KPWK
 |
|
| Broadcast area | Seattle/Tacoma |
|---|---|
| Branding | Power 93.3 |
| Slogan | Seattle's New Hit Music |
| Frequency | 93.3 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) 93.3-2 FM-"Kids Club Radio" |
| First air date | 1964 (as KBLE-FM) |
| Format | Top 40 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 387 meters |
| Class | C0 |
| Facility ID | 48387 |
| Former callsigns | KBLE-FM (1964-1982) KUBE (1982-2016) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KBKS-FM, KFOO, KHHO, KJR, KJR-FM, KUBE |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | power933.com |
KPWK (93.3 FM, "Power 93.3") is a Top 40 radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Its transmitter is located on Cougar Mountain, and operates from its studios in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood northwest of downtown. KPWK is one of two Top 40 stations in the Seattle market, the other being KQMV.
The station signed on the air in 1964 as KBLE-FM and aired a country music format known as The Nashville Sound.
On March 17, 1981, the station flipped to an automated Top 40/CHR format as "The Northwest's New 93 FM." The station's first song was "Use ta Be My Girl" by The O'Jays, followed by "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stones. Then, on July 8, 1981, at 5:04 PM, the station officially launched with a live and local airstaff. On April 2, 1982, KBLE changed their call letters to KUBE and became known as "KUBE 93". During their time as a Mainstream Top 40, KUBE competed against Top 40 powerhouse KPLZ. Ratings for the station were about middle of the pack, typically behind KPLZ.
By January 1992, KUBE shifted to a Rhythmic contemporary hits direction. The station instantly gained Top 10 status in the Arbitron ratings.
In March 1994, Cook Inlet sold KUBE to a partnership between New Century Management and the Ackerley Group called New Century Media (KJR and KLTX would join the group in July). Also that month, likely due to the public outcry of a "gangland-style" drive by shooting of a Ballard High School student (which some blamed hip hop music as a motivator behind it), as well as their audience's changing music tastes, KUBE shifted to a hybrid Rhythmic/Modern Rock format. The station had the slogans "Seattle's New Music Revolution" and "Channel X", much in the style of the average modern rock station at the time. The station's playlist consisted of grunge rock tracks from local and regional acts (which was called "the Seattle sound"), then-current national Alternative chart-toppers, and aforementioned rhythmic tracks, as well as songs from artists that modern rock station KNDD wouldn't play, such as Sonic Youth, The Meat Puppets, Stereolab, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. However, the station's ratings were not impressive, with the station dropping out of the Top 10. By November of that year, the station flipped back to a full-blown Rhythmic format. The station's second time with the format capitalized on dance music, and largely ignored songs with violent and misogynistic lyrics. The station quickly jumped back in the Top 10, usually peaking at #1 in several books for the next several years.
...
Wikipedia