KIRO-FM (97.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

) 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. It airs 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 ...

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 broadcasting, ...

and is owned by

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

–based

Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV networ ...

, a broadcasting company owned by of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. The

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s and offices are located on Eastlake Avenue East in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

's Eastlake district. KIRO-FM starts weekdays with a news block, hosted by

Dave Ross Dave Ross (born April 10, 1952) is a talk show host on Seattle's KIRO-FM radio station. He joined KIRO as a news anchor in 1978 and was given his own talk show in 1987. He has sometimes broadcast his show while on assignment in other locations, ...

with anchor Colleen O'Brien. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of local talk hosts, including the highest rated local talk show host in the nation,

Dori Monson Dori Monson (October 2, 1961 – December 31, 2022) was an American radio personality who hosted the ''Dori Monson Show'', an afternoon talk radio show in Seattle, Washington, on KIRO-FM. Early life and education Monson, who was of Icelandic ...

. At night, two nationally syndicated shows are heard, ''

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 19 ...

with

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...

'' and ''

This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal ''This Morning: America's First News'' (formerly ''The Wall Street Journal This Morning'') is a two-hour radio news/talk program hosted by Gordon Deal and Jennifer Kushinka, who replaced long-serving co-host Gina Cervetti on January 2, 2015. In a ...

''. Weekends feature shows on money, health, food and veterans, some of which are paid

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...

. Nights and weekends, world and national news from

CBS News Radio CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

begins most hours. KIRO-FM's

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

is on Tiger Mountain in

Issaquah Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah Al ...

. Its

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) is 52,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s (55,000 with

beam tilt Beam tilt is used in radio to aim the main lobe of the vertical plane radiation pattern of an antenna below (or above) the horizontal plane. The simplest way is mechanical beam tilt, where the antenna is physically mounted in such a manner a ...

). KIRO-FM broadcasts in the HD (digital) radio format. The HD-2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

s co-owned

KIRO Kiro was a colonial post in what is now the Central Equatoria province of South Sudan on the west side of the Bahr al Jebel or White Nile river. It was in part of the Lado enclave. In 1900 there were said to be 1,500 troops from the Congo Free ...

AM 710 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 710 kHz: 710 AM is a United States clear channel frequency. KIRO Seattle and WOR New York City share Class A status of 710 kHz. In Argentina * LRL202 in Buenos Aires. * LRA17 i ...

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format. The HD-3 signal airs KTTH

AM 770 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 770 kHz: 770 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WABC New York City and KCHU Valdez, Alaska, share Class A status on 770 kHz. In Argentina * Cooperativa in Buenos ...

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

format.

History

KTNT-FM (1948-1976)

The station was founded as KTNT-FM and was owned by '' The Tacoma News Tribune''. It

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 ...

the air on October 26, 1948. The station was powered at 10,000

s, a fraction of its current output, and exclusively targeted Tacoma and South

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

. ''The Tacoma News Tribune'' added an AM station in 1952, KTNT (1400 kHz, now

KITZ KITZ (1400 AM) is a radio station featuring a News/Talk format. Licensed to Silverdale, Washington, United States, it serves the Puget Sound Region. It is currently owned by KITZ Radio, Inc. consisting of the gun-rights group Second Amendment ...

); and in 1953, KTNT-TV (channel 11, now

KSTW KSTW (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by the CBS News and Stations group, the station maintains studios on East Madison Street in Seat ...

). The

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 ...

s for the three stations were derived from the newspaper's initials.

KNBQ (1976-1988)

In 1976, the call letters were changed to KNBQ. While the AM station carried a personality

adult top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

sound, the FM station switched to an

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

music-intensive

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 " con ...

format branded simply as "97.3 KNBQ." (The KNBQ call letters later were found on FM 102.9 and currently on FM 98.5.) In the 1980s, the Tacoma News Tribune boosted KNBQ's power to 100,000 watts. 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 ...

granted a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to increase the

antenna height Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-mad ...

to 1,480 feet, moving the transmitter to Tiger Mountain. That greatly increased the station's value, now able to compete in the entire Seattle-Tacoma media market. In 1987, KNBQ was sold to the original iteration of

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

. Viacom kept the Top 40 format but used a "no talking over the music" policy to differentiate KNBQ from other Seattle Top 40 outlets.

KBSG (1988-2008)

On February 1, 1988, the station flipped to an

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 ...

format as "K-Best 97.3." It picked up the KBSG-FM call letters. K-Best concentrated on the biggest hits of the 1960s, with some 1970s songs with a few late 1950s hits. As the station moved into the 1990s, the 1970s titles were increased and the 1950s songs were removed.

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

bought the station in 1996. For many years, KBSG-FM was

on co-owned KBSG in Auburn (1210 AM, now KMIA). This lasted until 2002, when KBSG flipped to

all-news radio All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

(KBSG would later be sold to

Bustos Media Bustos Media L.L.C. is a media corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Bustos Media specializes in operating Spanish-language, and other ethnic, radio stations in the United States. Most of its stations broadcast in Spanish; however, two ...

