KCMO-FM

KCMO-FM
City Shawnee, Kansas
Broadcast area Kansas City, MO-KS
Branding 94-9 KCMO
Slogan Kansas City's Greatest Hits
Frequency 94.9 MHz
Translator(s) 102.5 K273BZ (Kansas City, relays HD2)
First air date May 4, 1948 (as KCFM)
Format Classic hits
HD2: Alternative rock "102.5 The Underground"
HD3: Talk (KCMO (AM) simulcast)
Language(s) English
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 341.1 meters (1,119 ft)
Class C0
Facility ID 6385
Transmitter coordinates 39°05′26″N 94°28′18″W / 39.09056°N 94.47167°W / 39.09056; -94.47167
Callsign meaning Kansas City, MissOuri
Former callsigns KCFM (1948-1950)
KCMO-FM (1950-1968)
KCMU (1968-1974
KCEZ (1974-1983)
KCMO-FM (1983-1985)
KBKC (1985-1986)
KCPW (1986-1989)
Owner Cumulus Media
(CMP Houston-KC, LLC)
Sister stations KCFX, KCHZ, KCJK, KCMO, KMJK, K279BI
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live iHeart
Listen Live (HD2)
Website 949kcmo.com
1025theunderground.com (HD2)

KCMO-FM (94.9 FM, "94-9 KCMO") is an American classic hits music formatted radio station that broadcasts to the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station, owned by Cumulus Broadcasting, was acquired from Susquehanna Radio in 2006. KCMO-FM is licensed to serve the community of Shawnee, Kansas, and its transmitter is located in Independence, Missouri. The station's studios are located in Mission, Kansas.

History

One of the first FM stations in Kansas City, KCMO-FM signed on as full service KCFM on May 4, 1948, and was a sister station to 810 AM. The first time the KCMO-FM call letters appeared were granted in 1950. Meredith Broadcasting bought the station in 1953. On July 23, 1959, the station adopted a MOR format. The station shifted to easy listening on March 16, 1968 as KCMU, and then KCEZ, "EZ 95", in 1974. In 1983, Meredith Corporation (which had owned KCMO-FM for years) sold both of the KCMO radio stations to Richard Fairbanks, a one-time owner of what is now WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. In that same year, on October 10, the station adopted a country music format as "KC 95". The KCMO-FM call letters returned in 1984. The station gained attention when of their billboards appeared in a Psychedelic Furs music video. Fairbanks sold both stations in 1985 to Summit Communications Group, and with it, a change to a dance-leaning Top 40 format as KBKC, "B95", on July 26, 1985. Gannett Company bought the station in 1986, and after KZZC left the air, the station shifted to a more adult-friendly/mainstream Top 40 as KCPW, "Power 95", in August of that year. In August of 1989, after playing "Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan, KCPW flipped to the oldies format (as "Oldies 95") with the third use of the KCMO-FM call sign acquired days before the switch. The first song on "Oldies 95" was "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison. The last of WHB's listeners flocked from the former AM powerhouse in a matter of months, prompting that station's conversion to farm radio.

KCMO-FM Logo 1989-2005

In 1993, Gannett sold KCMO-AM-FM to Bonneville International, the then-owner of KMBZ and KLTH (now KZPT). Four years later, Bonneville sold all four of its Kansas City stations together with three radio stations in Seattle to Entercom Communications. Susquehanna Radio bought both KCMO stations from Entercom in 2000, as Entercom was forced to sell the KCMO stations after its purchase of Sinclair Broadcast Group's radio stations (KQRC-FM, KXTR-FM and KCIY) left it two stations over the Federal Communications Commission's single-market ownership limit. Susquehanna subsequently merged with Cumulus Media in mid-2006.

KCMO-FM enjoyed strong ratings throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but in 2005 it became concerned with appealing to an "older" demographic.

Ratings weren't an issue, as the station was often in the Top 10; KCMO-FM was one of the few stations that appealed to the city's older listeners. The station dropped its "Oldies" moniker in April 2005 and switched to the moniker of "Greatest Hits", playing only mid-'60s to early-'80s music. Currently, KCMO has a slogan of "The Greatest Hits of the "70s and 80s."

KCMO-FM HD2

On February 14, 2011, the station turned on its HD2 signal and launched an all-comedy format branded as "Funny 102.5". It is also broadcast on translator K273BZ 102.5 FM, hence the 102.5 in the moniker. On January 2, 2013, 102.5 FM flipped to sports talk, branded as "102.5 The Fan." On August 15, 2014, at 3 PM, the station abruptly dropped the sports format in the middle of a sports update, and began a brief 7-minute countdown. At 3:07 PM, 102.5/94.9 HD2 became one of the first affiliates of the new "Nash Icon" network as 102.5 Nash Icon, launching with "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker. On November 2, 2015, at Midnight, after playing "You Ain't Much Fun" by Toby Keith, 102.5/94.9 HD2 changed their format to alternative rock, branded as "102.5 The Underground", and launched with "Kansas City" by The New Basement Tapes. With the change, 102.5/94.9 HD2 becomes the first Nash/Nash Icon station to drop the format.[1]

KCMO-FM HD3

KCMO-FM's HD3 subchannel is a simulcast of talk-formatted KCMO (710 AM).

References

  1. ↑ Alternative Underground Comes to Kansas City

External links

Coordinates: 39°05′28″N 94°28′19″W / 39.091°N 94.472°W / 39.091; -94.472

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