KBYU-FM (89.1 MHz) is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

radio station run by

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Utah, fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County, Utah, Utah County and is home to Bri ...

. It is known on-air as Classical 89. It is a production of

BYU Radio BYU Radio is a talk radio station run by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Operating at Sirius XM channel 143 (and in northern Utah on 107.9 KUMT and 89.1-2 KBYU-HD2), it is known on-air as BYU Radio. The station features "news, current ...

. It transmits at an effective radiated power of 32 kW. Its transmitting tower is located on a peak of the

Oquirrh Mountains The Oquirrh Mountains is a mountain range that runs north-south for approximately 30 miles (50 km) to form the west side of Utah's Salt Lake Valley, separating it from Tooele Valley. The range runs from northwestern Utah County–centr ...

northwest of the university campus, and southwest of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. The station previously broadcast at a frequency of 88.9 MHz (during which time its nickname was Classical 88). The frequency was shifted in 1988 by directive of the FCC, to alleviate interference for nearby frequencies used for aerial navigation, and to allow for a new full-power station to be built on 99.5 in the Salt Lake market. Classical 89 also has the following translators: 89.5 FM K208BZ Spanish Fork, 106.9 FM K295BW Nephi, 96.1 FM K241BV Milford, 100.3 FM K262BM Cedar City, 100.7 FM K264BM Ivins.

History

KBYU began as a student-run carrier current station at 660 AM in 1946. T. Earl Pardoe, a professor at

, suggested to student Owen S. Rich that the university should have its own radio station. Using his experience as a radio and radar technical during World War II, it became available across Provo and the surrounding area in 1948 by using the city's power lines as an antenna. The radio programming included talent shows, live dramas, club features, and popular music. In 1960, BYU was granted a commercial FM license. After the FM license was granted, the programming shifted to classical music. Students requested the programming be switched to Broadway show tunes, jazz, rock, and student talk shows. After expanding the programming, listeners off-campus did not believe the programming held to standards 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 ...

(LDS Church). For example, after a series on political revolutionaries in 1971, people complained that the programming was sympathetic to the achievements of

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

and

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

. BYU responded that they would not broadcast anything that did not follow LDS Church standards and they the university had sufficient budget to edit material that did not follow LDS Church standards. In 1981, a series on homosexuality was canceled by the station manager. The new station signed on for the first time on May 9, 1960, under the temporary calls KBRG. After negotiations to get the KBYU calls from a

liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

, the call letters changed to KBYU on November 9, 1960. The station presently broadcasts around the clock, having gone to that schedule in the mid-1980s. Most of its on-air staff consists of professionals, although students do cover some weeknight and weekend on-air shifts. Students also play a key role in behind-the-scenes functions. The station is operated as a non-profit corporation, and solicits donations from the public to raise a portion of its operating revenue. Other funding sources include Brigham Young University and local underwriting by businesses and arts organizations. In 2006, KBYU-FM began broadcasting an

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

signal along with its main signal, and subsequently began carrying sports and talk programming from sister station

on its HD2 signal. On October 23, 2017, Brigham Young University announced that KBYU-FM and KBYU-TV would drop their existing programming and become full-time outlets for

and BYUtv respectively. The planned flip of KBYU-FM was met with criticism from listeners, as it was the only terrestrial radio station in the market devoted to classical music. On April 26, 2018, the university announced that it would instead purchase 107.9 KUMT to use as a full-time outlet for BYU Radio, allowing it to maintain KBYU-FM's classical format.

Programming

KBYU-FM carries a classical music format, as well as BYU devotionals and forums. In addition to carriage on FM radio, the station is also available online.

Translators

References

External links

*
BYURadio site (station heard on KBYU-FM HD2)KBYU-FM records
Vault MSS 7932,

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

{{Authority control Mass media in Salt Lake City Brigham Young University Classical music radio stations in the United States BYU BYU-FM Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related University Archives articles