First air date 1960 HAAT 729 meters Facility ID 33682 City of license Tacoma | Class C Frequency 97.3 MHz FM Format Talk radio | |
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Slogan Seattle's News. Seattle's Talk. | ||
KIRO-FM (97.3 FM) is a radio station in Seattle, Washington, United States, with a news/talk radio format. The outlet is associated with the CBS Radio Network. The station's transmitter is on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah, while its studios are located in Seattle's Eastlake district.
Contents
KIRO-FM broadcasts in the HD (digital) radio format.
History
For an earlier history of KIRO radio see KIRO (AM).Early years
The station was founded as KTNT-FM and was owned by the Tacoma News Tribune. It began broadcasting October 26, 1948. The station exclusively targeted Tacoma and South Puget Sound. In 1972, the call letters were changed to KNBQ, which were later used on 102.9 FM. At that time, the station carried a Top 40 format branded simply as "97.3 KNBQ". When the Tacoma News Tribune sold KNBQ to Viacom in 1987, the station enforced a policy of not talking over music, which did not help its dismal ratings. The station would move its transmitter to Tiger Mountain during this time to better target the Seattle market as a whole. On February 1, 1988, the station flipped to its long running oldies format as "K-Best 97.3" and picked up the KBSG call letters. On August 1, 2007, KBSG was rebranded from "KBSG 97.3" to "The New B97.3", and dropped the word 'oldies' from the station title.
Exactly one year later, on August 1, 2008, the station's call letters were changed to KIRO-FM.
KIRO (AM) to KIRO-FM transition
On August 12, 2008 at 4:23 AM, KBSG's frequency began to simulcast sister news/talk radio station KIRO; the final song as a classic hits station, Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones, faded out as the FM station joined KIRO AM's Wall Street Journal This Morning in progress.
On April 1, 2009, KIRO-FM became the primary station and the simulcasting on KIRO (AM) came to an end, marking the completion of the station's transition to the FM frequency that began in August 2008. KIRO (AM) is now a sports talk station, branded as "710 ESPN Seattle."
Also moved from KIRO to KIRO-FM was the NFL broadcasting duties for the Seattle Seahawks Radio Network (now named the Bing Radio Network). KIRO will continue to simulcast the game and portions of the pre- and post-game shows as a member of the network. The Seahawks have been broadcasting on 710 AM in Seattle since the NFL franchise was launched in 1976.
Shows and hosts
(note: This section includes only live, local shows)
Former programs
Locations
Towers: 47°30′14″N 121°58′29″W, on Tiger Mountain
Headquarters: 47°38′8″N 122°19′29″W, Seattle, Washington on the shores of Lake Union