KMJ (AM)

KMJ

City of license	Fresno, California
Broadcast area	Fresno, California
Branding	KMJ Now
Slogan	"News/Talk Radio"
Frequency	580 kHz
First air date	1922
Format	Talk radio
Power	50,000 watts
Class	B (regional)
Facility ID	26923
Transmitter coordinates	36°39′33″N 119°20′47″W / 36.65917°N 119.34639°W / 36.65917; -119.34639 (main antenna) 36°41′37″N 120°3′16″W / 36.69361°N 120.05444°W / 36.69361; -120.05444 (auxiliary antenna)
Affiliations	Westwood One
Owner	Cumulus Media Inc. (Cumulus Licensing LLC)
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	http://www.kmjnow.com

KMJ (580 AM, "KMJ 580") is a news/talk radio station located in Fresno, California, owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are located at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno and its transmitter is in Orange Cove, California. While 580 kHz is a Regional broadcast frequency, the station broadcasts at 50,000 watts, the highest power for an AM station permitted by the FCC, covering most of Central California.

Programming

KMJ broadcasts the same programs on both 580 AM and 105.9 FM in Fresno, California. When 105.9 first became a talk station, it sometimes aired programs that were different than 580. But now, both stations' programming and ratings are combined, regardless of whether the listener tunes in 580 or 105.9. The station focuses primarily on locally produced news/talk programming in the daytime and runs several nationally-syndicated programs at night, including Mark Levin, John Batchelor and Red Eye Radio from Westwood One, a radio syndication company owned by Cumulus Media, the parent company of KMJ.

History

KMJ first began broadcasting in March 1922, and was originally owned by the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation. It was later acquired by the McClatchy Newspaper Company in 1925. It is the 38th oldest licensed, and continuously operated radio station in the United States.

When the station first began broadcasting, it was licensed as an "E & M" station, and shared those frequencies with every other E & M station in existence at the time.

KMJ operated on a number of other frequencies between 1925 and 1932; some of the frequencies used included 820 and 1350 kHz. In 1931, KMJ operated on 1210 kHz, with a power of 100 watts (cf. White's Radio Log, Spring / Summer 1931). In 1935, KMJ was on the current frequency of 580 kHz, with a power of 500 watts (cf. White's Radio Log, Nov. 1935).

McClatchy was intent on improving the signal, and competed with KTAB in Oakland for a new frequency (580 kHz), which was being made available by the newly created FCC.

Eventually, McClatchy was awarded the new channel, and KMJ moved to 580 kHz, authorized by the Federal Radio Commission effective July 22, 1932, with an increase in power from 100 W to 500 W with unlimited time.^[1] Later, operations were boosted to 1 kW non-directional from a building rooftop in Downtown Fresno.

In 1936, a new 5,000-watt non-directional transmitter site was constructed, which utilized a 5/8 wave antenna, and was located 5 miles east of Fresno, at the northeast corner of the Kings Canyon Road and Fowler Avenue intersection.

The station was an affiliate of the Don Lee Network, and also carried CBS Radio network broadcasts until 1936, when KMJ partnered with NBC Radio. It remained a NBC affiliate until NBC ceased hourly newscasts in the 1990s. KMJ then joined ABC, before rejoining CBS when Westinghouse Electric Corporation (later be renamed CBS Corp.), acquired the station from American Radio Systems in 1998.

Until 1936, and the arrival of KARM, it was the only radio station in Fresno.

Modern studios were constructed as an addition to the Fresno Bee Building on Van Ness Avenue. The studios were subsequently used by Valley Public Radio, and later, McClatchy donated the entire building to the Fresno Metropolitan Museum (the addition was demolished in 2007, as part of a renovation of the main building).

