Formats change, stations are sold, and personalities retire. But looking through broadcast history, you’ll find some heritage callsigns throughout.
Some are assigned to stations that have had them for their entire existence, such as 101-year-old WEBC (Duluth). Then there are those that have been moved from station to station over the decades as broadcasters seek to preserve heritage call letters.
As it happens, the Twin Cities is home to many heritage callsigns that have moved from station to station, with some frequencies bearing more than one famous set of call letters over the decades.
WDGY (3 stations)
One of the oldest radio stations in Minnesota, the WDGY callsign was used on the facility that is now KTLK/1130 (Minneapolis) from 1926 until 1991. (The station itself had signed on several years earlier and went through several callsigns before settling on WDGY.) 1130 was home to a legendary Top 40 format in the 1960s and `70s and then “North Country 1130” in the 1980s.
As 1130 switched to full-time Sports Talk in 1991, it became KFAN. KDWB/630, once WDGY’s main competitor, snapped up the heritage callsign and launched a Country format of its own.
The WDGY/630 Country format only lasted about a year but the station kept the WDGY callsign through several formats. In 2008, it adopted WREY as a callsign matching its “Radio Rey” format.
The WDGY call letters then moved to co-owned WMIN/740, a Classic Hits station which focuses on the callsign’s Top 40 heritage. The WDGY format is also simulcast on two FM translators and an HD2 channel.
WMIN (8 stations)
While not as well-known to modern audiences as some of the other heritage brands, WMIN has perhaps been assigned to more Minnesota stations than any other callsign.
The original WMIN launched in 1936 on the facility that is now KMNV/1400.
WMIN-FM launched on 99.5 in 1947 but had left the air by 1956, with the frequency later used by unrelated WLOL-FM (now KSJN).
Starting in 1953, WMIN radio also operated WMIN-TV, which shared time on channel 11 with WTCN-TV (see below). The situation lasted only until 1955 when WMIN-TV returned its license.
WMIN/1400 changed to other callsigns in 1954 (WMNS) and 1962 (KTWN) but reverted to WMIN both times.
In 1966, a construction permit was granted for another WMIN-FM, this time on 102.1, but FCC records indicate the station changed its callsign to KEEY before signing on in 1969. The AM station also switched to KEEY several years later.
A small suburban station on AM 1010 in Maplewood, previously WJSW, grabbed the heritage WMIN callsign in 1973. That station moved to 1030 for an upgrade in 1986. It became the new home of WCTS (formerly at 100.3 FM) in 1993.
The former WRPX/740 quickly picked up the WMIN callsign, initially running a Nostalgia format similar to what WMIN/1030 had carried.
As mentioned above, 740 then switched to WDGY in 2008, but the WMIN callsign as not homeless for long: It was briefly parked on the construction permit for a new station on AM 540 in Sauk Rapids before being moved to a different new station, WMIN/1010 (Sauk Rapids), in late 2008.
The Sauk Rapids station continues to use the WMIN callsign with a Nostalgia format simulcast on an FM translator.
KTWN (5 stations)
As noted above, WMIN/1400 changed to KTWN in 1962 but reverted to its old callsign less than a year later.
The KTWN callsign resurfaced in 1969 when Anoka-licensed 107.9 signed on the air as an FM counterpart to KANO/1470, which also switched to KTWN in 1978. Both stations dropped the callsign in 1983.
KTWN returned again in 2011 when KGLB/1310 (Glencoe) adopted the callsign, foreshadowing its return to the core Twin Cities metro.
In 2012, the former KHTC/96.3 switched to “K-Twin” as part of a new format that incorporated Minnesota Twins broadcasts. The station stopped calling itself “K-Twin” after several years but formally kept the callsign until 2017, when it became KQGO.
The KTWN callsign is not currently assigned to any station.
WLOL (5 stations)
First launched in 1940, WLOL was used on 1330 for decades. WLOL-FM/99.5 launched in 1957.
