Broadcast area Phoenix, Arizona First air date 1962 Facility ID 14382 City of license Mesa Area Phoenix | Translator(s) 105.3 K201CQ (Mesa) Class D Frequency 1510 kHz Format Business News Branding Money Radio 1510 & 99.3 | |
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Power 22,000 watts day
100 watts night Owner CRC Broadcasting Company, Inc_ Slogan Radio That Makes You Money | ||
Rick ogston on the expansion of carpe diem schools on kfnn 1510
KFNN (more recently branded as Money Radio 1510 & 105.3 FM) is a commercial business news formatted radio station licensed to Mesa, Arizona, broadcasting from studios located in North Scottsdale, Arizona, on 1510 AM, and simulcast on 105.3 FM. KFNN is owned by CRC Broadcasting Company, Inc., headed by Ronald Cohen and Brian DuBose, which also owns KPSF and KXPS, both located in the Palm Springs, California area, and a financial expo company called Financial Fest. KFNN began airing primarily nationally syndicated content, and now has an extensive lineup of local and national money related programs. They have been serving the greater Phoenix community as a business/financial station since 1988. They are distinguished as the first full-time financial format of its kind in the U.S.
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History
In the 1960s the station was known as KMND ("Command Radio"), simulcasting an easy listening music format with KMND-FM. By 1971 both stations were known as KDKB, playing an Album Oriented Rock format.
In 1978, the simulcast was broken and 1510 kHz changed formats to oldies. The call letters were changed to KDJQ. In 1980, the format at AM KDJQ changed to new wave music for a brief time.
The station became KNTS on November 6, 1984. On August 23, 1986, the station changed its call sign to KJAA, then on December 12, 1988 to the current KFNN.
Station Signal
The station's transmitter and towers at the time of the change of call letters were located in Mesa, Arizona, it's FCC listed city of license to this day. It was originally a 10,000 watt daytime signal until 1991, when the station towers were relocated to North Phoenix. From there the signal was authorized to increase to 22,000 watts daytime, and was broadcasting day and night. In 2013, they began simulcasting on FM, through a translator 99.3 FM (K257CD Phoenix).
Business and Financial Format
Along with two other original partners, Ronald Cohen, began the station's format with largely syndicated format from Bloomberg and other radio networks, but soon developed a large group of live, local programming throughout the week. Don McDonald's financial planning program was one of the first major national shows broadcast on the station, along with Ken and Daria Dolan, who featured a money and investment related program syndicated from WOR 710 in New York City. KFNN introduced a live morning show titled Business for Breakfast with Ken Morgan as its host. Morgan has been a long time morning show host and station manager, with much of his career spent in Cleveland, Ohio. They currently feature a mix of live, local financial, business, and real estate content, along with syndicated radio hosts like Clark Howard, Gary Kaltbaum, and Ray Lucia, all of whom have had a long presence on the station.
Recent Format Changes
As of the first quarter of 2011, KFNN re-branded its station name from 1510 KFNN, Financial Newsradio, to Money Radio 1510 & 99.3 FM. The station's brand was changed to reflect the broader nature of program content that relates to all matters money. Expansion of the Money Radio brand has moved into Palm Springs, California, as of March 2012 under the call letters KPSF (1200 AM).