- KFAN (AM)
Infobox Radio station
name = KFAN
city =Minneapolis, Minnesota
area =Minneapolis-St. Paul
branding = "1130 KFAN"
slogan = "The Sports Leader"
airdate =December 23 ,1923
frequency = 1130 AM (kHz) HD Radio
format = Commercial; Sports
power = 50,000watt s (day)
25,000 watts (night)
class = B
facility_id =
coordinates =
callsign_meaning = FAN
former_callsigns = WDGY (1925-1991)
WGWY (1924-1925)
WHAT (1924)
KFMT (1923-1924)
owner = Clear Channel
webcast = [http://www.kfan.com/cc-common/streaming_new/index.html Listen Live!]
licensee =
sister_stations =KDWB ,KEEY ,KFXN ,KQQL ,KTCZ , KTLK
webcast =
website = http://www.kfan.com/
affiliations =ESPN Radio KFAN (1130 AM) is a
sports talk radio station in theMinneapolis-St. Paul area ofMinnesota , whose in-house programs also can be heard inNorth Dakota ,Wisconsin and other areas of Minnesota through The FAN Sports Radio Network. KFAN's main studios are inSt. Louis Park . The station has started usingdigital radio broadcasts on at least two transmitters (KFAN and KFXN) as of February 2005, according toiBiquity . Currently operated byClear Channel Communications , the station is the oldest continuously operating station in the state, dating toDecember 23 ,1923 when Dr.George W. Young signed on with thecall letters KFMT.History
Dr. Young cycled through the names WHAT, WGWY ("W-George W. Young"), and finally WDGY ("W-Dr. George Young") in the next two years until being chastised by the government for changing too frequently. The station kept the name WDGY until 1991. WDGY operated on a number of different frequencies before settling onto 1130 AM in 1941. More recently, KFAN experienced severe storm damage in April 2004 at their transmission site, with four out of nine antennas at their
directional array in Credit River Township (nearPrior Lake, Minnesota ) getting blown down.In 1933, Dr. Young was granted a license for W9XAT, an experimental
mechanical television station. It is believed that the first transmission of the 120- or 125-line system—probably the first telecast in Minnesota—occurred onAugust 4 of that year, featuring a handshake between WDGY station personalityClellan Card and Minneapolis mayorWilliam Kunze . The station pushed the technological limits of the day and provided a lot of interesting exercises for WDGY engineers, but Dr. Young never got into regular broadcasts. The license for that station expired in 1938, partly because mechanical television development was heavily discouraged by that point. After 64 years of dormancy, anamateur radio group in the area acquired the W9XAT call sign in 2002 with the intention of using it for mechanical and narrow-bandwidth TV experiments.The station was one of the first stations in the country to program
rock and roll music in atop 40 format in the mid 1950s. It was then owned byTodd Storz , one of the pioneers in programming to the baby boom generation with music that theretofor had been rarely heard on "white" radio stations. Storz's stations were heavy on promotion, headline-grabbing contests, and high profile dee-jays (usually using echo-chamber microphones). Other Twin Cities station owners resented the attention WDGY received, but soon they too jumped on the top-40 bandwagon. Later they would admit that the Todd Storz they often disparaged very well may have saved radio at a time when television was stealing its audience.WDGY gained the (perhaps unfortunate) nickname Weegee after a time. By the 1960s, the station didn't use the name itself, but the name stuck among people in the radio industry for many years to come. From about 1955 to 1977, the station played popular music and was one of the most popular stations in the area, primarily competing for music listeners with KSTP 1500 and
KDWB 630, though WCCO 830 was the major force of the day with a mixture of music, talk, and farm reports. WDGY station changed to acountry music format in September 1977, around the time when most music stations began shifting onto theFM band . The country format continued until 1989, when it became "News Talk 1130, WDGY". This format gradually morphed into the sports talk format, and the calls were changed to KFAN in 1991. Following this change, the WDGY call letters were ironically adopted by KDWB for the 630 kHz frequency.Programming
According to Minneapolis'
Star-Tribune , KFAN "...has morphed from a sports-talk station to a talk station that often discusses sports." [http://www.startribune.com/459/story/151768.html]Daily, Monday-Friday
The Power Trip Morning Show: Hosted by "Superstar" Mike Morris. Consist of sports, some local and world news, and the world of entertainment. Morris is joined by producer Chris Hawkey (A NASCAR enthusiast and a local rock cover-band musician), and Cory "Sludge" Cove. Also frequently on the show is
WCCO-TV sports anchor Mark Rosen.P.A. and Dubay: Hosted by Paul Allen and
