSON-FM to cover Northern San Diego County. The new repeater's call sign became KSOQ-FM, similar to KSON-FM's call letters.
Jefferson-Pilot becameLincoln Financial Media when it was acquired by theLincoln Financial Group in 2006.
In 2007, KSON-FM was nominated for the "Top 25Markets Country Music Station of The Year" award by theRadio & Records magazine. Other nominees includedWUSNChicago,KYGO-FMDenver,WYCDDetroit,KEEY-FMMinneapolis, andWXTUPhiladelphia.[6]
On March 1, 2009, the station dropped the FM suffix and became KSON, as the AM station was sold and changed its call letters to KNSN.
In January 2014, in honor of the January 31 San Diego stop onGeorge Strait'sfarewell tour, KSON temporarily re-branded as "George FM". The station added more George Strait music to itsplaylist, and held on-air giveaways of memorabilia and tickets to the San Diego show.[7]
On December 8, 2014,Entercom announced its acquisition of KSON's parent companyLincoln Financial Media. The transaction was approved on July 17, 2015.[8]
Three years later, Entercom merged withCBS Radio on November 17, 2017.[9] KSON's simulcast partnerKSOQ-FM was spun off to theEducational Media Foundation to comply withFCC ownership caps.[10]
The merger placed KSON in common ownership withTop 40/CHR-formattedKEGY,Energy 103-7 – which had a better signal in Northern San Diego County, home to most of KSON’s core audience. Immediately after the merger closed, the country format was moved to 103.7; for the next three days, 97.3stunted with a message loop redirecting listeners to the new frequency. On November 20, the station assumed 103.7's CHR format and branding asEnergy 97-3.[10]
In January 2018, KEGY moved out of its longtime Linda Vista studios and relocated to Stonecrest.
Following the move ofEnergy to 97.3, KEGY's ratings nosedived, from a 2.2 share to a 1.0 in theNielsen Audio ratings. In February 2018, Entercom announced it had hired formerMighty 1090 morning hostDan Sileo; he was slated to host a new program on one of Entercom's San Diego stations, with Sileo saying on social media that he would be able to talk about "anything".[11][12] On February 19, theSan Diego Padres announced that the team's radio broadcasts would move from sister stationKBZT to KEGY for the 2018 season, intensifying speculation that Entercom intended to flip 97.3 to asports radio format.[12][13][14][11]
On March 1, 2018, at 2 p.m., KEGY beganstunting with rock music and no imaging, although notably playing "Welcome to the Machine" byPink Floyd at the top of each hour. Two days later, KEGY flipped tohot talk as97.3 The Machine. Its daytime lineup on weekdays featured Dan Sileo in middays, andThe Men's Room fromKISW/Seattle in afternoon drive. Blocks ofclassic rock music interspersed with comedy bits were broadcast on nights and weekends. The station would carry coverage of San Diego Padres games, with hour-long pre- and post-game shows.[15][16] A morning show,Kevin Klein Live (moving from sister stationKITS/San Francisco) was scheduled to premiere on March 29, 2018, coinciding with Major League Baseball'sOpening Day.[17]
The 103.7 frequency had previously aired a hot talk format as part of CBS Radio's formerFree FM network.[18]
A promotional campaign forKevin Klein Live featured social media posts containing the slogan "JUMP ... to a new morning show". One of the ads featured this caption on a photograph of theSan Diego–Coronado Bridge. Listeners considered this ad to be insensitive, as the second-largest number ofsuicide deaths from bridge jumping in the U.S. have occurred on the bridge.[19][20]
The campaign resulted in calls for the Padres to cut their ties with Entercom. The team issued a statement the next day, condemning the ad as being "offensive, insensitive and completely unacceptable." The team said the expansion of Padres coverage was planned before the team learned the full extent of the format changes, and requested that Entercom apologize for Klein's behavior.[19] Padres chairmanRon Fowler criticized KEGY's new format as being "almostshock jock radio" and contradictory to his opinion that baseball is "family entertainment." Fowler said the team would reevaluate its relationship with KEGY.[19][21] The photographer of the bridge image also accused the station of having used it without permission.[22]
