KZFS


KZFS is a commercial radio station in Spokane, Washington. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station broadcasts a Classic hip hop format and its branding originates from its FM translator station K268DL.

History

The station was first signed on in 1965 as KUDY and broadcast a religious format until 2002. That year, the station swapped signals with KQNT ; the 1280 AM frequency took on the latter's adult standards format with new call letters KAQQ. In 2005, the station changed its call sign to KPTQ and flipped to a progressive talk format. KPTQ served as the Spokane, Washington affiliate of Air America Radio until Air America went off the air in January 2010. On March 26, 2012, the station switched to classic country after sister KIXZ switched to top 40.
On April 11, 2013, KPTQ flipped to sports talk as an affiliate of the Fox Sports Radio network, changing its call letters to the current KZFS. On April 10, 2015, KZFS adopted a contemporary Christian music format, branded "Up 99.3". In March 2018, KZFS flipped to country as "Kix 99.3", inheriting the format and branding of KIIX-FM. The previous Christian format was moved to KISC-HD2 and rebranded as "UP! 98.1 HD2".
In March 2020, KZFS flipped to Classic hip hop, branded as "Hooptown 101.5", and began simulcasting on translator K268DL. Subsequently, the simulcast of the country format was moved to KISC's HD2 subchannel. The Hooptown branding is derived from Spokane's unofficial nickname of "Hooptown USA", referring to the success of the city's college and high school basketball teams.