KFOO (1440
AM) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
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 radio ...
that is licensed to
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
and broadcasts to the Riverside—
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 ce ...
area. The station is owned by
iHeartMedia and airs an
all-news radio format as an affiliate of
Black Information Network
Black Information Network (BIN) is a radio network and content brand owned by iHeartMedia. Launched on June 30, 2020, it is an all-news radio network of stations targeting the African American community, carrying mostly important national news hea ...
. The KFOO studios are located in Riverside and the transmitter tower is in
Colton along the
Santa Ana River.
History
Early years
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 ...
in 1941 as KPRO and was owned by Broadcasting Corporation of America.
In December 1964, KPRO was purchased by radio and television personality
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...
. The station was held under the name Progress Broadcasting, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions (DCP, stylized in lowercase as dick clark productions or dcp) is an American multinational television production company founded by radio and TV host Dick Clark.
The studio primarily produces award shows and other music en ...
. In March 1978, Progress sold KPRO to Inland Empire Broadcasters, majority-owned by station vice president Howard N. Fisher, for $780,000.
In the early 1980s, KPRO aired a
news/talk
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
format with some sports programming. By 1984 the station was facing severe financial difficulties, and in May of that year KPRO filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reduced its programming to only sports play-by-play. Because the station's programming dropped to under 12 hours daily, the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) considered KPRO to have gone
silent.
In June 1986, Klein/Ray broadcasting sold KPRO to Lincoln Dellar-owned Inland Wireless Co. for $710,000. The new owner changed its
call sign
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 KDIF on September 23. KDIF changed hands only three years later on October 24, 1989, when Hispanic Radio Broadcasters, headed by Gilberto Esquivel, bought the station.
Jacor/Clear Channel/iHeartMedia era (1998–present)
KDIF, which was airing a
regional Mexican
Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...
format, was purchased by
Jacor Communications
Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion.
Jacor Communicat ...
in May 1998 for $2.65 million. The station immediately added
Los Angeles Dodgers game broadcasts in English, though it otherwise retained its Spanish-language programming. Jacor merged with
Clear Channel Communications later that year.
On September 27, 2010, KDIF flipped from Spanish
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
to an all-comedy format branded "
24/7 Comedy" and began using new call letters KFNY (meaning "
fu
nn
y"). On August 4, 2014, following the demise of the 24/7 Comedy radio network, the station flipped to news/talk as "NewsTalk AM 1440". Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia a month later.
On May 15, 2017, KFNY exchanged formats with
KKDD
KKDD (1290 AM) is a radio station in San Bernardino, California. The station is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc. It airs a Catholic talk format for the Inland Empire region of Southern California including Riverside and San Bernardino.
History
...
in San Bernardino, flipping to Spanish
adult hits and sending the news/talk format to 1290 AM. KFNY was rebranded as "La Preciosa 1440".
On November 14, the station swapped call signs with
KFOO in
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
as part of an impending sale of the latter station.
On June 29, 2020, fifteen iHeartMedia stations in markets with large
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
populations, including KFOO, began
stunting with speeches by prominent African Americans, interspersed with messages such as "our voices will be heard" and "our side of the story is about to be told", with a new format slated to launch the following day.
On June 30 at 9:00 a.m., KFOO began broadcasting as a charter affiliate of
Black Information Network
Black Information Network (BIN) is a radio network and content brand owned by iHeartMedia. Launched on June 30, 2020, it is an all-news radio network of stations targeting the African American community, carrying mostly important national news hea ...
(BIN), an
all-news radio format targeted to the African American community.
[
]
References
External links
FCC History Cards for KFOO
*
*
{{All-News Radio
FOO (AM)
Mass media in Riverside, California
All-news radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1941
1941 establishments in California
IHeartMedia radio stations
Black Information Network stations