KDIZ

KDIZ
City of license Golden Valley, Minnesota
Broadcast area Minneapolis-St. Paul
Slogan Radio Disney Twin Cities
Frequency 1440 kHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date May 1948
Format Children's radio
Power 5,000 watts (day)
500 watts (night)
Class B
Facility ID 35504
Transmitter coordinates 44°59′20″N 93°21′6″W / 44.98889°N 93.35167°WCoordinates: 44°59′20″N 93°21′6″W / 44.98889°N 93.35167°W
Callsign meaning Kids DIZney
Former callsigns KEYD, KEVE, KQRS, KGLD
Affiliations Radio Disney
Owner The Walt Disney Company
(Sale pending)
(RD Minneapolis Assets, LLC)
Website www.radiodisney.com

KDIZ (1440 AM) is a radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by The Walt Disney Company, and airs the Radio Disney radio network.

History

Radio Disney 1440 logo used from 2008 to 2010.

The original call letters were KEYD and the station played country music for many years. The station was launched in May 1948 by former management and advertisers of WDGY, who had become disenchanted with the owners of that station over the discontinuance of religious programming. Family Broadcasting basically started the station as a new home for the spurned WDGY programming. KEYD got a sister TV station in 1955, KEYD-TV 9 (now KMSP-TV), and the two stations were co-owned by Family Broadcasting until mid-1956. The original KEYD radio studios were located in downtown Minneapolis on 9th Street off of Hennepin Avenue practically next to the Orpheum Theater (see photo link below). According to the 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook, both the AM and TV stations were co-located in the Foshay Tower by the end of 1955.

The call sign was changed to KEVE in June 1956[1] and the studios moved to the station's transmitter and antenna site at 917 Lilac Drive in Golden Valley. During that time, the station played country music. KEVE-FM (92.5 FM) signed on September 1, 1962 and by October 1963 it was given the call letters KADM to match its AM sister as the pair became known as "Adam and Eve in the Valley"; the city of license for the two stations is the suburb of Golden Valley. A gradual shift from country music to a mix of classical music, show tunes and adult standards began in 1960 and was completed on both stations by March 1963.[2] On December 1, 1964, the call letters for both stations became KQRS for "Quality Radio Stations".

In 1967, the stations began experimenting with freeform rock music from midnight to 5 AM every night via the "Night Watch" program, playing R&B, jazz and psychedelic rock. The foray proved successful and by the end of 1968 it became the full-time format.

The two KQs were a simulcast until 1982, when the AM briefly switched to an oldies format as KGLD before returning to the simulcast. FCC files show that the KGLD calls became effective November 22, 1982 with the KQRS calls returning on March 28, 1984.

The station again broke away from the simulcast in late 1996, this time permanently, when it became one of the four initial affiliates of the new Radio Disney with a children's format that competed with WWTC, then the flagship station of "Radio Aahs," which had its own children's format. FCC files show a call letter change to KDIZ effective November 15, 1996.

Disney had previously been collaborating with Radio Aahs, which was based in Minneapolis and had launched its children's format in 1990. Radio Aahs had grown to approximately 30 affiliate stations around the country. Disney withdrew from the Aahs contract and began competing against Aahs with Radio Disney. Children's Broadcasting Corp. sued Disney and was awarded $9.5 million in 2002. Disney appealed and after the court upheld the judgement, it was paid in 2005; with accumulated interest, the total was $12.4 million.

On November 12, 2005 the station made world news when a riot erupted at its "Jingle Jam Concert" featuring B5, forcing the venue, Brookdale Mall, to be closed. Members of the group were stripped of shirts, shoes and earrings.

On August 13, 2014, Disney put KDIZ and twenty-two other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=gAoEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA56&dq=KEVE&pg=PA56#v=onepage&q=KEVE&f=false
  2. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=fQsEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA39&dq=WPBC&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q=WPBC&f=false
  3. ↑ Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2014.

External links