| City of license | Edina, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| Branding | 96.3 K-Twin |
| Slogan | "Your Town, Your Friends, Your Hits" |
| Frequency | 96.3 FM (MHz) |
| First air date | 1993 (as KARP) |
| Format | Modern AC |
| ERP | 19,000 watts |
| HAAT | 77 meters |
| Class | C3 |
| Facility ID | 70705 |
| Former callsigns | KQXA (1991-1993) KARP (1993-2000) KTTB (2000-2010) KHTC (2010-2012) |
| Owner | Northern Lights Broadcasting |
| Webcast |
Subject to change: Listen Live URL 32kbps stereo AAC |
| Website | ktwin.com |
KTWN-FM (96.3 FM) is an American radio station licensed to Edina, Minnesota and serving the Twin Cities area. KTWN-FM is currently airing an modern adult contemporary music format branded as "96.3 K-Twin."
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The frequency was originally licensed as KQXA by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 15, 1991. In August 1993, the station signed on as KARP, playing a wide mix of classic rock, oldies, country music and farm reports.
To increase the value of the station, KARP's owners decided to seek FCC permission to increase power and move the transmitter closer to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The transmitter was moved farther east and power was increased from 50,000 watts to 100,000 watts, giving the station a city-grade signal over much of the west metro area. The move also resulted in WJMC-FM (96.3 FM) in Rice Lake, Wisconsin downgrading from 100 kW to 50 kW, changing its frequency to 96.1 FM, and moving its transmitter north. The actions were approved by the FCC in September, 1999.[1]
In February 2000, KARP was purchased by a group consisting of local investors Kandu Communications and Cincinnati, Ohio-based Blue Chip Broadcasting, with the aim of bringing a quasi-urban-formatted music FM station to Minnesota for the first time. The station moved its transmitter to a new site later that month.[2] The transfer in ownership to Blue Chip Broadcasting took place just after Noon on May 18, 2000. The station played all requests during the morning hours, with goodbyes from the DJ's and other staff. Morning hosts John Carrigan and John Mons gave a final farewell, followed by "Happy Trails." They also announced that the KARP call sign and format would be moving to KKJR (106.9 FM, now KARP-FM) in Hutchinson, Minnesota, on June 1. Following KARP's departure from 96.3 FM, the station began stunting, repeating a short list of songs from Prince and Janet Jackson.[3]
The new B96 (KTTB) debuted on June 1, 2000. In May 2001, Blue Chip sold the station to Radio One, a company that specializes in urban formats. However, Radio One allowed its B96 Minneapolis station to maintain its rhythmic formatted playlist (although B96 leaned towards urban and played some urban exclusive songs that most rhythmic stations normally didn't play).[4]
On June 14, 2007, Northern Lights Broadcasting, owned by the family of Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad, announced the purchase of KTTB from Radio One for $28 million (USD). The deal was approved by the FCC on August 20, 2007.[5] Northern Lights had already stated that it would keep the station's staff and format intact.[6]
In September 2008, Northern Lights Broadcasting filed an application to change KTTB's city of license from Glencoe to Edina (the city in which the station's studios are located), move its transmitter to the tower in St. Louis Park used by AM stations WWTC and KYCR, and decrease its power (from 100,000 to 24,000 watts) and antenna height. Northern Lights purchased 1310 AM KRBI in St. Peter in late July, and changed its call sign to KGLB. It plans to change KGLB's city of license to Glencoe (which has no other radio stations licensed to it) to maintain local service to Glencoe. The deal was not approved, but Northern Lights' application to change KTTB's city of license to Edina, move the transmitter to New Hope, and decrease its power (from 100,000 to 19,000 watts) was approved, and KTTB began transmitting from New Hope on August 20, 2009.
The move has strengthened KTTB's signal in urbanized portions of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The lower power meant the station lost coverage in the nearby smaller markets of Mankato and St. Cloud where it also had significant listenership.
At noon on January 6, 2010, Northern Lights changed the station's name to "96.3 Now" and call sign to KHTC, officially dropping the urban lean at the station, while retaining the rhythmic format. The final song on B96 was "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child, while the first song on Now was Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A.". The move put KHTC in an even closer rivalry to mainstream Top 40 (CHR) station KDWB-FM.[7] According to radio promos, the station also features Commercial-Free Mondays. While they may be challenging KDWB, KHTC's Program Director Sam Elliott insists that "96.3 Now" will continue to have a Rhythmic flavor, will be more "Dance-oriented" than KDWB, will not play any songs that are too "Disney Pop", and will not add any pop/rock artists (like Nickelback). KHTC is still a reporter in Nielsen BDS' Rhythmic Airplay Panel as well as in Mediabase's Rhythmic Chart because of its rhythmic direction and playlist, and therefore does not meet the criteria to be included on their mainstream Top 40/CHR reporting panels.[8]
On December 29, 2011, Northern Lights announced that KHTC would drop the rhythmic format and "Now" branding on January 1, 2012, and shift to a hot adult contemporary format (leaning towards modern adult contemporary with its incorporation of modern rock/alternative music), branded as "96.3 K-Twin," along with a call sign change to KTWN-FM (mirroring the calls on Northern Lights' country-formatted AM station in Glencoe, Minnesota).[9] "K-Twin" will feature "today’s guitar based, pop alternative music as well as similar, gold based hit music from 1985 to the present," with acts ranging from Bon Jovi and U2 to Adele and Green Day, as well as songs that, according to Northern Lights, "aren't currently being played in the (Twin Cities) market." "K-Twin" will also emphasize its Twin Cities connections and local personalities, including a morning show (which debuted on January 4) featuring Tony Fly (a holdover from both "B96" and "96.3 Now"), former Miss Minnesota International contestant Danni Star (also a holdover from "Now"), and KARE news personality Eric Perkins.
At Midnight on New Year's Day, 96.3 officially flipped to Hot AC. The final song on "96.3 Now" was "In Paris" by Jay-Z and Kanye West, while the first song on "K-Twin" was "Misery" by Soul Asylum. The new call letters also took effect at this time. The station primarily competes with KS95 (94.5) and Cities 97 (97.1).
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