KFQD (750 AM, "News Talk 750 and 103.7") is a commercial radio station licensed to Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It broadcasts a talk format and is owned by Connoisseur Media. The studios and offices are on Arctic Slope Avenue in Anchorage.KFQD.com/contact
KFQD is the oldest radio station in Alaska and one of the most powerful. It is a Class A, 50,000 watt, non-directional station broadcasting on a clear channel frequency. The transmitter site is off Merlene Lane in Point MacKenzie.
KFQD is Alaska's primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System (EAS). It is also heard on 250 watt FM translator 103.7 K279BG in Anchorage and its adjacent suburbs.
History
KFQD was first licensed on May 20, 1924, to the Chovin Supply Company."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 2, 1924, page 3. The call letters were randomly assigned from an alphabetical roster of available call signs. The station was deleted in early 1925,"Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, March 2, 1925, page 7. but relicensed, again to Chovin Supply Company as KFQD, later that year."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1925, page 3.
In 1926, ownership was transferred to the Anchorage Radio Club."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, October 31, 1926, page 8. In 1929, the station was deleted a second time,"Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, August 31, 1929, page 10. but revived by the Anchorage Radio Club later that year."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1929, page 4. By the 1930s, KFQD was transmitting at 780 kHz, with a power of 250 watts, and studios at 411 Fourth Avenue.
With the 1941 implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), KFQD moved to 790 kHz, a regional frequency, still powered at 250 watts, but able to broadcast around the clock."List of radio broadcast stations, alphabetically by call letters, as of March 29, 1941", page 10. By this time, there were four radio stations in the Territory of Alaska. KFQD was the oldest, followed by stations in Ketchikan (KGBU, July 29, 1926), Juneau (KINY, June 25, 1935), and Fairbanks (KFAR, October 30, 1939).
In the late 1940s, KFQD got a power boost to 5,000 watts. In the 1960s, it moved to the clear channel frequency 750 kHz, shared with WSB in Atlanta but far enough away to avoid causing nighttime interference. At first, KFQD was powered at 10,000 watts. By the 1970s, it had raised its daytime power to 50,000 watts, but still 10,000 watts at night.
Then in the 1990s, as the Federal Communications Commission relaxed protections for the original clear channel stations, KFQD was permitted to broadcast at 50,000 watts around the clock, joining WSB as a Class A station on 750 AM.
In 1998, KFQD was acquired by Morris Communications.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page 53
Alpha Media LLC became KFQD's owner on September 1, 2015. Alpha Media merged with Connoisseur Media on September 4, 2025.
Programming KFQD was the radio play-by-play home of the ECHL's Alaska Aces, which was simulcast by GCI on their cable network. KFQD also simulcasts some of the newscasts of KTUU-TV Channel 2, the Anchorage NBC affiliate.
See also "Bomb Iran", a version of which was produced at and aired on KFQD in 1980, and which brought some national attention to the station.
References
External links
FCC History Cards for KFQD (covering 1927-1981)