, which specialized in

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

formats). On August 1, 2007, after Entercom traded KBSG,

and KTTH to Bonneville as part of a multi-market station swap. KBSG was rebranded from "KBSG 97.3" to "The New B97.3," and dropped the word "oldies" from the station's title. The station's playlist was moved to more 1970s and 80s music, with fewer 60s titles. The format moved from oldies to

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

. Exactly one year later, on August 1, 2008, the station's call letters were switched to KIRO-FM.

KIRO-FM (2008-present)

On August 12, 2008, at 4:23 a.m., the 97.3 frequency began to simulcast co-owned news/talk radio station

KIRO. The final song on 97.3 as a classic hits station, " Start Me Up" by the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, faded out as the FM station joined KIRO AM's ''

Wall Street Journal This Morning ''This Morning: America's First News'' (formerly ''The Wall Street Journal This Morning'') is a two-hour radio news/talk program hosted by Gordon Deal and Jennifer Kushinka, who replaced long-serving co-host Gina Cervetti on January 2, 2015. In a ...

'' in progress. On April 1, 2009, KIRO-FM became the primary station as the simulcasting on KIRO (AM) came to an end. It marked the completion of the station's transition to the FM frequency that began in August 2008. KIRO (AM) is now a

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

station, branded as "710 ESPN Seattle." Also moved from KIRO to KIRO-FM were the NFL broadcasts of the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Radio Network (later named the

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

Radio Network and the

American Family Insurance American Family Insurance, also abbreviated as AmFam, is an American private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty, and auto insurance, and also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage as well as investmen ...

Radio Network, currently the

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

Seahawks Radio Network). KIRO-FM is now the flagship station for the team's play-by-play and the pre- and post-game shows. The Seahawks had been heard on KIRO (AM) since the NFL franchise was launched in 1976.

KIRO-FM programming

Sports

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

hosted by Steve Raible and

Dave Wyman David Matthew Wyman (born March 31, 1964) is a former professional football player, a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos. Early years Born in San Diego, California, Wym ...

. *Seahawks Pre-Game and Seahawks Post Game hosted by Steve Raible and

with Michael Bumpus,

Jordan Babineaux Jordan Jude Babineaux (born August 31, 1982) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2004 out of Southern Arkansas University. Babineaux is most notable for his game-saving effo ...

Paul Moyer Paul Moyer (born June 13, 1941) is an American journalist. He co-anchored the 5 PM and 11 PM weekday editions of KNBC-TV's ''Channel 4 News'' with Colleen Williams for a decade after earlier co-anchoring with Kelly Lange.Nieto, Rebecca (2009-05- ...

, and

Ray Roberts Herbert Ray Roberts (March 28, 1913 – April 13, 1992) represented Texas's 4th congressional district from 1962 to 1981. He was a Democrat. Early life and education Roberts was born in rural Collin County, Texas in 1913. He grew up in the r ...

. The pregame show was hosted by controversial KIRO-FM talk show host Dori Monson until October 2020, when he was suspended indefinitely following accusations of transphobic tweets. After that, Monson was replaced by

, who also hosts the afternoon drive show Wyman and Bob with Bob Stelton on KIRO (AM).

Syndicated shows

*''

'' hosted by

*''

Past programs

* The Ron and Don Show, hosted by Ron Upshaw and Don O'Neill *The Jason and Burns Show, hosted by Jason Rantz and Zak Burns *KIRO Morning News, hosted by Bill Radke and Linda Thomas *Northwest Nights, hosted by Frank Shiers *Mike Webb Show, hosted by Mike Webb *John Procaccino, hosted by John Procaccino *Alan Prell, hosted by Alan Prell *Northwest Sports, hosted by New York Vinnie *Horses' Ass Radio, hosted by David Goldstein *Bryan Styble Show, hosted by Bryan Styble *My Northwest Weekend, hosted by Larry Rice, later hosted by Josh Kerns *The John Curley Show, hosted by John Curley. Dan Mitchinson News Anchor *The Bill Radke Treatment, hosted by Bill Radke *The News Chick Show, hosted by Linda Thomas *The Andrew Walsh Show, hosted by Andrew Walsh *The Dave Ross Show, hosted by Dave Ross *The Ross and Burbank Show, hosted by Dave Ross and

Luke Burbank Luke Burbank (born May 8, 1976) is an American radio host and podcaster who hosts the Portland, Oregon-based syndicated variety show ''Live Wire Radio'' and the Seattle-based former radio program and current podcast '' Too Beautiful to Live''. H ...

* Too Beautiful to Live, hosted by Luke Burbank (continues as a podcast) *On The Water hosted by Captain Bob McLaughlin. *Geekwire hosted by Todd Bishop and John Cook. *Seattle Sounds hosted by Josh Kerns. *The mixtape hosted by Sean De Tore * Dori Monson Show airs weekdays from 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Locations

Towers: , on Tiger Mountain
Headquarters: ,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

on the shores of

Lake Union Lake Union is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east to ...

References

External links

KIRO official website
{{Bonneville International IRO-FM News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 Bonneville International 1948 establishments in Washington (state)