Jeff Dubay . Consists ofMinnesota Vikings news,University of Minnesota sports, someMinnesota Twins happenings, and news on theMinnesota Wild andMinnesota Timberwolves . Dubay is nicknamed "Puffy", which was given to him by his cohost P.A.Paul Allen is known as the voice of theMinnesota Vikings , since he does the play by play for KFAN's broadcast of Vikings games. P.A. is the track announcer at the local horse racing trackCanterbury Park . The duo are continuously on the wrong side of predictions on major sporting events. The show has become infamous for its ability to jinx local athletes who are frequent guests, similar to the Madden jinx or the Sports Illustrated jinx. The only team that has been impervious to the curse is the Gopher Men's hockey team. Justin Gaard is the current producer for the P.A. and Dubay show. FormerDetroit Pistons head coachFlip Saunders frequently calls into the show, with the moniker of "Phil from Minneapolis"The Common Man Progrum (KFAN's spelling): Hosted by the "Common Man"
Dan Cole . The show consists of "ack-akka-dak, dak-dakka-ack", humor, tomfoolery and skullduggery, political discussion on the local and national levels, along with Cole's penchant for rarely talking about sports (except golf) on this program, which ironically is on an all sports radio station -- a fact that "Common" is very proud of. Cole's ability to not talk sports on a sports talk radio station is uncanny. He is also known for intermittent periods of dead air, usually lasting five to ten seconds. Cole is a long-time radio personality of the Twin Cities for a "couple 13-14 years", winning City Pages magazine's "Best AM Radio Personality" on a number of occasions. The Common Man "Progrum" is currently being produced on an interim basis by Brandon "Tenna-B" Mileski.The Chad Hartman Show: Hosted by
Chad Hartman , son of legendary Twin Cities sportswriterSid Hartman . The show features a mix of sports and current issues. Frequent guests of the Hartman Show include Minnesota Twins ex-General Manager Terry Ryan andWCCO-TV sports anchor Mark Rosen. Hartman is referred to by the Common Man as "the Barbara Walters of the Fan" for his impressive interviewing skills. The Chad Hartman show is produced by Darren "Doogie" Wolfson.Bumper to Bumper: Hosted by
Dan Barreiro and sidekick "Mr. Phunn" Joe Anderson. The show consists of Barreiro's insights on both popular culture issues and sports, discussing the most important events of the day. "Bumper to Bumper" is also known to feature humorous call in segments with eccentricGreen Bay Packers fanCarl Gerbschmidt , who appears to be a fictional character. [http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=77938] Barreiro has several other popular segments including the "We're Done As a Society" segment at 6:05 every Friday, the "Defrocked Holy Man of the Day" segment and the "Ode to a Dead Guy" segment. He has become famous for his meltdowns.Sludge and Lake: Hosted by Cory "Sludge" Cove and Henry Lake. The show consists of sports talk on all levels of competition and entertainment, although leaning more towards the sports realm. The show is usually broadcast from the studio but sometimes originating remotely from Joe Senser's Grill. The show was broadcast almost every night from KFAN: The Restaurant until its closing in 2005.
Other programming
Video Games Weekly: Wednesdays, hosted by Paul Charchian who discusses new video games for many different platforms.
FAN Outdoors: Thursdays, hosted by Billy Hildebrand and Saturdays 6am-8am, hosted Rob Drieslein. Saturdays 5am-6am, Outdoors Live with Doug Leier. The hosts share their hunting and fishing experiences and strategies, along with insights on outdoor issues.
FAN Motorsports: Saturdays, hosted by "Power Trip" producer Chris Hawkey. He talks about big news in
NASCAR and other racing.Viking Rewind: Sundays during the Vikings' season. Hosted by Doogie Wolfson. Simply rewinds of the past week's
Minnesota Viking interviews from the other KFAN shows.Packer Preview: Sundays during the
Green Bay Packers season, is hosted by Dave Sinykin. The Preview examines the day's Packers game. Packer Preview is the only Packer show on KFAN and is controversial among Viking fans.Minnesota Viking Broadcast: Pregame coverage of Vikings games starts two hours before the day's Vikings game usually on Sunday but some times on Monday if the Vikings have a
Monday Night Football game. Pregame hosted by "Mr. Phunn," Joe Anderson. KFAN's Vikings broadcast team consists of Paul Allen on play-by-play, and color commentary done by former Viking Linebacker and Assistant Coach Pete Bercich. Sideline insight is brought to the game by former Viking Punter Greg Coleman. The halftime report is hosted by Joe Anderson with insight from Mike Morris and Jeff Dubay. The postgame report is also hosted by Joe Anderson and includes interviews from multiple Vikings players and coaching staff which are conducted by Greg Coleman.Viking Fan Line: Starts right after the Vikings postgame report and lasts about two hours. Mike Morris and Jeff Dubay take fan postgame reaction and provide their insight on what the fans think.
