KSNR

KSNR (100.3 FM, "100.3 Cat Country") is a commercial radio station serving the Grand Forks, North Dakota area broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Fisher, Minnesota, KSNR first began broadcasting in 1976 under the call sign KOSN in Thief River Falls. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia. The station's main competitor is Leighton Broadcasting's 97 KYCK (97.1 FM). KSNR also broadcasts University of North Dakota men's and women's basketball home games, while sister station KQHT "96.1 The Fox" broadcasts University of North Dakota men's ice hockey and football games as the flagship station, and sister station KKXL-AM "1440 The Fan" broadcasts University of North Dakota women's ice hockey. History The station began life at 99.3 FM as KOSN in Thief River Falls, Minnesota in 1976. KOSN broadcast only 3,000 watts. The station changed call letters to KSNR in 1983 as it flipped to an oldies format, concentrating on 50s and 60s "Golden Oldies" format. After upgrading to 100,000 watts at 100.3 FM in 1987, the station attracted listeners in Grand Forks, North Dakota, since the signal could be heard on most radios and KSNR was the only oldies station in the area until 1990. KSNR later became "Kool 100.3" in 1995 from studios in Grand Forks after KNOX-FM flipped from Oldies as "Kool 94.7" to Classic Country as "Real Country 94.7", and KSNR as "Kool 100.3" also began playing 1970s era music after being sold. KSNR also played Christmas music from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas Day annually until the format change in 2005. In 2000, Clear Channel Communications bought out KSNR and several other stations, and the format was changed to play 1960s and 1970s era music. It also became the flagship station for University of North Dakota basketball play-by-play broadcasts. Kool 100.3 switched to country music as "Cat Country" in October 2005, competing with Leighton Broadcasting's heritage country station KYCK and classic country station KNOX-FM "Rooster 94.7". In 2006, sister station classic rock KQHT "96.1 The Fox" began shifting towards to an updated classic hits version of the former "Kool 100.3" oldies format.