KUBE (FM)
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| City | Eatonville, Washington |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Tacoma |
| Branding | KUBE 104.9 |
| Slogan | Tacoma's Hip-Hop |
| Frequency | 104.9 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) 104.9-2 FM-"Rock Nation" |
| First air date | 1995 (as KJUN-FM) |
| Format | Rhythmic Top 40 |
| ERP | 17,000 watts |
| HAAT | 124 meters |
| Class | C3 |
| Facility ID | 3915 |
| Callsign meaning | Sounds like "Cube" |
| Former callsigns | KAEK (1993-1993) KJUN-FM (1993-1996) KKBY-FM (1996-1999) KFNK (1999-2010) KSGX (2010-2011) KKBW (2011-2016) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KBKS-FM, KFOO, KHHO, KJR, KJR-FM, KPWK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kube1049.com |
KUBE (104.9 FM, "KUBE 104.9") is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Eatonville, Washington and serving the southern Puget Sound region centered on Tacoma. The transmitter site is near Eatonville, and the station operates from its studios in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood northwest of downtown.
KUBE broadcasts in HD.
The 104.9 frequency first signed on in the late 1980s as translator K285AE that rebroadcast "K-Lite 95.7" (KLTX, now KJR-FM). The signal went dormant in the early 1990s, as that station increased their power.
The frequency came back to air in 1995 as KJUN-FM, broadcasting a country format. The call letters were changed to KKBY-FM sometime in 1996, and shifted to classic country. In 1998, KKBY shifted formats to urban contemporary as "Y 104.9". This format only lasted for a very short time.
On August 16, 1999, the station flipped again to what is known as the frequency's well known format: a grunge rock/metal rock-emphasizing active rock station known as "The Funky Monkey 104-9" (or "The Monkey 104-9"). The call letters were changed to KFNK that October 21. The station gained a noticeable presence in the South Puget Sound area as an alternative to commercially owned stations KISW and KNDD, which are both owned by Entercom. Even after Ackerley Communications bought the station from Rock on Radio, Inc. in 2001 (and later, iHeartMedia (as Clear Channel Communications) in 2002), the station still emphasized on listener participation and playing music that may not be heard elsewhere, as well as giving air time to local acts. The station also had a nationwide and worldwide presence, as the station streamed online throughout its history. The station briefly aired syndicated programming in 2001, such as the "Lex and Terry" morning show, which is based out of Dallas, Texas. However, this led to low ratings, so the station dropped the show by 2002. However, the station aired syndicated programming again in 2010, when the station began carrying Nikki Sixx's "Sixxth Sense" show. The station was somewhat anomalous in that it rarely had disc jockeys hosting segments of airtime, and relied heavily on broadcast automation, which the station capitalized on (as some of their liners included "without the dumb-ass DJs and useless bullsh*t"). There was one full-time disk jockey, and 3 part-time air personalities did one show a week each. Most songs ended with a voice-over identifying the song title and artist, also called a "backsell."
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