In 1941, Hammer Field (which later became Fresno Air Terminal) was constructed, as a training base for the Army Air Corps. The KMJ tower was directly in line with the runway, and the Army wanted the site relocated. The site was then moved some 16 miles west of Fresno, to the intersection of Madera and North Avenues (south of Kerman). The transmitter building was moved to the Kerman site, and the existing tower was unstacked and moved as well; however, it was only 660 feet in height. The remaining 330 feet were stored on the site, with the intention of creating a directional array, although World War II interrupted the project and it never resumed. The extra portion was eventually moved to Sacramento, and used in the construction of the KFBK transmitter site in 1945.

At the outset of World War II, the Department of War selected KMJ as the primary medium for alerting Central California residents.

From 1925 until 1987, KMJ was owned by McClatchy Company, which also owned KFBK in Sacramento, KBEE in Modesto, KERN in Bakersfield, and KKOH in Reno. McClatchy Newspapers also owned three daily newspapers in Fresno, Sacramento, and Modesto. In 1953, McClatchy signed on KMJ-TV on channel 24. The television station would be sold off in 1981 to become KSEE.

In November 2006, KMJ and its sister stations KFPT (AM), KWYE (FM), KSKS (FM), KFJK (FM), KOQO (FM), and KMGV (FM) were sold by CBS Radio to Peak Broadcasting, for $90 million.

In March 2009, Peak Broadcasting replaced the KFJK Jack FM format on 105.9 FM, with Talk programming as KMJ-FM. At first, only some programs were shared by both KMJ-AM and FM. But now, all programming is simulcast.

In the fall of 2012, Premiere Radio Networks, owned by Clear Channel Radio exercised a termination clause and ended its relationship with both KMJ-AM and FM. As of January 1, 2013, all Premiere syndicated shows (including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity were moved to Clear Channel-controlled stations in the greater Fresno area. KMJ-AM-FM used the opportunity to go with an all live and local line-up of shows from 5:00 A.M. until 6:00 P.M., Monday through Friday.

On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would purchase Peak Broadcasting, and then immediately swap Peak's Fresno stations, including KMJ, to Cumulus Media in exchange for Cumulus' stations in Dubuque, Iowa and Poughkeepsie, New York. The deal is part of Cumulus' acquisition of Dial Global. Peak, Townsquare, and Dial Global are all controlled by Oaktree Capital Management.^[2]^[3] The sale to Cumulus was completed on November 14, 2013.^[4]

In September of 2013, a Special Temporary Authority was granted by the FCC that authorized KMJ to use the auxiliary site in Kerman at 5,000 watts, while one of its directional antennas at the 50,000 watt site in Orange Cove underwent repairs. ^[5]

Transmitter

KMJ uses a 50,000 watt transmitter. It has a directional antenna consisting of 4 mast radiators situated at 36-39-37.2 N 119-20-52.8 W, 36-39-29.2 N 119-20-52.8 W, 36-39-27.9 N 119-20-48.3 W, 36-39-36.5 N 119-20-47.1 W; each of the towers is 256.1 metres (840 ft) tall. KMJ's signal can be picked up as far south as Santa Clarita and as far north as San Francisco. Some nights it can be heard in Hawaii, Australia and Japan with a high-quality radio.^[6]

Additionally, the 50,000 watt site develops an effective radiated power of 250,000 watts, at a bearing of 270 degrees true. That, and the extremely good ground conductivity of the San Joaquin Valley, allow KMJ to produce a signal strength of 50-100 mv/m over the city of Fresno, which is located at a distance of 26 miles (42 km) west of the 50,000 watt transmitter site.

The former main transmitter site at Kerman remains licensed as an auxiliary transmitter site.

