KFQD

KFQD (750 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Anchorage, Alaska known as "News Talk 750 and 103.7 KFQD." It broadcasts a News/Talk radio format and is owned by Alpha Media LLC. The studios and offices are on Artic Slope Avenue in Anchorage.[1]

KFQD
CityAnchorage, Alaska
Frequency750 kHz
BrandingKFQD Newsradio 750
Programming
FormatNews/Talk
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
CBS Radio News
Ownership
OwnerAlpha Media LLC
(Alpha Media Licensee LLC)
History
First air date
May 17, 1924 (1924-05-17)
Technical information
Facility ID52675
ClassA
Power50,000 watts
Translator(s)103.7 K279BG (Anchorage)
Links
WebcastListen live
Websitekfqd.com

KFQD is the oldest radio station in Alaska and one of the most powerful. It is a Class A, 50,000 watt, non-directional station broadcasting on a clear channel frequency. The transmitter is off Merlene Lane in Point MacKenzie.[2] It is also heard on 250 watt FM translator 103.7 K279BG in Anchorage and its adjacent suburbs.[3]

Programming

KFQD begins each weekday with a three-hour block of local news and information, "The KFQD Morning News." That's followed by nationally syndicated conservative talk shows: Armstrong & Getty, Dave Ramsey, Chad Benson, Clyde Lewis and Markley, Van Camp & Robbins. Weekends include Kim Komando, The Great American Outdoors, Big Alaska, Science Fantastic with Dr. Michio Kaku and Bill Handel on the Law. Most hours begin with CBS Radio News.

KFQD is the radio play-by-play home of the ECHL's Alaska Aces, which is 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. KFQD is Alaska's primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

History

On May 24, 1924, KFQD signed on the air, before Alaska was a state.[4] By the 1930s, it was transmitting at 780 kilocycles and was powered at only 250 watts, a fraction of its current output. 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 (NARBA), KFQD moved 790 kHz, a regional frequency, still powered at 250 watts, but able to broadcast around the clock.[5] By this time, there were four radio stations in the Territory of Alaska. KFQD was the first, with additional stations in Ketchikan, Fairbanks and Juneau.

In the late 1940s, KFQD got a power boost to 5,000 watts, but still on AM 790. In the 1960s, it moved to the clear channel frequency at 750 kHz, shared with WSB Atlanta but far enough away to avoid causing interference with the original clear channel station on 750 AM. 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 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.[6]

See also
  • "Bomb Iran", a version of which was produced at and aired on KFQD in 1980, and which brought some national attention to the station.

References
  1. KFQD.com/contact
  2. Radio-Locator.com/KFQD
  3. Radio-Locator.com/K279BG
  4. Broadcasting Yearbook 1935 page 64
  5. Broadcasting Yearbook 1943 page 156.
  6. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page 53

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