City Salt Lake City, Utah Frequency 1320 kHz Format Silent (was Sports) | Broadcast area Salt Lake City, Utah First air date 1922 (as KDYL at 1220) Power 5,000 watts unlimited | |
KFNZ (1320 AM) was a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, the station served the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The station's studios were located in South Salt Lake (behind the I-15/I-80 interchange) and its transmitter site was located in Murray.
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The station was established in 1922 as KDYL. In 1927, it was on 1220 kHz and moved to 1160 kHz. In 1929, it moved to 1290 kHz. In 1941, it moved to 1320 kHz as a result of the NARBA agreement. KFNZ went silent in February 2017.
Station programming
KFNZ was the flagship for the Utah Grizzlies. KFNZ was also responsible for providing analysis and coverage for BYU Cougars, University of Utah Utes, Salt Lake Bees, Utah State Aggies, and Weber State Wildcats. KFNZ also featured programming from CBS Sports Radio.
History
The station first went on the air in 1922, and originally held the call sign KDYL. Its license was granted on May 8, 1922. The station was constructed by Ira J. Kaar for A.L. Fish and the Salt Lake Telegram. When it went on the air in 1922, it shared a frequency with two other commercial stations in Salt Lake City. In 1926, the station was purchased by Sidney S. Fox. Fox later invested in the construction of its sister stations, KDYL-FM and KDYL-TV (now KTVX). On September 1, 1932, KDYL became an NBC Radio affiliate, switching from CBS. In 1953, Fox sold KDYL and its FM and TV sister stations to Time-Life Corporation for $2.1 million.
The station was purchased by Columbia Pictures in 1959, and the station's call sign was changed to KCPX. As KCPX, the station carried a contemporary hits format that was very popular in the Salt Lake City area during the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. During this time, the station competed heavily for listeners with across town rival KNAK (1280 AM). With the arrival of FM, the station's ratings fell.
Columbia Pictures, which had just been acquired by The Coca-Cola Company, sold KCPX and KCPX-FM (98.7) to Price Broadcasting in 1982. In 1983, the station's call sign was changed to KBUG. Initially the station aired an adult contemporary format, but by 1986 the format had been changed to oldies. In 1987, the station's call sign was changed back to KCPX, and the station continued airing an oldies format. On August 1, 1988, the station's call sign was changed to KEMX, and the station began airing an "Easy Mix" format consisting of songs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as country crossover hits from the 1980s.
On August 7, 1989, the station began airing the "LDS Contemporary" format that had previously aired on KUTR (860 AM). On September 14, 1989, the station's call sign was changed to KUTR. Citing insufficient support from advertisers, KUTR dropped the LDS music format on January 31, 1992 and began the adult contemporary format of KCPX-FM, with the slogan "continuous favorites, from yesterday to today"; on February 18, 1992, the station changed its call sign back to KCPX. In April 1992, Citadel Associates (a forerunner of Citadel Broadcasting), owner of KLZX (93.3 FM) and KCNR (860 AM), began programming KCPX and KCPX-FM under a local marketing agreement. Later that year, Citadel moved KCNR's all-news format to the station. On August 11, 1992, the station's call sign switched to KCNR. In 1993, the station adopted a talk radio format.
In late August 1996, the station flipped to a sports talk format. On August 30, 1996, the station's call sign was changed to the current KFNZ. Citadel Broadcasting bought KFNZ and KBEE-FM outright from Price Broadcasting in 1997. In 2007, Larry H. Miller, who owned the Utah Jazz and KJZZ-TV, began operating KFNZ. The station's owner, Citadel Broadcasting, merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. The Larry H. Miller Group bought rival KZNS-FM (97.5) and KZNS in May 2012, after the end of its local marketing agreement with KFNZ; most of the station's programming, including Utah Jazz broadcasts, were moved to KZNS, while KFNZ retained the "KFAN" branding with a new Cumulus-programmed schedule.
On February 27, 2017, KFNZ ceased broadcasting and went dark.