KNIT (1320

kHz 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 on ...

) is an AM

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 ...

Salt Lake City, Utah 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 ...

. It serves the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the north ...

area of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The station is one of the oldest in Salt Lake City, established in 1922 as KDYL. KNIT'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 ...

site is on Pitchfork Lane in

Murray, Utah Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2020 census, Murray had a populat ...

, near Interstate 215. It broadcasts at 730

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, using a single

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining ...

. The station shares this tower with KJJC. KNIT carries the

Christian talk and teaching Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk programm ...

programming of "Your Network of Praise." The

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

also has stations in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

. The network holds periodic

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

s on the air to support its ministry. National religious leaders heard on KNIT include

David Jeremiah David Jeremiah is an American evangelical Christian author, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch in El Cajon, California, a suburb of San D ...

Joni Eareckson Tada Joni Eareckson Tada (born October 15, 1949) is an evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community". Early life Joni Eareckson was b ...

Chuck Swindoll Charles Rozell Swindoll (born October 18, 1934) is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher. He founded ''Insight for Living'', headquartered in Frisco, Texas, which airs a radio program of the same name on more t ...

and Jim Daly.

History

KDYL

Effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for farm market and weather reports. On May 8, 1922 the Telegram Publishing Company, publishers of the ''Salt Lake Telegram'' newspaper, was issued a license for a new station on the shared 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength. This was the second broadcasting station licensed in the state of Utah, following KZN, which had been licensed 17 days earlier and had made its debut broadcast on May 6th. The new station's

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 ...

were KDYL, which was randomly assigned from an alphabetical roster of available call signs. Earlier stations had received three-letter call signs, and KDYL was the first western broadcasting station to receive the new standard of a four-letter call sign. This may have caused some confusion, as early reports in the ''Telegram'' incorrectly listed the call letters as "KDL". The station was constructed by Ira J. Kaar for A.L. Fish and the newspaper.Tim Larson and Robert K. Avery
"Utah Broadcasting History"
1994, Utah History Encyclopedia,

Utah Education Network The Utah Education Network (UEN) is a broadband and digital broadcast network serving public education, higher education, applied technology campuses, libraries, and public charter schools throughout the state of Utah. The Network facilitates inte ...

. Accessed May 21, 2022. At its introduction, the newspaper promised "a service unrivaled in the inter-mountain region". KDYL's debut broadcast, 7:00 to 8:00 and 9:00 to 10:00 on the evening of May 10, 1922, included a mixture of live singing, including by Theo Pennington, Columbia phonograph records provided by Auerbach's phonograph department, bedtime stories and news bulletins. During the 1920s KDYL's transmitting frequency was changed multiple times, including 1200 kHz, 900 kHz, 1220 kHz, a non-standard self-assigned 1215 kHz, back to 1220 kHz, 1160 kHz, 1280 kHz, and finally, as part of a major national reallocation under the provisions of the

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...

General Order 40 The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...

, to 1290 kHz. The Newhouse Hotel became the owner in 1924, and in 1926 Sidney S. Fox's Intermountain Broadcasting Corporation, located at the Ezra Thompson Building, gained ownership. During the

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment, entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcastin ...

, KDYL aired a line up of dramas, comedies, news, sports,

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

broadcasts. In the 1930s, the station affiliated with

CBS Radio Network 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 ...

. On September 1, 1932, KDYL became an

NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

affiliate, after KSL affiliated with CBS. The March 1941 implementation of the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

(NARBA) moved the stations on 1290 kHz, including KDYL, to 1320 kHz. KDYL was now authorized for 5,000 watts daytime and 1,000 watts at night, with an outstanding construction permit for 5,000 watts nighttime directional operation. Sydney Fox later invested in the construction of its

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

s KDYL-FM (now 98.7

KBEE KBEE (98.7 FM), branded as B98.7, is a commercial radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is one of the oldest FM stations in the Western United States, tracing its history to 1947. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and it airs an adult c ...

) in 1947 and in KDYL-TV (now Channel 4

KTVX KTVX (channel 4) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Ogden-licensed CW owned-and-operated station KUCW (channel 30). Both stations share studios o ...

) two years later. In 1953, Fox sold KDYL-AM-FM-TV to the Time-Life Corporation for $2.1 million, which changed the TV station's call letters to KTVT.

Top 40 KCPX

In late 1959 Columbia Pictures Electronics, Inc. purchased KDYL-AM-FM and KTVT, and changed their call signs to KCPX, KCPX-FM, and KCPX-TV. Through the 1960s and 70s, KCPX carried 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 " con ...

format that was very popular in the Salt Lake City area. During this time, the station competed heavily for listeners with crosstown rival 1280 KNAK (now KZNS). As Top 40 listening switched to FM, the station's ratings fell. Columbia Pictures, which had just been acquired by

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

, sold KCPX and KCPX-FM to Price Broadcasting in 1982. (The TV station had been sold to separate owners in 1975.)