Klein issued a public apology for the ads, stating that "I know I've upset many people in America's Finest City, and this is something I regret. The comment was reprehensible and inexcusable. I've failed at making a good first impression, but I hope that you will give me another chance to provide entertainment and good-natured laughs when I go on the air on Thursday morning. Once again, I apologize to all the listeners and the city of San Diego."[19] The premiere was cancelled indefinitely,[23][24][21] and neither Entercom or Klein made any public statements regarding the program or if it would premiere at all.[25] Klien has since moved toKROQ in Los Angeles, first hosting afternoons withTed Stryker before taking over the morning drive slot in 2021.[26]
On April 11, 2018, Entercom announced that it would dropThe Machine and its hot talk format, and would relaunch KEGY as a conventional sports talk station,97.3 The Fan, at 5 a.m. the following day. Entercom San Diego market manager Bob Bolinger said the company had used the Kevin Klein controversy as an opportunity to reevaluate KEGY's programming, and explained that "the station was always going to be largely about sports and we determined the right thing to do was to go 100% all-in." Padres chairman Ron Fowler was pleased that Entercom was willing to address the team's concerns surrounding the station's content, and that the revamp "better reflects the values of the Padres and the San Diego community as a whole." As part of the relaunch, Dan Sileo was moved to mornings,The Men's Room was dropped, and the station also acquiredThe Jim Rome Show previously heard onXEPRS.[27]The Doug Gottlieb Show was also picked up for the weekday lineup.[28][29] Its call letters were changed to KWFN.
In the first three months of the all-sports format, KWFN was among the lowest-rated stations in the market, with Sileo's morning show unable to tabulate aNielsen Audio rating due to its small number of listeners. The Padres' last-place standing during the 2018 season also hindered the station's ratings.[30]
On April 17, 2019, Sileo left KWFN's morning show but remained with Entercom, hosting a weekend program on co-ownedWEEI-FM inBoston. Sileo was replaced by "Coach" John Kentera.The San Diego Union-Tribune speculated that Sileo's departure was tied to listener backlash surrounding plans to have Padres staff members appear on his show for interviews on Friday mornings.[31][32]
Ben Higgins and Steven Woods (formerly ofThe Mighty 1090 XEPRS) became KWFN's morning hosts on June 10.[33][34] John Kentera was moved to early afternoons.Also beginning in 2019, KWFN joined theNavy Football Radio Network.[35]
On December 21, 2023, John Kentera was fired by the station just before the Christmas holiday.[36] He would be replaced in the middays byAnnie Helibrunn andCraig Elsten alongside Kentera's former producer, Braden Surprenant.
KWFN continued to expand the local talk radio lineup as Surprenant, along with fellow producer Matt Skraby were added to the station's program lineup. Skraby began hosting an hour long show on weekday evenings from 6pm until 7pm following "Gwynn & Chris" hosted byTony Gwynn Jr. andChris Ello. Surprenant now hosts a Sunday morning talk show from 9am until 11am.
On March 5, 2025,Audacy announced nationwide layoffs of close to 300 on air hosts in a sweeping move after emerging for bankruptcy. The moves affected KWFN as Elsten and Helibrunn were apart of the layoffs, leaving the station without a midday show for the time being. Elsten confirmed his dismissal via a post on his instagram account.
In 2019, Entercom receivedconstruction permits for five fill-inboosters to improve KWFN's coverage, to be located nearLa Jolla,Ramona,San Marcos,Escondido, andEncinitas. These signals are expected to be operational by 2022.[37][38][39]
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KWFN-FM1 | 97.3 FM | La Jolla, San Diego | 203647 | 67 (H)/200 (V) | D | LMS |
| KWFN-FM2 | 97.3 FM | Ramona, California | 203667 | 200 (H)/600 (V) | D | LMS |
| KWFN-FM3 | 97.3 FM | San Marcos, California | 203665 | 10 (H)/30 (V) | D | LMS |
| KWFN-FM4 | 97.3 FM | Escondido, California | 203664 | 53 (H)/160 (V) | D | LMS |
| KWFN-FM5 | 97.3 FM | Encinitas, California | 203663 | 330 (H)/1,000 (V) | D | LMS |
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