KNOF

Last updated
KNOF
Broadcast area Minneapolis-St. Paul
Frequency 95.3 MHz
BrandingPraiseLive
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Contemporary Christian Music
Ownership
OwnerChristian Heritage Broadcasting, Inc.
History
First air date
April 10, 1960
Former call signs
KNOF (1960–2016)
KZGO (2016–2021)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 59624
Class A
ERP 900 watts (horizontal polarization)
820 watts (vertical)
HAAT 258 m (846 ft)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website PraiseLive.org

KNOF (95.3 MHz) is a non-profit FM radio station licensed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and serving the Twin Cities area. The station is broadcasts a Christian Contemporary radio format and is owned by Christian Heritage Broadcasting, Inc. KNOF's radio studios and offices are on Elliot Avenue in Minneapolis.

Contents

KNOF has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 900 watts (horizontal polarization) and 820 watts (vertical). The transmitter is located atop the IDS Center.

History

KNOF was founded by the Rev. Fred and the Rev. Grace Adam, signing on the air on April 10, 1960, to broadcast Christian programming to the greater Twin Cities media market of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Their company was named the Selby Gospel Broadcasting Corporation because the offices and studios were on Selby Avenue in St. Paul. The station's transmitter transmitted only 3,000 watts on a 249-foot tower, while many local FM stations were powered at 100,000 watts on towers five times that height. [2]

In August 2007, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the transfer of control of Selby Gospel Broadcasting to North Central University, as a gift to the college at the request of Rev. Grace Adam, an alumna of the university. [3]

The station operated from new state of the art studios on the campus of North Central University and transmitted a 6,000-watt signal from a 249-foot tower in St. Paul, its city of license.

New ownership

KNOF was sold to Praise Broadcasting (who began operating the station via a time brokerage agreement in 2009) effective October 17, 2014 for $5 million, and shifted to a contemporary Christian music format as "Praise FM". However, nearly eleven months later, on September 24, 2015, Praise Broadcasting announced the sale of KNOF to Northern Lights Broadcasting, in exchange for money, the move of the format to the HD2 sub channel of Northern Lights' KTWN, and a five-year sponsorship deal with the Minnesota Twins for "Faith Night" from 2016 to 2020 and use of Target Field for Praise FM's annual concerts in 2016 and 2017. In total, the transaction was valued at $7.95 million, and was consummated on January 4, 2016.

Speculation from media outlets had Northern Lights moving KTWN and its Alternative format to 95.3, paving the way for a new format to debut at 96.3. These rumors increased as Northern Lights requested the callsign KZGO for the station. [4]

"Go" logo (2016-2021) KZGO GO953.png
"Go" logo (2016–2021)

On January 5, 2016, at 3 p.m., Northern Lights flipped the station to Rhythmic Top 40 as "Go 95.3", launching with "Crewed Up" by local hip hop group Atmosphere, the first of 10,000 songs in a row to launch the new station. The move brought the format back to the Twin Cities for the first time since sister station KTWN (as KTTB) flipped to Top 40 in 2010. The newly launched "Go 95.3" featured a hybrid presentation of current R&B/Hip-Hop product mixed in with music from local and independent talent. [5] [6] [7] The format was launched exactly one year to the minute that KTWN launched the "Go 96.3" alternative format. On January 22, 2016, KNOF changed its call sign to KZGO.

The former radio tower for KNOF 95.3 FM St. Paul, MN with studios below. KNOF 95.3 Radio Tower.jpg
The former radio tower for KNOF 95.3 FM St. Paul, MN with studios below.

On December 1, 2020, Go Media announced that they would sell KQGO (the former KTWN) and KZGO to the Educational Media Foundation for $2.45 million. With the announcement of the sale, the stations immediately dismissed all on-air staff and shifted to a jockless presentation, which it continued with until the sale closed. [8] The FCC officially approved the sale on March 26, 2021, and was officially consummated on April 12. [9] On the same day as the sale consummation, the former contemporary worship music "Praise FM" format (now under the name "PraiseLive") that aired on the station prior to the sale to Northern Lights/Go Media in 2016 returned to the station, as part of an agreement with Praise Broadcasting and EMF. Along with the change, KZGO changed back to the heritage KNOF call letters. [10] Just days later, on April 23, Praise Broadcasting announced it would buy the station outright from EMF for $1.225 million. The sale was closed on July 20, 2021. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMNV</span> Regional Mexican radio station in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area

KMNV is a commercial AM radio station licensed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and serving the Twin Cities radio market. It is owned by Santamaria Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language radio format featuring Regional Mexican music with some weekday comedy shows. KMNV's radio studios and offices are in Richfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTCZ-FM</span> Radio station in Minneapolis, Minnesota

KTCZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market and Western Wisconsin. KTCZ airs a hybrid modern adult contemporary radio format. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and has studios and offices on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KQQL</span> Radio station in Anoka–Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota

KQQL is a commercial radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market and is licensed to suburban Anoka. It plays classic hits and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMWA</span> Radio station in Edina, Minnesota

KMWA is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Edina, Minnesota, and serving the Twin Cities area. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation, and airs programming from EMF's nationally syndicated "Air1" radio format featuring Christian Worship Music. KMWA's transmitter is located in New Hope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KARJ (FM)</span> Air 1 radio station in Escondido, California

KARJ is an FM radio station serving the North County of San Diego County, California, United States, airing a Worship music format from the Air1 network, and is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.

