KKFN

For the Denver, Colorado radio station that held the call sign KKFN at 950 AM from 1994 to 2008, see KRWZ.

KKFN

City of license	Longmont, Colorado
Broadcast area	Denver, Colorado
Branding	FM Sportsradio 104.3 The Fan
Slogan	"Denver's Sports Station"
Frequency	104.3 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	September 1964 (as KLMO-FM)
Format	Sports HD2: Sports (KEPN simulcast)
ERP	91,000 watts
HAAT	206 meters
Class	C1
Facility ID	71767
Callsign meaning	The FaN
Former callsigns	KLMO-FM (1964-1986) KQKS (1986-1997) KCKK (1997-1999) KCKK-FM (1999-2000) KJCD (2000-2008) KKFN-FM (2008-2009)
Owner	Bonneville International Corporation
Sister stations	KEPN
Webcast	Listen Live Page and Listen Live Player
Website	1043thefan.com

KKFN (104.3 FM, "104.3 The Fan") is a sports radio station serving the Denver-Boulder area. Owned and operated by Bonneville International, the outlet broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 91 kW and is licensed to Longmont, Colorado. Its studios are located in Greenwood Village, and the transmitter is in Lakewood on Green Mountain.

104.3 history

The frequency was home to KLMO-FM, targeting Longmont, Boulder and areas north of Denver. In 1986, the station was sold to local owners Western Cities Broadcasting, adopted a Top 40 format, changed call letters to KQKS, and adopted the moniker "KS104". By 1989, they evolved into a Dance-leaning rhythmic contemporary hit direction, but by 1993, they would start shifting back to a mainstream Top 40 direction again after they were left standing as the only Top 40 in the market.

However, by 1995, they would see new competition from two new stations, KHHT (K-HITS 107.5) and KALC (Alice 105.9), going after listeners with a mainstream Top 40 direction. As a result of this, KQKS returned to rhythmic contemporary hits that year. But by 1996, KQKS would receive a major jolt when their air staffers defected to another new rhythmic contemporary hit radio station, KJMN (JAM'N 92.1), and began attacking them on-air and on the streets.

In November 1996, Western Cities sold the station to Jefferson-Pilot. In January 1997, Jefferson-Pilot (now part of Lincoln Financial Group) moved the calls and Rhythmic Top 40 format to 107.5. After the move, on January 19, J-P placed a classic country format on the signal as KCKK, "Kicks 104." But by 2000, they would move that format over to the AM band so they can fill the smooth jazz void that was left open by KHIH after the latter flipped to Top 40 that year. The station adopted the call letters KJCD shortly after the move.

In June 2007, Lincoln announced that would put its television and radio stations up for sale. KJCD, along with its sister stations in Denver, is among the properties being shopped around by Lincoln.

On March 6, 2008, KJCD changed their format to sports, simulcasting KKFN, and rebranded as "104.3 The Fan". KJCD changed their call letters to KKFN-FM on March 12, 2008, and again to KKFN on March 1, 2009, once the sports format was moved completely over to the FM.

On December 8, 2014, Entercom announced that it was purchasing Lincoln Financial Group's entire 15-station lineup in a $106.5 million deal. On December 22, 2014, Entercom announced that it will spin off KKFN to the Pike's Peaks Trust, who will in turn spin the station off to a third party group as part of divesture deal. On June 26, 2015, the FCC green-lighted the deal, with KKFN becoming part of the Pike's Peaks Trust as it splits from the other properties that became part of the Entercom acquisition. On July 14, 2015, the Department of Justice forced Entercom to spin off KKFN, KOSI, KYGO-FM and KEPN to Bonneville International in exchange for Bonneville's KSWD in Los Angeles (and $5 million) to meet ownership limits. Both Bonneville and Entercom operated their new clusters via Time Brokerage Agreements on July 17, 2015, and the deal was officially consummated on November 24, 2015.

On October 12, 2015, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, owned by Altitude Sports and Entertainment founder Stan Kroenke, acquired Wilks Broadcasting's Denver properties, which include Country KWOF, Adult Top 40 KIMN, and Oldies KXKL. Once the sale is approved by the FCC, KSE is expected to flip one of three outlets to Sports, which could see the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Rapids move from KKFN.

Programming

KKFN is an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio and broadcasts The Ben Maller Show from midnight-4:00 am, and the first hour of Fox Sports Daybreak from 4:00-5:00 am. KKFN features mostly live and local programming on the weekdays; the lineup consists of The Fan Morning Show (Mike Evans & Joel Dressen) from 6:00-9:00 am, the "Football Hour (Mike Evans) from 9:00-10:00 am, the nationally syndicated (tape delayed, not local, shortened) The Dan Patrick Show (Dan Patrick) from 10:00 am-noon, Sandy Clough Show (Sandy Clough) from noon-3:00 pm, The Drive (Alfred Williams and Darren "D-Mac" McKee) from 3:00-6:00 pm, and The Fan Late Night (Ryan Edwards and Shawn Drotar) from 9:00 pm-midnight.

KKFN also carries play-by-play for most of the major sports leagues. Locally, they carry the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and NCAA football's Air Force Falcons. KKFN also carries much of Dial Global's sports coverage. This includes NFL football, consisting of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Thursday and Saturday Night Football, Thanksgiving Day games, all playoff games, the Super Bowl, and the Pro Bowl. It also includes NCAA football, including Conference Championships and some bowl games and NCAA basketball, including the NCAA Tournament. Weekend programming, when not carrying various play-by-play, is filled with local programming during the day. Then evenings and overnights are handled by Fox Sports Radio. With rival KJAC ending their Sports format upon its conversation to non-commercial status, KKFN will replace the overnight Fox Sports Radio programming with ESPN Radio starting January 4, 2016, the same day sister station KEPN rejoins ESPN Radio as a full time affiliate. (In return, KKZN will acquire the Fox Sports affiliation on the same day.)

KKFN also shared some of the Nuggets and Avalanche games with "Mile High Sports" outlet KDCO whenever conflicts involving their schedules occurred. The arrangement ended on June 1, 2015, when the now-KBUD flipped to a "Pot Rock" format.

External links

• 104.3 The Fan KKFN-FM official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KKFN
• Radio-Locator information on KKFN
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KKFN