KING-FM

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KING-FM is a classical music radio station in Seattle, Washington. Its transmitter is located in Issaquah, Washington.

The station is owned by a non-profit partnership of the Seattle Symphony, the Seattle Opera and ArtsFund known as Classical Radio, Inc.

KING-FM was once co-owned with KING 5, but was donated to the non-profit partnership by King Broadcasting upon that company’s sale to The Providence Journal Company in 1992. Even after the sale, the radio station was long co-located with the television operation. KING-FM moved to an office building several blocks away in 1999.

[edit] History

KING-FM began broadcasting classical music in Seattle around 1948. For many decades, KING-FM was a particular source of joy and enthusiasm for KING Broadcasting co-owner Dorothy Bullitt. The station's ambitious and challenging musical programming reflected a very special enthusiasm and joy for musical arts.

Listeners have fond memories of the late 1970s when 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 - i.e. 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 playback for some of its on-air source material.

In 1993, KING-FM relocated its transmitter from Seattle's Queen Anne Hill to Cougar Mountain near Issaquah. This higher-altitude transmitter location provided a vast improvement in the reception quality of KING-FM's signal throughout the Puget Sound area.