WLKX-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Forest Lake, Minnesota, and serving the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. It is owned by Dennis and Lucas Carpenter, through licensee Carpenter Broadcasting LLC. Their holdings include WQPM in Princeton, KLCI in Elk River, and KBGY in Faribault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KBHL</span> Radio station in Osakis, Minnesota

KBHL is a Contemporary Christian Music radio station in Osakis, Minnesota, United States, owned by Christian Heritage Broadcasting.

KRFN is a commercial radio station licensed to Sparks, Nevada and broadcasting to the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area. The station is owned by the Evans Broadcast Company, Inc. and it airs an adult contemporary radio format branded as "Fun 101."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KARW</span> Air 1 radio station in Salinas, California

KARW is a non-commercial radio station in Salinas, California, broadcasting to the Santa Cruz-Monterey-Salinas, California, area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFFY</span> Radio station in Florida, United States

WFFY is a commercial FM radio station licensed to San Carlos Park, Florida, and broadcasting to the Fort Myers media market. It airs a rhythmic contemporary radio format and is owned by Sun Broadcasting, with studios on Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers. The station carries the nationally syndicated Breakfast Club from WWPR in New York City in morning drive time.

WKVG is a radio station in Greenville, South Carolina, serving Upstate South Carolina including the Greenville-Spartanburg radio market. WKVG is owned and operated by the Educational Media Foundation, and is an affiliate of K-Love.

WMRK-FM is a radio station licensed to serve Shorter, Alabama, United States. Alexander Broadcasting Company is the licensee. The station is operated under a local marketing agreement by EMF Broadcasting (K-LOVE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K273BH</span> Radio station in Fridley, Minnesota

K273BH is a translator broadcasting the mainstream urban format of the HD3 subcarrier of iHeartMedia's KTCZ-FM. Licensed to Fridley, Minnesota, it serves the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area inside the I-494/I-694 beltway. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC. All the offices and studios are located in St. Louis Park and the transmitter is atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KGLB</span> Radio station in Glencoe, Minnesota

KGLB is a radio station licensed to Glencoe, Minnesota. The station, which previously aired an oldies format based in St. Peter, Minnesota, returned to the air on July 15, 2009, with a Classic Country format. The station had been off the air for about a year.

WHVK is a radio station repeating a satellite-delivered Contemporary Christian music format branded as K-LOVE, and is licensed to New Hope, Alabama. The station serves the Huntsville, Alabama, area. WHVK is owned and operated by Educational Media Foundation.

KKMR is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Arizona City, Arizona, and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation and it airs a Christian Contemporary radio format, as part of the K-Love network.

KLTW is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Winnie, Texas and serving the Golden Triangle. It airs a Contemporary Christian radio format and is owned and operated by Educational Media Foundation.

WIXK is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a music, news and talk radio format for the Hmong community of the Twin Cities. It is licensed to New Richmond, Wisconsin, and serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The station is owned by Mai Yia Vang, through licensee Hmong Radio Broadcast, LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K244FE</span> Radio station in Calhoun Beach, Minneapolis, Minnesota

K244FE is a translator broadcasting the sports talk format of the HD3 subcarrier of iHeartMedia's KQQL. Licensed to Minneapolis' "Calhoun Beach" neighborhood, it serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area inside the I-494/I-694 beltway. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation. All the offices and studios are located in St. Louis Park and the transmitter is atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMWA</span> Air1 radio station in Malone, New York

WMWA is an American radio station broadcasting a Christian worship music radio format. Licensed to Malone, New York, United States, the station is currently owned by the Educational Media Foundation.

References

  1. "Facility Technical Data for KNOF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
  3. "NCU Receives Gift of Radio Station | North Central University". Archived from the original on 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  4. "Northern Lights Broadcasting Acquires KNOF Minneapolis" from Radio Insight (September 24, 2015)
  5. "Polhad-owned Go Media Dials Into Rap/Hip-Hop Radio With Go 95.3" from City Pages (January 4, 2016)
  6. "Go 95.3 Minneapolis to Launch Tuesday".
  7. Go 95.3 Debuts
  8. Go 95.3 & Go 96.3 Minneapolis Sold To Educational Media Foundation
  9. "FCC Monitor: FCC Formally Approves Minneapolis Radio Sale – Upper Midwest Broadcasting".
  10. EMF Closes On Twin Cities FMs With Plans To Bring Back ‘Praise Live’ KNOF
  11. Praise Live Reacquires KNOF Minneapolis

44°58′33.9″N93°16′20.8″W / 44.976083°N 93.272444°W / 44.976083; -93.272444