City Portland, Oregon Slogan Uniquely Portland | Branding 101.9 KINK FM | |
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Broadcast area Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington Frequency 101.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) Translator(s) 102.9 K274AR (Gresham, relays HD2 programming) | ||
KINK (101.9 MHz also known as kink.fm) is a commercial FM radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Alpha Media and it airs an Adult Album Alternative radio format. KINK's studios and offices are on Southwest 5th Avenue in the PacWest Center, while its transmitter is located off Southwest Barnes Road in the West Hills. Its antenna at 501.6 meters at 99,000 watts allows it to be heard across most of northwest Oregon, and has been heard in the Puget Sound area at times.
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Although KINK’s format has evolved over the years, its sound, philosophy, target audience, marketing, and community involvement have remained fundamentally consistent over its 40+ year history, a rarity in commercial broadcasting. Many of KINK’s DJs have been associated with the station for decades, also a rarity in the industry. In the vernacular of commercial radio, KINK is known as a “heritage” radio station.
History
The station began broadcasting Christmas Day, 1968 as “KINK – The Underground Link”. It was a sister station to AM 620 KGW (now KPOJ) and Channel 8 KGW-TV, Portland's NBC network affiliate. The stations were owned by Seattle-based King Broadcasting. KINK aired a Progressive Rock format, where the DJs chose the rock music they would play. Eventually the radio station was sold to CBS Radio.
The station is a prior employer of screenwriter Mike Rich (Nativity Story, Finding Forrester), who worked there as the morning newsman and co-host early in his career. In August 2009, CBS Radio sold the Portland cluster (including KINK) to Alpha Media, in an effort to focus more on major market stations.
From its first broadcast in 1968 until August 2010 the studios and offices of KINK were located in the headquarters building of KGW-TV on Southwest Jefferson Street, immediately west of downtown Portland. In August 2010 Alpha Broadcasting moved the station to the PacWest Center, in downtown.
HD Radio
On December 17, 2014 KINK began broadcasting digitally in HD Radio, with a simulcast of sports radio sister station KXTG 750 AM ("750 The Game") on its HD2 sub channel.
Music
KINK plays a wide variety of music, including adult album alternative, rock, acoustic, folk, pop, blues, reggae and new age. KINK's format also features several special programs, some of which have been in place for many years. These include Lights Out (now canceled), a late night program of mellow instrumental music that began in 1973, the Sunday Night Blues Room, Sunday Acoustic KINK, and Tranceformation, a weekly selection of trance and chill music. KINK showcases emerging artists from the Portland area with its nightly Local Music Spotlight feature, as well as independent or unsigned artists with its nightly feature The Gamut.
The station regularly airs special music features in addition to its regular format. These features can run for a weekend or longer, and often involve extensive input from KINK’s listeners. Such features include the Listener Sets Weekend, the KINK Hall of Fame, Five Decades of KINK, and the KINK Summer School of Rock.
In recent years, KINK has expanded its offerings of live musical performances. The KINK Live Performance Lounge brings together touring artists and KINK listeners for casual three to five song performances with brief interviews, either in the KINK studio’s performance space, or in another location such as a concert venue or coffee shop. These sessions are recorded, and annual compilations are released in the KINK Live CD series, a benefit for Start Making A Reader Today. The Live Performance Lounge sessions are also videotaped, and are presented on the station’s website with high quality audio.
KINK has a longstanding involvement in major fundraising efforts for Oregon Food Bank. These include the Lights Out CD compilation series, the annual KINK Christmas Concerts and the Waterfront Blues Festival. Together, these have raised more than one million dollars for the food bank.
KINK's website has become part of its identity and outreach, so much so that the station now identifies itself as “kink dot fm” on the air and in its marketing. The website’s content is regularly updated and expanded, including interactivity with the station’s listeners, known as the “KINK Community”. KINK.fm also offers streaming audio of the station’s broadcast, as well as side channels that focus on specific music elements of Kink’s format, such as Lights Out 24/7, the Blues Room, Acoustic Kink, and the New Music Channel.