KING-FM

The station that today is KING-FM first signed on the air in December 1947, originally at 94.9 MHz.{{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1949/301-400%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201949-4.pdf |title=Broadcasting Yearbook 1949 |page=315 |work=Broadcasting |year=1949 |accessdate=July 18, 2021}} It was owned by King Broadcasting, whose co-owner and president was Dorothy Bullitt. The year before, Bullitt had purchased KEVR (1090 AM) and changed it to KING (now KPTR).{{cite web|last=Blecha|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Blecha|title=KRSC: Seattle's Radio and TV Pioneers|work=HistoryLink|date=March 6, 2010|url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9342|access-date=October 13, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Duncan|first=Don|title=Pioneers In Broadcasting|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19900822/1089112/pioneers-in-broadcasting|access-date=October 13, 2013|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=August 22, 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422122532/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900822&slug=1089112|archive-date=April 22, 2017|url-status=live}} (Seattle is located in King County, for which its call letters were chosen.)

In 1949, King Broadcasting bought 98.1 KRSC-FM, which had gone on the air in February 1947 under different ownership. KING-FM moved from 94.9 to 98.1 MHz, replacing KRSC-FM. The 94.9 transmitter was donated to Edison Vocational School, which used it to broadcast educational programming on that frequency. In 1958, the 94.9 frequency was taken over by KUOW-FM, owned by the University of Washington, and now a public news-talk station affiliated with NPR.

Concurrent with the purchase of KRSC-FM, King Broadcasting also acquired KRSC-TV (channel 5), which had signed on the previous year. The call letters were changed to KING-TV.{{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1950/RADIO%20&%20TV%20NE-Ter%20YB%201950%20B&W-11.pdf |title=Broadcasting Yearbook 1950|page=314|work=Broadcasting|year=1950|accessdate=March 14, 2021}} The three stations, KING-AM-FM-TV, had their studios and offices at 320 Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.

At first, KING-FM simulcast its AM counterpart. Over time, it began airing classical programs separate from the AM station, and by the late 1960s, it was exclusively a classical outlet, a format that has continued to be broadcast on the station since.

During the late 1970s, KING-FM carried syndicated concert broadcasts by the Philadelphia Orchestra, usually under direction of Eugene Ormandy, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony. Many of the syndicated concert programs featured well-known instrumentalists and conductors performing works which they never recorded commercially - e.g. Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic in a highly memorable 1976 reading of Bruckner's Sixth Symphony in A major.

In the mid-1970s, KING-FM's schedule also included specialized programs showcasing Quadraphonic LP recordings and historical recordings. In 1983, KING-FM was the first station in the Seattle area to utilize compact disc (CD) technology for its recordings.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

In 1992, King Broadcasting was acquired by the parent company of The Providence Journal, a Rhode Island publishing and broadcasting company. While the new ownership wanted the TV station, the radio stations were sold to Classic Radio for $9.75 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1994/B-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1994-B&W.pdf |title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1994 page B-399 |date= |accessdate=March 14, 2021}} The AM station was, in turn, sold to EZ Communications. KING-FM was run by a non-profit partnership, consisting of the Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, and the Arts Fund. Although KING-FM was owned by a non-profit entity, the station continued to operate for a time on a commercial basis, selling advertising as before. Even after the sale, the radio station was co-located with KING-TV for several more years.

Many radio transmitters in the Seattle-Tacoma radio market were moved to surrounding mountains for better reception in Seattle's hilly topography.{{cite news|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|title=On Radio: Keep experimenting to get better reception|author=Bill Virgin|date=December 26, 2007|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/tv/article/On-Radio-Keep-experimenting-to-get-better-1259844.php}} In 1993, KING-FM relocated its transmitter from Seattle's Queen Anne Hill to Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. A backup transmitter was on nearby Cougar Mountain.{{citation|title=Build better backups|last=Irwin|first=Doug|magazine=Radio|volume=19|issue=11|date=November 2013|pages=14, 16–21, 24}} This higher-elevation transmitter location provided a significant improvement in KING-FM's reception quality in its listener area. KING-FM also began broadcasting its programming online, becoming one of the first internet radio stations, streamed by RealNetworks {{circa|1995}}.{{cite news|title=Behind the Scenes; KING-FM streaming audio guru / Bryan Lowe|author=Melinda Bargreen|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=November 30, 2003|page=K1|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20031130&slug=behind30|accessdate=September 27, 2023|quote=KING-FM ... one of the first radio stations to broadcast live over the Internet...almost eight years ago when the station was chosen by Seattle-based RealNetworks}}

File:KING-FM studio at Seattle Opera Center during open house, Sept. 2023.jpg building in Seattle]]

On March 23, 2010, KING-FM announced that it would transition to a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio station in July 2011, citing reduced advertising revenue.{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/03/22/daily16.html|title=Classic-music KING FM to rely on listeners|date=March 23, 2010|work=Puget Sound Business Journal|publisher=American City Business Journals|access-date=March 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604231819/http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/03/22/daily16.html|archive-date=June 4, 2011|url-status=live}} Several other commercial classical radio stations have made similar transitions to public radio status, including WQXR-FM in New York City, WCRB in Boston and KDFC in San Francisco. Successful fundraising efforts led KING-FM to announce on April 7, 2011, that the transition would instead take place on May 2, two months ahead of schedule.{{cite news|last=Rolph|first=Amy|title=KING FM will become listener-supported sooner than thought|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/KING-FM-will-become-listener-supported-sooner-1327856.php|access-date=April 9, 2011|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=April 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017124858/http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/KING-FM-will-become-listener-supported-sooner-1327856.php|archive-date=October 17, 2012|url-status=live}}

In 2011, KING-FM made the successful transition from a commercial to a non-commercial public radio station. As a listener-supported station, KING-FM has added new programming and added two additional channels of classical music using HD Radio technology. KING-FM is one a handful of non-commercial FM radio stations to broadcast outside the standard band for FM stations of its type (88-92 MHz; it is also one of two such stations in the Seattle market alongside KUOW-FM).

The station relocated its recording studio and offices to the Seattle Opera's Seattle Center building in 2020.{{cite news |last=Connelly |first=Joel |date=June 18, 2019 |title=Cohabitation in the arts: KING-FM will move in with Seattle Opera |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Cohabitation-in-the-arts-KING-FM-will-move-in-14015767.php |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |accessdate=September 27, 2023}} In 2022, KING-FM renamed itself Classical KING and changed its logo as a means of reducing perceived elitism.{{cite web|url=https://king.org/classical-king-rebranding|title=Classical-KING Rebranding|website=Classical KING|access-date=October 27, 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223140650/https://www.king.org/classical-king-rebranding/|archive-date=December 23, 2022}} The following year, Classical KING redesigned its website to improve accessibility.{{cite web|url=https://king.org/article/an-amazing-team-brought-you-this-website|title=An Amazing Team brought you this Website|date=August 4, 2023|access-date=October 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808152011/https://king.org/article/an-amazing-team-brought-you-this-website|archive-date=August 8, 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.king.org/}}
• {{FM station data|11755|KING-FM}}

{{Seattle Radio}}

{{NPR Washington}}

{{Authority control}}

ING-FM

Category:Classical music radio stations in the United States

Category:Public radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1947

Category:1947 establishments in Washington (state)