KYGO-FM
KYGO-FM (98.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Denver, Colorado, United States. The Bonneville International country music station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. Its studios are located in Greenwood Village, and the transmitter is on Squaw Mountain in Idaho Springs.
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City | Denver, Colorado |
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Broadcast area | Denver Metropolitan Area |
Frequency | 98.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | 98-5 KYGO |
Slogan | Denver's #1 for New Country |
Programming | |
Format | FM/HD1: Country music HD2: Classic country "KYGO Legendary Country" HD3: KTLF Contemporary Christian |
Ownership | |
Owner | Bonneville International Corporation |
Sister stations | KEPN, KOSI, KKFN |
History | |
First air date | 1953 (as KFML) |
Former call signs | KFML (1953–1974) KIMN-FM (1974-June 1, 1979) KYGO (June 1, 1979-April 26, 1988)[1] |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 30829 |
Class | C |
ERP | 100,000 watts |
HAAT | 555 meters (1821 ft) |
Translator(s) | 106.3 K292FM (Denver) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live Listen Live (HD2) |
Website | kygo.com |
KYGO-FM is Colorado's secondary (LP-2) Emergency Alert System station. AM 850 KOA is the primary (LP-1) station.
The radio station broadcasts in the HD Radio format.[2] The HD2 subchannel broadcasts classic country music as "KYGO Legendary Country." The HD3 subchannel simulcasts the Contemporary Christian format heard on KTLF in Colorado Springs.
History
KFML-FM and KIMN-FM
The station signed on the air on December 1, 1953 as KFML-FM.[3] It was owned by Everett A. Bancker, Jr. and was the FM counterpart to AM 1390 KFML (now KGNU). Because the AM station was a daytimer, listeners could continue to hear its programming after sunset on KFML-FM.
Following the sale of the station to Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting in 1974, the station took the KIMN-FM call sign. (The KIMN currently reside at 100.3 FM in Denver, though that station is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.)
At first, KIMN-FM aired a softer album rock format while AM 950 KIMN (now KKSE) had a Top 40 format. KIMN-FM later started playing Top 40 music, similar to its AM sister station. In the 1970s, there were a couple of country & western AM stations in Denver, though the music was not heard on FM, even though country was making inroads on FM stations in other cities.
Switch to KYGO Country
On June 1, 1979, 98.5 switched its call letters to KYGO and later that year changed from contemporary hits to country music.[4] Bob Call, previously with country-formatted WSOC-FM in Charlotte, North Carolina, supervised the change. When he started at WSOC-FM, he said he knew little about country music, but learned fast. In 2006, as part of Lincoln Financial Media's acquisition of Jefferson-Pilot (including the J-P media properties), KYGO became a Lincoln Financial Media station.
On April 26, 1988, the station slightly changed its call letters to KYGO-FM. At the same time, AM 950 switched its call sign to KYGO, and began airing a classic country format, to be a companion to FM 98.5's more contemporary country sound.
In 2007, KYGO-FM was named "Country Music Station of the Year" in a top 25 market by Radio & Records magazine. Other nominees included WUSN Chicago, WYCD Detroit, KEEY-FM Minneapolis, WXTU Philadelphia, and KSON-FM San Diego.[5]
Change in ownership
On December 8, 2014, Entercom announced it would purchase Lincoln Financial Group's entire 15-station lineup (including KYGO) in a $106.5 million deal. It operated the outlets under a local marketing agreement (LMA). On December 22, 2014, Entercom confirmed it would retain KYGO and its country format.[6] The FCC approved the deal on June 26, 2015.[7]
However, on July 14, 2015, the Department of Justice ruled that Entercom had too many stations in the Denver market. Entercom decided to spin off KYGO, KOSI, KKFN and KEPN to Bonneville International in exchange for Bonneville's Los Angeles station KSWD (now KKLQ) to meet ownership limits. Both Bonneville and Entercom began operating their new clusters via Time Brokerage Agreements on July 17, 2015. The transaction was consummated on November 24, 2015.[8]
Taylor Swift incident
KYGO hired David Mueller as a DJ in January 2013.[9] Mueller co-hosted the Ryno and Jackson morning show.[10] On June 2, 2013, Mueller attended a meet-and-greet event before a Taylor Swift concert at the Pepsi Center. While having her photograph taken with Mueller, Swift alleged that he reached under her skirt and groped her. Though Mueller denied touching Swift inappropriately, KYGO-FM General Manager Robert Call fired him on June 4.
Mueller sued Swift in September 2015 for loss of income, alleging that her allegation had led to his wrongful termination.[11] Swift sued Mueller the next month. A civil trial began August 7, 2017.[9] A jury found Mueller liable for assault and battery and awarded Swift one dollar, the amount she had sought.[12]
References
- F.C.C.'s callsign history page for KYGO-FM. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- "HD Radio station guide for Knoxville, TN". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1956 page 96
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1980 page C-34
- "2007 Industry Achievement Awards". Radio and Records. September 28, 2008. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008.
- "Entercom Acquires Lincoln Financial Media" from Radio Insight (December 8, 2014)
- "FCC OKs Lincoln Financial-Entercom Deal" from All Access (June 26, 2015)
- "Entercom Settles DOJ Investigation; Swaps For 100.3 The Sound Los Angeles". 16 July 2015.
- Finkelstein, Sabrina (7 August 2017). "A Timeline of Events Leading Up to Taylor Swift Groping Trial". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- McGhee, Tom (11 August 2017). "Before alleged Taylor Swift groping, radio host David Mueller's bosses were unsatisfied with his work". Denver Post. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- Cuevas, Mayra. "Colorado DJ sues Taylor Swift over accusation". CNN. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
- Konopasek, Michael (14 August 2017). "Taylor Swift trial verdict: Jury finds David Mueller committed assault, battery". KDVR. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
External links
- 98.5 KYGO's website
- KYGO in the FCC's FM station database
- KYGO on Radio-Locator
- KYGO in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- K292FM in the FCC's FM station database
- K292FM on Radio-Locator
- State of Colorado Emergency Alert System