KNKX

KNKX
Broadcast areaSeattle metropolitan area
Frequency88.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding88.5 KNKX
Programming
Format
SubchannelsHD2: Jazz24
AffiliationsNPR
Ownership
OwnerPacific Public Media
History
First air date
November 16, 1966 (as KPLU-FM)
Former call signs
KPLU-FM (1966–2016)
Call sign meaning
"Connects"
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID51199
ClassC
ERP68,000 watts
HAAT707 meters (2,320 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
47°30′14″N 121°58′34″W / 47.504°N 121.976°W / 47.504; -121.976
TranslatorSee § Translators
Links
Public license information
WebcastKNKX MP3
KNKX AAC+
Jazz24 MP3
Jazz24 AAC+(HD2)
Websitewww.knkx.org

KNKX (88.5 MHz) is a public radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States. A member of National Public Radio (NPR), it airs a jazz and news format for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by Pacific Public Media, a community-based non-profit organization. It operates from studios inside Suite 500 of the Madre Building on Western Avenue in downtown Seattle and inside the C.N. Gardner Building on Broadway in downtown Tacoma. KNKX broadcasts from West Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah Alps with a power of 68,000 watts.

The station originally debuted in 1966 as KPLU-FM, owned by Parkland-based Pacific Lutheran University (PLU). It became a community licensee in 2016 after a proposed sale to the University of Washington, owner of fellow NPR station KUOW-FM in Seattle, resulted in opposition from station listeners.

KNKX runs jazz programs middays, evenings and overnight, and carries a variety of NPR programs in other dayparts, including All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and Fresh Air. The locally produced BirdNote airs every morning.