KNON - History

History

KNON began broadcasting in 1983 using 90.9 MHz. Its predecessor on the frequency was KCHU, a non-commercial station that began broadcasting on August 28, 1975. KCHU operated until August 1977, when it went off the air owing to financial shortfalls. The 90.9 frequency was transferred to Agape Broadcasting as KNON in 1979. The station remained silent through 1980, which was then a license renewal year in Texas (radio stations then operated on a three year license cycle). By 1984, Criswell Bible Institute (now Criswell College) had begun operating KCBI-FM from a downtown Dallas rooftop with 1,500 watts on 89.3 FM. They aspired to raise power and height and to relocate to the Cedar Hill, Texas tower farm, and faced limitations.

By the mid-1980s, a number of groups, among which the Criswell Bible Institute was the most prominent, petitioned the FCC to have the 90.9 FM frequency assigned to another broadcaster. Criswell had cited past operational deficiencies on KNON's part as justification for the frequency reallocation. The end result was a swap of frequencies between KCBI and KNON in May 1988.