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KZNS (AM)

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KZNS
Broadcast areaSalt Lake City metropolitan area
Frequency1280 kHz
BrandingKSL Sports Zone
Programming
FormatSports radio
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerJazz Communications LLC
OperatorBonneville International
KZNS-FM, KSL, KSL-FM, KSFI, KRSP-FM, KSL-TV
History
First air date
February 1945; 79 years ago (1945-02)
Former call signs
  • KNAK (1945–1976)
  • KWMS (1976–1982)
  • KDYL (1982–2001)
Call sign meaning
"Zone"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID60458
ClassB
Power
  • 50,000 watts (day)
  • 670 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
40°51′7″N 111°58′4″W / 40.85194°N 111.96778°W / 40.85194; -111.96778
Repeater(s)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitekslsports.com

KZNS (1280 kHz, The KSL Sports Zone) is an AM commercial radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It airs a Sports radio format and is owned by Jazz Communications LLC. Programming is simulcast on co-owned KZNS-FM 97.5, licensed to Coalville, Utah. On weekdays, KZNS-AM-FM have local hosts discussing Salt Lake City and national sports. Nights and weekends, programming is supplied by Fox Sports Radio. KZNS-AM-FM are the flagship radio stations for the Utah Jazz basketball team, the Utah Hockey Club of the NHL, the Salt Lake Bees Minor League Baseball team, Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, Utah Royals FC of the National Women's Soccer League, and Utah State Aggies football and men's basketball of the Mountain West Conference. When multiple games are occurring simultaneously, the AM and FM signals will air different live sports.

KZNS's transmitter is near the Jordan River in North Salt Lake, and their headquarters are located inside the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.[2] It is a Class B radio station, running 50,000 watts by day, the maximum power for commercial AM radio stations in the U.S. At night, to protect other stations on 1280 AM, it drops power to 670 watts. It uses a directional antenna at all times.

History

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KNAK

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The station first signed on the air in February 1945, and held the call sign KNAK.[3] The station was owned by the Granite District Radio Broadcasting Company with studios in the Continental Bank Building on South Temple at Main Street.[4]

KNAK first broadcast on 1400 kHz at only 250 watts. By this time, KSL was powered at 50,000 watts. KNAK was not associated with any of the big radio networks. Salt Lake City had four other radio stations, network affiliates of CBS, NBC, ABC and the Mutual Broadcasting System. In the 1950s, KNAK moved to 1280 kHz, accompanied by an increase in power to 5,000 watts by day, 500 watts at night.

KWMS

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On January 16, 1976, the station's call sign was changed to KWMS.[3] As KWMS, the station aired an all-news format.[5] It was an affiliate of NBC Radio's "News and Information Service" (NIS), a 24-hour all-news network.[6]

NIS was discontinued in 1977. KWMS began doing a local version of the all-news format using its own anchors and the services of the Mutual Broadcasting System.

KDYL

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In 1982, the station was acquired by Simmons Family Inc., which already owned popular adult contemporary station 100.3 KSFI, for $750,000.[7] On July 21, 1982, the station's call letters switched to KDYL.[8] When Simmons acquired the station, the KDYL call letters were assigned to a Tooele, Utah, station, then at 990 kHz, and the owner of that station, Thomas Mathis, was compensated to release the KDYL call letters, changing the call sign of his station to KTLE. Prior to the Tooele station having the KDYL call sign, they were assigned to the 1320 kHz Salt Lake City station, now known as KNIT. Simmons wanted to call this station KDYL because those call letters had been in use for a long time in the Salt Lake City radio market.

