These days, radio is a group effort. Most stations are part of groups of four or more stations in the same market.
But before deregulation, companies were limited to just one AM and one FM station per market. That meant more operators with fewer stations.
The first round of 1990s deregulation allowed combinations of up to four stations. It was only a few more years before more deregulation allowed groups of up to eight stations in large markets, with no more than five on either band.
Lost in all of this, especially to younger readers who didn’t observe consolidation firsthand, are the historic pairings of AM and FM stations before consolidation.
Here’s a look at early 1990s pairings of stations that later consolidated in Minnesota (and North Dakota border markets), using the callsigns of the era. An asterisk indicates a former pairing that is now split.
Alexandria:
KXRA/1490 and KXRA-FM/92.3 (added KSTQ/99.3)
Bemidji:
KKBJ/1360 and KKBJ-FM/103.7 (added KPMI/1300, WBJI/98.3, and KKWB/102.5)
KBUN/1450 and KBHP/101.1 (added KKZY/95.5, KLLZ-FM/99.1, and KBUN-FM/104.5)
Brainerd:
WJJY/1270 and WJJY-FM/106.7* (WJJY-FM now part of Hubbard group)
KVBR/1340 and KVBR-FM/103.5 (now part of Hubbard group)
KLIZ/1380 and KLIZ-FM/107.5 (now part of Hubbard group)
Detroit Lakes:
KDLM/1340 and KKDL/95.1 (FM now part of Radio FM Media group)
Duluth-Superior:
WEBC/560 and WAVC/105.1 (added KLDJ/101.7 and KBMX/107.7)
KDAL/610 and KDAL-FM/95.7 (now part of Midwest group)
WDSM/710 and KZIO/102.5 (now part of Midwest group)
KXTP/970 and WAKX/98.9 (now part of Midwest group)
KQDS/1490 and KQDS-FM/94.9* (KQDS-FM now part of Midwest group)
Fargo-Moorhead:
KFGO/790 and KFGO-FM/101.9 (now part of Midwest group)
WDAY/970 and WDAY-FM/93.7* (FM now part of Midwest group)
KVOX/1280 and KVOX-FM/99.9* (FM now part of Midwest group)
KQWB/1550 and KQWB-FM/98.7 (now part of Radio F-M Media)
Fergus Falls:
KJJK/1020 and KJJK-FM/96.5 (combined with KBRF/KZCR)
KBRF/1250 and KZCR/103.3 (combined with KJJK AM-FM)
Grand Forks:
KNOX/1310 and KNOX-FM/94.7 (now part of Leighton group)
KKXL/1440 and KKXL-FM/92.9 (now part of iHeart group including KQHT/96.1, KSNR/100.3, and KJKJ/107.5)
KCNN/1590 and KZLT/104.3 (now part of Leighton group)
Hibbing-Virginia:
WKKQ/650 and WTBX/93.9 (now part of Midwest group)
WMFG/1240 and WMFG-FM/106.3 (now part of Midwest group)
WEVE/1340 and WEVE-FM/97.9* (WEVE-FM now part of Midwest group)
WHLB/1400 and WUSZ/99.9* (WHLB now defunct, WUSZ now part of Midwest group)
Litchfield:
KLFD/1410 and KMXK/94.9* (KMXK now part of Townsquare St. Cloud group)
Little Falls:
KLTF/960 and KFML/94.1 (added WYRQ/92.1)
Mankato/New Ulm/St. Peter:
KNUJ/860 and KXLP/93.1* (FM now part of Subarctic group)
KYSM/1230 and KYSM-FM/103.5* (AM now part of Subarctic group, FM part of Alpha group)
KRBI/1310 and KRBI-FM/105.5 (AM moved to Glencoe, FM now part of Alpha group)
KTOE/1420 and KDOG/96.7 (now part of Subarctic group)
Marshall:
KMHL/1400 and KKCK/99.7 (added KARL/105.1 and KARZ/107.5)
Minneapolis-St. Paul:
WDGY/630 and KDWB/101.3* (KDWB now part of iHeart group)
KTCJ/690 and KTCZ/97.1* (KTCZ now part of iHeart group)
WCCO/830 and WLTE/102.9 (now part of Audacy group)
KJJO/950 and KJJO-FM/104.1* (FM now part of Audacy group)
KRXX/980 and KRXX-FM/93.7* (AM now part of Salem group, FM now part of Cumulus group)
KFAN/1130 and KEEY/102.1 (now part of iHeart group)
KQRS/1440 and KQRS-FM/92.5* (AM now part of Salem group, FM now part of Cumulus group)
KSTP/1500 and KSTP-FM/94.5 (added KTMY/107.1)
Note: Previous AM/FM combinations included 980/101.3, 1400/102.1, and 1470/107.9
Rochester:
KWEB/1270 and KRCH/101.7 (added KMFX-FM/102.5)
KROC/1340 and KROC-FM/106.9 (now part of Townsquare group)
KOLM/1520 and KWWK/96.5 (now part of Townsquare group)
St. Cloud:
WVAL/660 and WHMH/101.7 (added WXYG/540, WVAL/800, and WMIN/1010)
WJON/1240 and WWJO/98.1 (now part of Townsquare group)
KXSS/1390 and KXSS-FM/103.7 (now part of Townsquare group)
KNSI/1450 and KCLD/104.7 (added KZPK/98.9 and KCML/99.9)
Thief River Falls:
KTRF/1230 and KSNR/100.3* (AM now part of Ingstad group, FM part of iHeart Grand Forks group)
KKAQ/1460 and KKDQ/99.3 (now part of Ingstad group)
Walker:
KLLR/1600 and KLLR-FM/99.1* (FM now part of Hubbard Bemidji group)
Willmar:
KWLM/1340 and KQIC/102.5 (added KOLV/100.1 and KLFN/106.5)
KDJS/1590 and KDJS-FM/95.3
Winona:
KAGE/1380 and KAGE-FM/95.3 (combined with KWNO/1230, KWNO-FM/99.3, and KHME/101.1)
Worthington:
KWOA/730 and KWOA-FM/95.1 (now combined with KITN/93.5 and KZTP/104.3)