4Fifteen years after Alpha Media dropped the KUFO Rock brand from 101.1 in Portland OR, its successor Connoisseur Media has relaunched it on the former Hip Hop “We 102.9” K275CH Gresham/KINK-HD2 Portland.
Launching after two days of stunting, first with Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” for Groundhog Day and then John Williams’ score from Star Wars, KUFO returned to Portland just before 1am this morning under the programming oversight of cluster Operations Manager/National Format Captain Ross MacLeod. The brand is positioning as “Portland’s Rock Authority”.
101.1 KUFO featured Rock from December 1989 until March 2011 when it became News/Talk KXL. The KUFO call letters have been parked on Conservative Talk “Freedom 970” since then.
MacLeod said, “This is an exciting day for rock fans in Portland. here’s nothing else like this in the market. KUFO is back to deliver the music people have been asking for — unapologetically. This station is built for listeners who want less clutter, fewer interruptions, and an incredible rock experience.”
Connoisseur Media SVP/Programming Keith Dakin added, “When you have a legendary brand like KUFO sitting dormant, it only makes sense to bring it back. The success of new bands like Sleep Token, Bad Omens, Pierce the Veil plus the resurgence of artists like Deftones, you see that there is a hole for guitar driven, up tempo, rock. No one in Portland is playing this type of music so we thought, lets bring back the station that did it so well originally”.
Connoisseur Portland VP/Market Manager Mark Handwerger sommented, “Bringing back this mega rock brand was a true team decision, driven by our people here in the market who know our listeners best. We listened closely to the community and trusted our instincts – it made the decision a no-brainer, this brand belongs on the air again! It’s exciting to revive something with so much history and give it a new life.”
The former Hip Hop brand held a 0.2 share in the Holiday 2025 Nielsen Audio ratings, well behind iHeartMedia’s “Jam’n 107.5” KXJM’s 3.4 share. The return to Rock places the brand between iHeartMedia Classic Rock “105.9 The Brew” KFBW and Audacy’s duo of Classic Rock 92.3 KGON and Alternative 94.7 KNRK.
The first hour of KUFO featured:
- Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
- The Paradox – Get The Message
- Green Day – Longview
- Breaking Benjamin – I Will Not Bow
- Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll
- Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
- System of a Down – Toxicitiy
- Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Blink 182 – One More Time
- Nine Inch Nails – Hurt
- Linkin Park – Faint
- Metallica – Sad But True
- Finger Eleven – Paralyzer
- Living Colour – Cult of Personality
- Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows
- Sublime – Wrong Way
Update 2/3: After 24 hours of looping Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” on Groundhog Day, the stunting continues on Connoisseur Media’s former Hip Hop “We 102.9” K275CH Gresham/KINK-HD2 Portland OR as the station is now looping John Williams’ score from Star Wars.
A countdown clock on the station’s website currently points to Thursday, February 5 at midnight as “Re-establishing connection to the 102.9 coordinate” with imagery of deep space, almost hinting at a UFO.
Original Report 2/2: Connoisseur Media Hip Hop “We 102.9” K275CH Gresham/KINK-HD2 Portland OR has entered this Groundhog Day caught in a loop of Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”.
The station is promoting changes coming soon, which we first reported on in our 1/22 Domain Insight report. The move marks the end of the Hip Hop “We” brand after launching as “We 96.3” KWEE in August 2016 and then moving to 102.9 in September 2019. Former owner Alpha Media had also replicated the brand in other markets including Amarillo and San Antonio TX.
