KLCK-FM

KLCK-FM (98.9 FM), known by the on-air moniker Click 98.9, is a modern adult contemporary radio station based in Seattle, Washington. The Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. outlet broadcasts at 98.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 68,000 watts. Its transmitter is located near Issaquah, Washington on Tiger Mountain, with studios located at Newport Corporate Center in Bellevue.

History

KLCK-FM first went on the air in 1958 as KMCS. It was then locally owned by former Crown (later to be known as King Broadcasting Company) executives. Like most FM stations at the time, the format was "beautiful music/easy listening", which lasted until about 1983. Up until 1972, the station played LP's.

KMCS switched calls to KBBX in 1966. Then, with a major promotional thrust and with the TM syndicated "Music Only For A Woman" format in 1972, the call letters were changed to KEZX and 'Oceans of Beautiful Music'. Also from the late 1960s into the late 1980s, the sub-carrier 67 kHz SCA transmitted music and point of sale commercials to many of the retail outlets in the Puget Sound area.

The marketcasting portion was the reason that Roy Park, owner of Park Broadcasting purchased the station in late 1975. Park at the time was one of the largest broadcast firms in the US. The station increased its power in the spring of 1977 from 35,000 watts to 100,000 watts. At first, the station was locally programmed, but later changed to a syndicated service, only to revert to being locally programmed in 1980. In 1983, it flipped to a mix of AC, "West Coast" singer-songwriter pop music, AOR, and jazz music. This is considered to be an early version of what was to be known as adult album alternative. It remained as a AAA station until October 31, 1990, when it reverted to easy listening, but flipped again in August 1993 to Smooth Jazz, which was starting to gain ground in many major US cities.

In 1995, they took the KWJZ calls to compliment its smooth jazz format, which had become a favorite among listeners.

With the celebration of the 15th anniversary of KWJZ's format in 2008, the station dropped the "Smooth Jazz" part of its branding and became known simply as 98.9 KWJZ. While smooth jazz still made up the majority of its programming, KWJZ incorporated some chill out music, such as that featured on the syndicated program Chill with Mindi Abair (which aired on Sunday nights on KWJZ), as part of a more broadly defined "smooth music" format.

On December 27, 2010, at 3 PM, KWJZ changed their format to adult album alternative/modern AC as "Click 98.9". Click's first song was Animal by Neon Trees. On March 15, 2011, KWJZ changed call letters to KLCK-FM to better reflect its brand name.

Following Mediabase's addition of the station on the alternative rock panel, the station switched to alternative rock in November 2011, though it still leans toward AAA. Unlike other alternative stations, Click also airs some dance music, such as Martin Solveig's "Hello" and Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger." In December, the station began to include some hot AC material, such as Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry (primarily artists from sister adult contemporary radio station KRWM), but still retains its modern rock direction as it still reports to Mediabase's alternative rock panel.

Logo for Click 98.9, 2010-2014

By March 2012, the station switched to hot adult contemporary per Mediabase reports, joining adult top 40 station KPLZ-FM, though the station would shift back towards modern AC by mid-2014.

In 2013, Sandusky Radio sold its radio holdings in Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona to Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc..

HD radio

• HD1 carries the analog format ("Click 98.9") from the standard 98.9 FM frequency.
• HD2 is currently silent.
• HD3 carries a simulcast of KKNW.^[1]

Trivia

Rumor had it that the station at one time was KOMO-FM, but actually the original KOMO-FM never went on the air - the Chief Engineer at KOMO was of the opinion that FM would never amount to much. It was KRSC-FM that went to the University of Washington and is now KUOW. That happened as a result of the purchase of KRSC-TV by KING Broadcasting Company about 1949. FCC regulations prevented KING Broadcasting Company from owning two stations in the same market (King Broadcasting already owned KING-FM), and so the license and equipment for KRSC-FM was donated to the University of Washington.

External links

• Click 98.9
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KLCK
• Radio-Locator information on KLCK
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KLCK

References

Coordinates: 47°30′18″N 121°58′08″W / 47.505°N 121.969°W / 47.505; -121.969