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KFOO (AM) - Wikipedia
Wikipedia

KFOO (AM)

KFOO (1440 AM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Riverside, California, and broadcasts to the Riverside—San Bernardino, California area.[2] The station is owned by iHeartMedia[3] and airs an all-news radio format as an affiliate of Black Information Network. The KFOO studios are located in Riverside and the transmitter tower is in Colton along the Santa Ana River.

KFOO
Broadcast areaRiverside-San Bernardino, California
Frequency1440 kHz
BrandingRiverside's BIN 1440
Programming
FormatBlack-oriented news
AffiliationsBlack Information Network
Ownership
Owner
KGGI, KMYT, KPWK, KTMQ
History
First air date
1941; 83 years ago (1941) (as KPRO)
Former call signs
  • KPRO (1941–1986)
  • KDIF (1986–2010)
  • KFNY (2010–2017)
Call sign meaning
Foo Fighters (warehoused from KZTM)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID27390
ClassB
Power1,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
34°1′36″N 117°21′27″W / 34.02667°N 117.35750°W / 34.02667; -117.35750
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via iHeartRadio)
Websiteriverside.binnews.com

History

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Early years

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The station first signed on in 1941 as KPRO and was owned by Broadcasting Corporation of America.[4]

In December 1964, KPRO was purchased by radio and television personality Dick Clark. The station was held under the name Progress Broadcasting, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dick Clark Productions.[5] In March 1978, Progress sold KPRO to Inland Empire Broadcasters, majority-owned by station vice president Howard N. Fisher, for $780,000.[6]

In the early 1980s, KPRO aired a news/talk format with some sports programming. By 1984 the station was facing severe financial difficulties, and in May of that year KPRO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reduced its programming to only sports play-by-play. Because the station's programming dropped to under 12 hours daily, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considered KPRO to have gone silent.[7]

In June 1986, Klein/Ray broadcasting sold KPRO to Lincoln Dellar-owned Inland Wireless Co. for $710,000.[8] The new owner changed its call sign to KDIF on September 23.[9] KDIF changed hands only three years later on October 24, 1989, when Hispanic Radio Broadcasters, headed by Gilberto Esquivel, bought the station.[10]

Jacor/Clear Channel/iHeartMedia era (1998–present)

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KDIF, which was airing a regional Mexican format, was purchased by Jacor Communications in May 1998 for $2.65 million. The station immediately added Los Angeles Dodgers game broadcasts in English, though it otherwise retained its Spanish-language programming.[11][12] Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications later that year.[13]

On September 27, 2010, KDIF flipped from Spanish oldies to an all-comedy format branded "24/7 Comedy" and began using new call letters KFNY (meaning "funny").[14] On August 4, 2014, following the demise of the 24/7 Comedy radio network, the station flipped to news/talk as "NewsTalk AM 1440".[15] Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia a month later.

 
Logo for KFOO as La Preciosa from May 2017 to June 2020.

On May 15, 2017, KFNY exchanged formats with KKDD in San Bernardino, flipping to Spanish adult hits and sending the news/talk format to 1290 AM. KFNY was rebranded as "La Preciosa 1440".[16] On November 14, the station swapped call signs with KFOO in Tacoma, Washington as part of an impending sale of the latter station.

On June 29, 2020, fifteen iHeartMedia stations in markets with large African American populations, including KFOO, began stunting with speeches by prominent African Americans, interspersed with messages such as "our voices will be heard" and "our side of the story is about to be told", with a new format slated to launch the following day.[17][18] On June 30 at 9:00 a.m., KFOO began broadcasting as a charter affiliate of Black Information Network (BIN), an all-news radio format targeted to the African American community.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KFOO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Summer 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  3. ^ "KFOO Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  4. ^ "Directory of Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States" (PDF). Broadcasting/Telecasting Yearbook Number. Broadcasting Publications Inc. 1948. p. 88. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "KPRO, WLOB sales announced" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. December 28, 1964. p. 9. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. March 27, 1978. p. 43. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "KPRO Files For Bankruptcy" (PDF). Radio & Records. May 25, 1984. p. 25. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "Metropolis Buys WERE & WGCL For $10.7 Million" (PDF). Radio & Records. June 13, 1986. p. 14. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  9. ^ "Call Sign Changes" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 17, 1986. p. 12. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  10. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. November 27, 1989. p. 76. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  11. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. R.R. Bowker. May 11, 1998. p. 44. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  12. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). The M Street Journal. New York: M Street Corporation. May 6, 1998. p. 10. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  13. ^ Bodipo-Memba, Alejandro (October 9, 1998). "Clear Channel Wins Bidding Contest, Agrees to Buy Jacor Communications". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  14. ^ "24/7 Comedy Radio Debuts On KFNY-A/Riverside, CA". All Access. All Access Music Group. September 27, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  15. ^ "End Of 24/7 Comedy Leads To Flips Across The Country". All Access. All Access Music Group. August 4, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  16. ^ "iHeart Swaps Inland Empire AM Formats". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. May 15, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Venta, Lance (June 30, 2020). "iHeartMedia Launches Black Information Network". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  18. ^ "Several iHeartMedia Stations Stunting With Speeches, New Format To Be Announced Tomorrow". All Access. All Access Music Group. June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
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