Vikings Uncensored: Mondays during Vikings season. Hosted by Paul Allen and "Sludge" Corey Cove from Joe Sensor's bar and grill in Bloomington. They interview a star Viking player from the game on Sunday. They do not broadcast if the Vikings have a Monday Night Football game.
Fantasy Football Weekly: Saturdays during the Football Season. Hosted by Paul Charchian, John Tuvey, and Bo Mitchell. Fantasy football questions are answered
ad nauseam on this show. Callers are known to call a couple of hours before the show is on-air to be put on hold.The Weekend Wrap: Sundays. Hosted by Darren Wolfson. Wraps up the week in sports.
Twins Weekly: Sundays. Hosted by Chad Hartman. A look at the Minnesota Twins' prior week.
Poker Lounge: Monday Hosted by "Sludge" Corey Cove, Brandon Mileski, and Phil Mackey. They talk poker and help you improve your skills.
Tee to Green : Saturdays. Golf related show hosted by Dan Cole during the summer months, talks all things golf related with co-host and master teaching professional Craig Waryn.
ESPN Radio : On when none of the programs above are on the air. ESPN Radio programming on KFAN includes All Night with Jason Smith and multiple weekend shows.Former programming
Rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves broadcasts were lost in 2006. KFAN had held these rights since the Wolves' inaugural season in 1989. The Wolves will return to KFAN beginning in the 2008-09 season.
Sunday Sermons: Hosted by Dan Barreiro. Short version of Bumper to Bumper, with Justin Gaard as producer. Last aired in early April 2008.
Past personalities
*
Larry Fitzgerald Sr. , former sports talk show host atKMOJ inMinneapolis . Father ofArizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald .
*Dave Huffman , formerMinnesota Vikings guard and color commentor.
*Ryan Lefebvre , current radio play-by-play announcer of theKansas City Royals .
*Michelle Tafoya , currently a sideline reporter forESPN
*Eric Nelson , now withWCCO-AM inMinneapolis .
*Mark Rosen , longtimeWCCO-TV sports anchor. Still makes regular guest appearances on current KFAN programming.
*Thor Tolo , longtime KDKA radio sports jock inPittsburgh .
*Jesse Ventura , former wrestler andGovernor of Minnesota ,
*Bob Yates KFAN: The Restaurant
It opened in 2004 and closed in 2005. The
food services were managed by Grand Management, which operates a chain of Sidney's restaurants in the Twin Cities. Clear Channel Communications considered it to be a pilot project and may have tried to create similar restaurants across the country if it succeeded. In September 2005, the KFAN name was dropped and the restaurant became known as the Big City Tavern. The restaurant owners said the affiliation with Clear Channel was too limiting and implied that the establishment was only a sports bar. In July 2006, Big City Tavern closed. The restaurant was taken over by Major's Sports Cafe in September 2006, then changed owners again in 2008 to the Roseville location of Grumpy's Bar & Grill.KFXN
KFXN , also known as "Score 690", is KFAN's sister station. They air a complimentary sports talk format, which today consists mostly of syndicated shows from Fox Sports andESPN Radio , as well as being the Twin Cities home of theJim Rome Show . They have a long history as sister station toKTCZ , and aired ajazz format for much of the 1980s and into the 1990s before simulcasting with its FM sister. In 1998, 690 became a counterpart to KFAN, airing repeats of KFAN's local shows as well as various syndicated fare.The FAN Sports Radio Network
External links
* [http://www.kfan.com/ 1130 KFAN]
* [http://www.thescore690.com/ Score 690]
* [http://www.geocities.com/aaron_white/ KFAN Transmitter Site Tour]
* [http://www.qsl.net/k9ez/kfan.htm Transmitter Visit of KFAN]
* [http://home.comcast.net/~lsica/w9xat/ W9XAT: The Twin City Experimental Amateur Television Society]
* [http://www.kfan.com/pages/fannetworkmap.pdf KFAN Antenna Network]
*AMQ|KFAN
*AML|KFAN
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