KFIZ was founded in May 1922 by Fond du Lac businessman Oscar A. Huelsman. It was one of the first commercial radio stations in Wisconsin. KFIZ is one of the fewAmerican radio stations east of the Mississippi River with a call sign beginning with a "K." Nearly all radio stations east of the Mississippi have call letters starting with a "W," while "K" call signs are usually found west of the Mississippi. But KFIZ traces its history back to the earliest days of broadcasting, when these rules were not strictly followed. KFIZ began experimental broadcasting at 1100 kilocycles with 100 watts of power. Licensed operation began in July 1923. In 1928, the station changed frequencies to 1120 kHz and in 1930 it switched to 1420 kHz, still at 100 watts. In 1942, KFIZ moved to its current frequency of 1450 kHz and in the mid-1940s the station increased signal power to 250 watts. KFIZ currently broadcasts with 1,000 watts of power.
Ownership
KFIZ was founded in May 1922 by local automobile dealer Oscar A. Huelsman, as a way to advertise his cars. Soon afterward, the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter assumed joint ownership of the station. KFIZ was owned by Reporter Printing Co. in the mid-1930s. The KFIZ Broadcasting Company acquired the station in May 1946 and owned the station through the early 1960s. In November 1986, Wisconsin Cablevision & Radio Co., Inc. completed a merger by transferring the license for this station to Donald G. Jones and Wisconsin Cablevision Inc., a partnership doing business as the Wisconsin Cablevision Partnership. The deal was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on December 19, 1986, and the transaction was completed on December 28, 1986. In September 1987, the Cablevision Partnership made a deal to sell KFIZ to the Independence Broadcasting Wisconsin Corp. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 3, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on January 20, 1988. In June 1993, Independence Broadcasting Wisconsin Corp. contracted to sell this station to Lakeside Cablevision Limited Partnership. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 24, 1993, and the transaction was consummated on September 30, 1993. In January 1997, Lakeside Broadcasting Wisconsin Limited Partnership reached an agreement to sell KFIZ to current owner RBH Enterprises, Inc., which does business as Mountain Dog Media and is operated by former State SenatorRandy Hopper. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 23, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on the same day.
