Pohlad’s Twin Cities FMs ‘Go’ Away Forever

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The sale was approved on March 26. Now, the transaction brokered by Kalil & Co. has closed.


Get ready for the highly anticipated arrival of Air1 on a full-market signal serving the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

The parent of KLOVE and Air1 Network, the fast-growing Christian Contemporary and Worship Music noncomm networks owned by Educational Media Foundation (EMF) has completed its purchase of KZGO-FM 95.3, a Class A licensed to St. Paul, and KQGO-FM 96.3, a Class C3 licensed to Edina, Minn., from The Pohlad Companies.

The sale was priced at $2.45 million and originally announced in December 2020.

KQGO offered a Modern Rock format as “Go 96.3,” while KZGO offered Hip-Hop as “Go 95.3.”

A format change for both stations is imminent. While it is not yet known what EMF network will go on each stations, Air1 will take the KQGO signal, according to in-market chatter.

KZGO, given its market heritage as a religious station, will see the return of the predecessor to Go —  “Praise Live.” This could see the return of the KNOF call letters, media reports indicate.

For Air1, it’s a boost, as listeners can currently hear it on W225AP, an FM translator at 92.5 MHz, fed off of the Cities 97 HD2 signal.

KLOVE is heard in the market via the HD3 signal of KFXN-FM 100.3 in Minneapolis and on FM translators K260BA at 99.9 MHz in Coon Rapids, Minn., and K288GR at 105.5 MHz, covering a small part of the far eastern portion of the Twin Cities region.

This will continue, media reports suggest.

The tangible personal property EMF is gaining for KQGO includes two Nautel NV10 transmitters with HD upgrade availability, one Inovonics 530 modulation monitor, and an Omnia 11 system.

For KZGO, EMF gets a Barix 1000, a Nautel VS 2.5, and an Optimod 8500.

The asset purchase agreement noted that Hmong programming would remain on the HD3 signal of KQGO, with a verbal agreement made by Pohlad being transferred to EMF. It is now known that this will no longer occur.