KCFI (1250 AM) 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 to serve the

Cedar Falls, Iowa Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,713. It is home to the University of Northern Iowa, a public university. History Cedar Falls was first settled in March 1845 b ...

area. The station primarily broadcasts 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 ...

format but airs Minnesota Twins baseball and some sports overflow from sister station KCNZ. KCFI is licensed to James Coloff's Coloff Media, LLC. It was first licensed on July 13, 1960. During daylight hours, KCFI uses two towers in a

directional array An antenna array (or array antenna) is a set of multiple connected antennas which work together as a single antenna, to transmit or receive radio waves. The individual antennas (called ''elements'') are usually connected to a single receiver or ...

that concentrates the broadcast signal southeast toward Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At night, three towers are used to create a three lobe pattern that slightly favors the south and west.

History

KCFI was initially licensed to Jane A. Roberts, for 500 watts, daytime-only, on 1250 kHz in Cedar Falls, Iowa. On June 16, 1995, the station's call letters were changed to KCNZ.

Expanded Band assignment

On March 17, 1997, 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 jurisdicti ...

(FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with KCNZ authorized to move from 1250 to 1650 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. This notice lists the station under its earlier (and later) call sign of KCFI. A Construction Permit for the new station on 1650 kHz, also located in Cedar Falls, was issued the call sign KDNZ on August 3, 1998. The FCC's initial policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred the new assignment or elected to remain on the original frequency. However, this deadline has been extended multiple times, and both stations have remained authorized. One restriction is that the FCC has generally required paired original and expanded band stations to remain under common ownership."FCC Rejects Clear Channel-Withers Deal For WDDD-A"
September 1, 2010 (allaccess.com)

Later history

On March 31, 2004, the two stations swapped call letters, with KCNZ moving from 1250 AM to 1650 AM, and KDNZ transferred to 1250 AM from 1650 AM. On May 24, 2012, 1250 AM went back to its original call sign of KCFI.

References

External links

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FCC History Cards for KCFI
(covering 1956–1981) CFI Cedar Falls, Iowa {{Iowa-radio-station-stub