KBUG and KEMX

In 1983, the station's call sign was changed to KBUG. Initially the station aired an

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, quie ...

format.Ratings Report
, ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'', April 1984. p. 128. Accessed August 23, 2015 By 1986 the format had been changed to

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 ...

. In 1987, the station's call sign was changed back to KCPX, and the station continued airing an oldies format.Lynn Arave,
KCPX-AM is Now KEMX and Has an `Easy Mix' Sound
, ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'', August 5, 1988. Accessed August 23, 2015 On August 1, 1988, the station's call sign was changed to KEMX, and the station began airing an "Easy Mix" format consisting of softer songs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as some country crossover hits. The Easy Mix format lasted only a year.

KUTR and KCNR

On August 7, 1989, the station began airing the "

LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations * LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, US Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within t ...

Contemporary" format, aimed at Mormon listeners, that had previously aired on 860 KUTR (now KKAT). On September 14, 1989, the station's call sign was changed to KUTR. Citing insufficient support from advertisers, KUTR dropped the LDS music format on January 31, 1992 and began

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 ...

ing the adult contemporary format of KCPX-FM. Along with its FM sister station, KCPX used the slogan "continuous favorites, from yesterday to today."Lynn Arave,
KCPX Will Retain Format Despite Pact
, ''

'', May 1, 1992. Accessed August 23, 2015 On February 18, 1992, the station changed its call sign back to KCPX. In April 1992, Citadel Associates (a forerunner of

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

), owner of

KLZX KLZX (95.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. Licensed to Weston, Idaho, United States, the station is currently owned by Sun Valley Radio Inc. The station is also broadcast on HD radio. According to Radio-Locator, the t ...

(93.3 FM) and KCNR (860 AM), began programming KCPX and KCPX-FM under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

(LMA). Later that year, Citadel moved KCNR's

all-news 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 ...

format from AM 860 to AM 1320. On August 11, 1992, the station's call sign switched to KCNR to represent

CNN Radio CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, its main supplier of national news. In 1993, the station adopted a

talk radio 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.

Sports format

In late August 1996, the station flipped to 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 ...

format. On August 30, 1996, the station's call sign was changed to KFNZ to go along with its new identification as "KFAN." Citadel Broadcasting bought KFNZ and KBEE-FM outright from Price Broadcasting in 1997. In 2007, Larry H. Miller, who owned the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

and

KJZZ-TV KJZZ-TV (channel 14) is an independent television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate KUTV (channel 2) and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU (channel 12) in St. George. The st ...

, began operating KFNZ. The station's owner, Citadel Broadcasting, merged with

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

on September 16, 2011. The Larry H. Miller Group bought rival

KZNS-FM KZNS-FM (97.5 MHz, The KSL Sports Zone) is a commercial radio station licensed to Coalville, Utah and serving the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. It airs a sports talk radio format and is owned by Jazz Communications LLC. Ryan Smith (busine ...

(97.5) and KZNS in May 2012, after the end of its local marketing agreement (LMA) with KFNZ. Most of the station's programming, including Utah Jazz broadcasts, were moved to KZNS. while KFNZ retained the "KFAN" branding with a new Cumulus-programmed schedule. KFNZ featured programming from the

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

Network. It was the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

for the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars ...

. KFNZ was also responsible for providing analysis and coverage for the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the West ...

, University of Utah Utes,

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark op ...

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

, and

Weber State Wildcats The Weber State Wildcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in intercollegiate athletics, sponsoring 16 teams. The Wildcats compete in NCAA Division I FCS and are charter members (1963) of the Big Sk ...

Religious format

Cumulus elected to sell the land used for KFNZ's transmitter site, due to its increased value in the expanding Salt Lake City real estate market. On February 27, 2017 the station ceased broadcasting,KFNZ Goes Dark
/ref> and the next day Cumulus filed with the FCC to cancel its license. However, Cumulus subsequently received an offer to buy the station for $100,000 from Vic Michael of Kona Coast Radio, owner of radio stations in Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming.
/ref> Therefore, Cumulus rescinded its license surrender request, instead filing for a Special Temporary Authorization to temporarily remain silent. The sale was completed on August 22, 2017, and on October 18, 2017 the new owners changed the station's call letters to KNIT. Kona Coast Radio was required to relocate the transmitter site, and the station remained off the air for two years during this process. In 2019, KNIT resumed broadcasting as a

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

station, becoming a "Your Network of Praise" affiliate. KNIT was now transmitting from a site sharing KJJC's tower, which required a power reduction from the original 5,000 to 730 watts. Effective June 6, 2020, Vic Michael transferred KNIT's license from Kona Coast Radio to his also wholly-owned Michael Radio Company, LLC. Effective March 18, 2021, Michael sold the station to Hi-Line Radio Fellowship, Inc. for $200,000.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KNIT
(covering 1927-1980 as KDYL / KCPX) {{Salt Lake City Radio Mass media in Salt Lake City NIT (AM) Radio stations established in 1922 1922 establishments in Utah NIT (AM) Radio stations licensed before 1923 and still broadcasting