In the early and mid 1980s, KDYL aired an all-news format.[9][10][11] By 1986, the station had begun airing the "Music of Your Life" adult standards format, featuring big band music and adult pop songs from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.[12][13][14] The station continued airing this format until June 27, 2000.[15]

On June 27, 2000, the station switched to a talk radio format.[15] It primarily carried conservative talk programming.[16] Syndicated shows hosted by Michael Savage and Michael Medved appeared, along with Imus in the Morning hosted by Don Imus.[16]

KZNS

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The radio towers for KZNS, north of the Salt Lake City International Airport

On November 12, 2001, KDYL's call sign was changed to KZNS.[8] That same day, Simmons Media changed the format of the station, airing CNN Headline News in the daytime and sports talk in the afternoon and evening.[16] The station promoted itself as "KZN", or "K-Zone";[16] KZN had been the original call sign for KSL.[17] Simmons saw KZNS as the flagship of a regional "KZN" network of stations;[17] by 2002, much of its sports programming was also carried on KZNU in St. George, KZNI in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and KZNR in Blackfoot, Idaho.[18] Soon thereafter, sports talk programming occupied the station's entire schedule, calling itself "The Zone".[19]

As of February 1, 2011, KZNS' "The Zone" sports talk programming also began to be heard on co-owned KZNS-FM 97.5 licensed to Coalville, Utah, a Salt Lake City suburb. Some time later, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allowed KZNS to increase its power to 50,000 watts by day and 670 watts at night.

As part of the change in ownership of the Utah Jazz, the sale of the station from the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies to Smith Entertainment Group was finalized on May 27, 2021.[20]

On September 30, 2021, it was announced that Bonneville International, owner of KSL and KSL-FM, would be taking over operations of The Zone sports network. The arrangement with Bonneville would result in select Utah Jazz games being aired on KSL.[21] Founding host Gordon Monson and some producers were laid off by the new management.[22] The Zone introduced a new lineup effective October 20.[23]

Former logo

On September 20, 2024, KZNS was announced as the flagship radio affiliate of the NHL's Utah Hockey Club beginning with the franchise's Inaugural campaign[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KZNS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KZNS-AM
  3. ^ a b History Cards for KZNS, fcc.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2015
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1946 page 180
  5. ^ Bob Hamilton, "Salt Lake City, Utah", Radio Quarterly Report '76, Jan. 1 – June 30, 1976. p. 386. Retrieved September 13, 2015
  6. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-215
  7. ^ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting. March 15, 1982. p. 192.
  8. ^ a b Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2015
  9. ^ "Fall '82 Ratings Reports for the Top 50 Markets", Radio & Records, April 1983. p. 124. Retrieved September 9, 2015
  10. ^ "Across the Dial", Broadcasting Publications, (1983) p. 107. Retrieved September 9, 2015
  11. ^ "Ratings Report", Radio & Records, April 1985. p. 123. Retrieved September 9, 2015
  12. ^ "Arbitron Winter '86 Advances", Radio & Records, Issue Number 634, May 9, 1986. p. 7. Retrieved September 9, 2015
  13. ^ "Radio Logs", Deseret News, January 26, 1986. p. 45. Retrieved September 9, 2015
  14. ^ Lynn Arave, "AM Radio. When was the last time you listened to it?", Deseret News, February 10, 1989. Retrieved September 9, 2015
  15. ^ a b "KDYL switches to all-talk format". Associated Press. June 27, 2000. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2021 – via Deseret News.
  16. ^ a b c d Renzhofer, Martin (November 14, 2001). "KDYL Is Now K-Zone With CNN, Sports Talk". Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on November 16, 2001. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Arave, Lynn (November 16, 2001). "Station with a new format adopts historic call letters". Deseret News. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Arave, Lynn (April 18, 2002). "KFAN personality switches stations". Deseret News. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  19. ^ Arave, Lynn (March 29, 2002). "Radio dial: KFNZ loses James to KZNS". Deseret News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  20. ^ "Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Finalizes Sale of The Zone Sports Network to Smith Entertainment Group", May 27, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  21. ^ "Bonneville Assumes Control Of Utah Jazz-Owned KZNS-AM/FM". Inside Radio. October 1, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  22. ^ Larsen, Andy (September 30, 2021). "Tribune columnist Gordon Monson out at The Zone, as KSL takes over management of sports radio station". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  23. ^ "The Zone Sports Network Announces New Lineup With Some Familiar Faces". KSL Sports. October 19, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  24. ^ https://kslsports.com/jwplayer_videos/video-ksl-sports-zone-announced-as-radio-home-of-utah-hockey-club/
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