KKCW

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Adult contemporary radio station in Beaverton–Portland, Oregon

title: "KKCW" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-oregon", "mainstream-adult-contemporary-radio-stations-in-the-united-states", "radio-stations-established-in-1984", "1984-establishments-in-oregon", "iheartmedia-radio-stations"] description: "Adult contemporary radio station in Beaverton–Portland, Oregon" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKCW" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Adult contemporary radio station in Beaverton–Portland, Oregon ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	KKCW
logo	Kkcw logo.jpg
city	Beaverton, Oregon
area	Portland metropolitan area
branding	K103
frequency	103.3 MHz
airdate	February 24, 1984
format	Adult contemporary
subchannels	HD2: Latin pop/AC "Magic"
erp	100,000 watts
haat	470 m
class	C
licensing_authority	FCC
facility_id	68210
coordinates
former_callsigns	KTJA (1982–1984, CP)
owner	iHeartMedia, Inc.
licensee	iHM Licenses, LLC
affiliations	Compass Media Networks
sister_stations	KEX, KFBW, KKRZ, KLTH, KPOJ, KXJM
webcast	Listen Live; Direct stream access (AAC)
Listen Live (HD2)
website	k103.iheart.com
::

KKCW (103.3 FM, "K103") is a commercial radio station licensed to Beaverton, Oregon and serving the Portland metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs an adult contemporary radio format. From mid-November to December 31 each year, it switches to all-Christmas music. The studios and offices are on SW 68th Parkway in Tigard, while the transmitter is located off Northwest Skyline Boulevard in Portland's West Hills, amid the towers for other local FM and TV stations. KKCW broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format.

History

In 1984, the Columbia-Willamette Broadcasting Company acquired and built out the license for a new FM station for Portland licensed to Beaverton. It intended to sign on the station with a country music format, and the "CW" in the station's calls would have held a dual meaning for 'country and western' had it gone to plan.

KUPL (98.7), which had been an easy listening station on FM, instead had the country format airing on sister station 1330 AM KUPL bumped to 98.7 on February 24, 1984. Thus, KKCW instead went on the air with a soft adult contemporary format and de facto traded formats with KUPL. KKCW has never changed its format since sign-on, outside adjustments to fit industry trends.

In 1986, the station was sold to Trumper Communications of Portland. San Antonio-based Clear Channel acquired the station in 1999.

HD programming

The station currently carries 1 HD Radio subchannel besides the HD1 simulcast, though it has had two subchannels in the past.

KKCW-HD2

From August 2007 until 2019, an automated smooth jazz format with a resemblance to that of KIJZ, which switched to oldies after that point, was programmed. It eventually took the automated playlist heard on the iHeartRadio web/app Smooth Jazz channel until its demise. In January 2024, the HD2 signal was reactivated with a Latin pop/AC format known as "Magic".

KKCW-HD3

The channel carried the Educational Media Foundation's Air1 Christian worship music network, which was also relayed on FM translator K224DL (92.7 FM), until November 2019. Air1 then moved to KLVP-HD2 after that station was moved into the Portland market, which is translated by K235CU (94.9).

References

[https://k103.iheart.com/contact/ K103.com/contact]
[https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=kkcw&ccode=1&city=&state=&country=US&zip=&arn=&party=&lmspf=&lmspl=&party_type=LICEN&latd=&lond=&lang=en FCCdata.org/KKCW]
[https://hdradio.com/stations/ HDradio.com/stations]
[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1984/1984-BC-YB.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B-209]
"The Portland Radio Guide -- K-103 Radio (KKCW)".
[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1990/B-All-Radio-BC-YB-1990.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1990 page B-253]
[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2000/D-Radio-All-BC-YB-2000-2.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-365]

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