KTFC (FM)

On May 16, 1964, Donald A. Swanson applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a new FM radio station on 103.3 MHz in Sioux City. The application was granted on August 26 of that year,^[3] and KTFC began broadcasting on July 1, 1965.^[4] It was on the air for 17 hours a day and broadcast sacred music, news, weather, and church announcements.^[5] The Swansons expanded to an AM station, KTFJ (1250 AM) in nearby Dakota City, Nebraska, in 1988; at that time, KTFC's local programming included a daily broadcast for homemakers and weekly Bible quizzes.^[1] In 1991, KTFG in Sioux Rapids, Iowa, came on the air as a rebroadcaster of KTFC; it only split from the Sioux City station to air two local church services.^[6]

In 1992, Swanson—who, while the owner, quipped, "God owns the radio station; he just lets me run it"—sought relief from high electricity bills to keep the station in operation. He purchased and installed an 80-foot (24 m) wind turbine, acquired from a wind farm in Arizona, near the tower to generate electricity for KTFC.^[7] Swanson used profits from a nearby farm to subsidize the station's operation.^[8]

Swanson elected to sell KTFC and KTFG to Midwest Bible Radio, a division of the Good News Broadcasting Association of Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2005; no change in format was planned by the new owners.^[6] He continued to own KTFJ until his death in 2011.^[9] Bott Radio Network, through its subsidiary Community Broadcasting, Inc., purchased KTFC and KTFG in 2007.^[10]