While 1330 switched to WRRD in 1978, the callsign continued on WLOL-FM through a legendary run as a Top 40 outlet, ending in February 1991 when Minnesota Public Radio purchased the frequency and switched it to KSJN.
After the callsign sat unused for most of 1991, tiny KXLV-FM/105.5 (Cambridge) saw the opportunity and switched to WLOL in December 1991. The change came as it completed a move to 105.3 with an upgraded signal allowing its Adult Contemporary format to reach more of the north metro. (That facility is now WLUP, a heritage callsign from the Chicago market.)
The version of WLOL on 105.3 lasted for just over two years until Cargill Communications purchased the station for “REV 105,” which launched in 1994. The WLOL callsign moved to the former KBCW/1470, which rebroadcast KLBB/1400.
In 1999, the WLOL callsign moved to 100.3 for a new Classic Hits format. It remained WLOL until 2003, when 100.3 switched to Smooth Jazz.
At that point, the WLOL callsign was homeless for about a year until it returned to its original spot on 1330, now carrying a Catholic format.
Believe it or not, there is also currently a WLOL-FM, but it’s not in the Twin Cities: It’s a non-commercial station in West Virginia.
KSJN (3 stations)
The history of KSJN is tied to WLOL twice.
KSJN-FM/91.1 first launched in 1967 as an extension of the broadcasting effort begun at St. John’s University station KSJR-FM/90.1 (Collegeville). As most know, that service became Minnesota Public Radio.
MPR purchased the former WLOL/1330, then WRRD, in 1980 and switched it to KSJN. In 1989, 1330 became KNOW as MPR launched its new News and Information Service.
Then in 1991, MPR closed on its purchase of WLOL-FM/99.5 and made it the new home of KSJN, with 91.1 becoming KNOW-FM.
WTCN (5 stations)
The callsign was first used in 1934 when nine-year-old WRHM, founded by Rosedale Hospital, switched to WTCN — short for Twin Cities Newspapers. After a continental frequency shuffle, WTCN ended up on 1280, now WWTC.
WTCN expanded to TV with the launch of WTCN-TV/4 in 1949.
There was also a WTCN-FM/97.1, but it was gone by the mid-1950s. While this post originally placed the year of the sign-on at 1951 based on 1950s Broadcasting Yearbook listings, other sources say it launched in 1946.
(FCC history cards show the original WTCN-FM is unrelated to present-day KTCZ/97.1, which is the facility that signed on as KWFM in 1957.)
In 1952, a sale split the radio and TV stations, with channel 4 switching to WCCO-TV to match its new radio partner.
Then in 1953, WTCN’s new owner launched a new WTCN-TV, this time on channel 11. As noted above, the new WTCN-TV shared time with WMIN-TV for two years until getting full-time use of the channel.
After a sale split the radio and TV stations, WTCN/1280 became WWTC in 1964. The WTCN-TV callsign remained on channel 11 until it switched to WUSA in 1985 (and then to KARE a year later).
When channel 11 dropped the WTCN callsign, it found a new home at the former WVLE/1220 (Stillwater). The station held onto it for eight years before relaunching as WIMN.
The WTCN callsign has not been used in the Twin Cities in several decades. The callsign is now assigned to a low-power TV station in Florida.
KLBB (3 stations)
The KLBB callsign first came into use in 1982 when KEEY/1400 adopted it to match its “Club 1400” Nostalgia format.
The original incarnation of KLBB ended in 2005 when 1400 was sold and changed format. The KLBB callsign briefly moved to its former simulcast partner on 1470, but the arrangement lasted less than a year until 1470 changed format as well.
AM 1220, which had been through several callsigns since dropping WTCN in 1993, quickly adopted the KLBB callsign in 2006. It remained KLBB until returning its license in 2022.
The callsign is presently unassigned.
