KFQD (750 kHz) 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 ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

known as "News Talk 750 and 103.7 KFQD." It broadcasts 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 was compelle ...

and is owned by

Alpha Media LLC Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...

. 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 on Arctic Slope Avenue in Anchorage. KFQD is the oldest radio station in Alaska and one of the most powerful. It is a Class A, 50,000

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 ...

, non-directional station broadcasting on a clear channel frequency. The

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

is off Merlene Lane in Point MacKenzie. It is also heard on 250 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

103.7 K279BG in Anchorage and its adjacent suburbs.

Programming

KFQD begins each weekday with a three-hour block of local news and information. That's followed by

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

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 ...

shows including Armstrong & Getty,

Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey ha ...

, Chad Benson, Clyde Lewis and ''Markley, Van Camp & Robbins''. Weekends include

Kim Komando Kimberly Ann Komando (born 1967) is the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websites, smartphone apps, and internet security. ...

, ''The Great American Outdoors'', ''Big Alaska'', '' Science Fantastic with Dr. Michio Kaku'' and '' Bill Handel on the Law''. KFQD was the radio play-by-play home of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

's Alaska Aces, which was simulcast by GCI on their cable network. KFQD also simulcasts some of the newscasts of KTUU-TV Channel 2, the Anchorage NBC Television

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

. KFQD is Alaska's primary entry point for the

Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and bot ...

(EAS).

History

On May 24, 1924, KFQD

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

the air, before Alaska was a state. By the 1930s, it was transmitting at 780

kilocycle The cycle per second is a once-common English name for the unit of frequency now known as the hertz (Hz). The plural form was typically used, often written cycles per second, cycles/second, c.p.s., c/s, or, ambiguously, just cycles (Cy./Cyc.). T ...

s and was powered at only 250 watts. KFQD had to share the frequency with other stations, so it was limited in what hours it could broadcast. It was owned by the Alaska Radio Club with studios at 411 Fourth Avenue. With the 1941 enactment 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), KFQD moved to 790 kHz, a regional frequency, still powered at 250 watts, but able to broadcast around the clock. By this time, there were four radio stations in the Territory of Alaska. KFQD was the first, followed by stations in

Ketchikan Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 20 ...

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

and

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

. In the late 1940s, KFQD got a power boost to 5,000 watts. In the 1960s, it moved to the clear channel frequency 750 kHz, shared with WSB

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

but far enough away to avoid causing nighttime interference. At first, KFQD was powered at 10,000 watts. By the 1970s, it had raised its daytime power to 50,000 watts, but still 10,000 watts at night. Then in the 1990s, as 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 ...

relaxed protections for the original clear channel stations, KFQD was permitted to broadcast at 50,000 watts around the clock, joining WSB as a Class A station on 750 AM. In 1998, KFQD was acquired by Morris Communications.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page 53
/ref>

became KFQD's owner on September 1, 2015.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KFQD
* * * {{Coord, 61, 20, 18, N, 150, 02, 03, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title 1924 establishments in Alaska Alpha Media radio stations News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1924 FQD

Programming

History

See also

References

External links