KBZN (97.9 FM, "Now 97.9") is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to Ogden, Utah and serving the

Salt Lake City metropolitan area The Salt Lake City metropolitan area is the metropolitan area centered on the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau currently define the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical ...

. The station airs a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

and is owned by Capital Broadcasting. The station's studios and offices are located at the 257 Tower building in downtown Salt Lake City, along with sister station

KLO-FM KLO-FM (103.1 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Coalville, Utah, and serving the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. It airs a classic alternative radio format, known as "103.1 The Wave," and ...

. KBZN's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

site is located southwest of the city on

Farnsworth Peak Farnsworth Peak is a peak located on the northern end of the Oquirrh Mountain range, approximately south west of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The mountain is named for Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the first completely electronic t ...

in the Oquirrh Mountains. The station is also heard on a repeater station, 97.9 KBZN-1 in

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

and on

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

103.1 K276DR in

Montpelier, Idaho Montpelier is a city in Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,597 at the 2010 census, down from 2,785 in 2000. The city is the largest community in the Bear Lake Valley, a farming region north of Bear Lake in southeaster ...

History

Country (1978-1989)

In 1978, the station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

as KZAN. The station was owned by Ben Lomand and broadcast a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. The station switched

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to KKGB in 1988.

Top 40 (1989)

In 1989, the station changed its call sign to KKWY, as a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

station.

Smooth jazz (1989-2009)

In late 1989, the license was purchased by locally based Capital Broadcasting, changed call letters to KBZN, and became an affiliate of the syndicated

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

service known as "The Breeze." For several years it was a locally programmed Smooth Jazz station.

Hot adult contemporary (2009-present)

In 2009, KBZN made the switch to hot AC and the "Now 97.9" moniker.

References

External links

KBZN - Official website

BZN BZN (''Band Zonder Naam''; Dutch for "Band Without Name") was a Dutch pop group that had a string of hits from 1966 to 2007 on. BZN recorded mostly in English and French, but also had success with material in Dutch and German. History BZN star ...

Mass media in Salt Lake City Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States {{Utah-radio-station-stub