WCCO (3 stations)
WCCO/830 and WCCO-TV/4 are two of the best-known stations in Minnesota, but neither originally began as WCCO. The AM station, originally WLAG, signed on in 1922 and became WCCO when the Washburn Crosby Company purchased it in 1924.
As noted above, channel 4 became WCCO-TV in 1952.
WCCO-FM/102.9 launched in 1970. It became WLTE in 1983 and is now KMNB.
Derivations of the WCCO callsign have also been used on other stations. When WCCO-TV’s owner purchased the former KCMT-TV/7 (Alexandria) and KNMT/12 (Walker), their callsigns were changed to KCCO and KCCW. The KCCO-TV license was returned as a result of the spectrum auction.
The KCCO callsign was also used on AM 950, now KTNF, from 2001 to 2004 when it was co-owned with WCCO.
KSTP (4 stations)
Only one callsign is still in use by three Twin Cities stations simultaneously: KSTP.
KSTP radio formed in 1928 as a merger of KFOY and WAMD, which had started in 1924 and 1925, respectively.
The station began experimenting with TV in the 1930s and KSTP-TV/5 formally signed on in 1947.
The first KSTP-FM signed on at 102.1 in 1946 but left the air by 1952, according to Broadcasting Yearbook listings. (Its license was unrelated to present-day KEEY-FM).
A new KSTP-FM/94.5 signed on in 1966 and continues to use that callsign, though listeners know it better as “KS95.”
A derivation of the KSTP callsign debuted in 2000 when KSTP purchased channel 45 and relaunched it as KSTC-TV, getting permission to use a hyphenated version of a callsign that was already in use by a radio station in Sterling, Colo.
KFMX (2 stations)
While the KFMX callsign has only been used on two stations in Minnesota, it’s included here as an interesting historical footnote.
According to RadioSurvivor, Carleton College in Northfield signed on the original KFMX in 1924. FCC records show that, at one point, KFMX had to share time on AM 1250 with three other stations: St. Olaf College’s WCAL (now defunct), the U of M’s WLB (now KUOM), and commercial station WRHM (now WWTC). Amid the battle for airtime, KFMX returned its license in 1933.
Decades later, the callsign returned when KRSI-FM/104.1 changed to KFMX in 1974. 104.1 used the callsign for six years before switching back to KRSI-FM. (This has been updated to reflect that the use of the KFMX callsign lasted for six years, not five as originally written here.)
After numerous callsign and format changes, 104.1 is now KZJK.
The KFMX-FM callsign has since been used for decades by a station in Texas.
Other callsigns that have been used by two Twin Cities-area stations:
- KDWB/630, KDWB-FM/101.3
- KTCR/690, KTCR-FM/97.1
- KTCJ/690, KTCJ-LD/13 (at separate times)
- KFXN/690, KFXN-FM/100.3
- KUOM/770, KUOM-FM/106.5
- WCAL/770, WCAL-FM/89.3
- KTIS/900, KTIS-FM/98.5
- KJJO/950, KJJO-FM/104.1
- WPBC/980, WPBC-FM/101.3
- WYOO/980, WYOO-FM/101.3
- WAYL/980, WAYL-FM/93.7
- KRXX/980, KRXX-FM/93.7
- KEGE/980, KEGE-FM/93.7
- WCTS/1030, WCTS-FM/100.3 (at separate times)
- KNOW/1330, KNOW-FM/91.1
- KEYD/1440, KEYD-TV/9
- KEVE/1440, KEVE-FM/92.5
- KQRS/1440, KQRS-FM/92.5
- KYCR/1440, KYCR/1570 (at separate times)
- KDIZ/1440, KDIZ/1570 (at separate times)
- WIXK/1590 (similar to the previous WISK/1590), WIXK-FM/107.1
While conflicting information circulates online in some cases, the timeline here has been confirmed using FCC history cards. Information on several early FM stations that returned their licenses is archived in old Broadcasting Yearbooks.