References

↑ "Local Gets Boost" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 1, 1932. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
↑ "Official: Cumulus Buys Dial Global, Spins Some Stations To Townsquare; Peak Stations Sold To Townsquare, Fresno Spun To Cumulus". All Access. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
↑ "Cumulus Makes Dial Global And Townsquare Deals Official". RadioInsight. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
↑ "Cumulus-Townsquare-Peak Deal Closes". All Access. November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101573834&formid=911&fac_num=26923
↑

External links

Query the FCC's AM station database for KMJ

Radio-Locator Information on KMJ

Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for KMJ

Radio stations in the Fresno, California market

By FM frequency	88.1 88.5 88.9 89.3 89.7 90.3 90.7 91.1 91.5 92.1 92.9 93.7 94.3 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.7 97.1 97.9 98.9 99.3 100.3 101.1 101.9 102.7 103.1 103.7 104.1 104.3 105.1 105.5 105.9 106.3 107.1 107.5 107.9

By AM frequency	580 790 900 940 980 1060 1210 1250 1300 1340 1430 1510 1550 1600 1680

By callsign	KAAT KALZ KARM KBIF KBHH KBOS-FM KCBL KDUV KFBT KFCF KFIG KFNO KFPT KFSO-FM KFSR KFRR KGED KGST KHGE KHIT-FM KHOT KIRV KJFX KJOI-LP KJWL KJZN KKBZ KLBN KLLE KLVY KQKL KMAK KMGV KMJ KMJ-FM KEYQ KOKO-FM KOND KQEQ KRDA KSEQ KSJV KSOF KSKS KTNS KVPR KVPW KWRU KWYE KXEX KYNO

^♦ denotes stations currently silent California radio markets Bakersfield Chico Fresno Los Angeles Merced Modesto Oxnard–Ventura Palm Springs Redding Riverside/San Bernardino Sacramento San Diego San Francisco/Oakland San Jose San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Santa Cruz/Salinas/Monterey Santa Maria-Lompoc Santa Rosa Stockton Victor Valley Visalia-Tulare-Hanford Other California radio regions Barstow Bishop Crescent City Diablo Valley High Desert/Eastern Sierra Eureka Fort Bragg–Ukiah Gilroy/Hollister Imperial Valley Marysville/Yuba City Needles Red Bluff Susanville/Sierra Nevada Tri-Valley Yreka See also List of radio stations in California

News/Talk radio stations in the state of California

All-News	KCBS – San Francisco KFRC-FM San Francisco KGO – San Francisco KLIV – San Jose KNX – Los Angeles

News & Talk	KABC – Los Angeles KAHI – Auburn KCAA – Loma Linda KCBQ – San Diego KERN – Bakersfield KFBK – Sacramento KFBK-FM – Pollock Pines KFI – Los Angeles KFMB – San Diego KGEO – Bakersfield KGIG-LP – Salida KINS-FM – Blue Lake KION – Salinas KKSF – San Francisco KMJ – Fresno KMJ-FM – Fresno KMPH – Modesto KMZT – Beverly Hills KNCO – Grass Valley KNEW – San Francisco KNWH – Yucca Valley KNWQ – Palm Springs KNWZ – Coachella KNZR – Bakersfield KNZR-FM – Shafter KOGO – San Diego KOSS – Lancaster KOWL – South Lake Tahoe KPAY – Chico KPRL – Paso Robles KPSI – Palm Springs KQMS – Redding KQMS-FM – Shasta Lake KRLA – Glendale KSCO – Santa Cruz KSFO – San Francisco KSIZ – Weed KSMX – Santa Maria KSRO – Santa Rosa KSTE – Rancho Cordova KSUE – Susanville KSZL – Barstow KTIE – San Bernardino KTIP – Porterville KTKZ – Sacramento KTMS – Santa Barbara KUHL – Santa Maria KUKI – Ukiah KUTY – Palmdale KVEC – San Luis Obispo KVLI – Lake Isabella KVML – Sonora KVON – Napa KYOS – Merced

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in California

Cumulus Media

AM radio stations	KAAY KABC KAOK KARN KBED KBGG KBOI KCMO KCSF KCUB KESP KFAY KFNZ KFRU KGO KIKR KKAT KKOB KKOH KLIF KLIK KMAJ KMJ KNBR KNEK KNML KNSH KPUR KPZK KRMD KRUZ KSCR KSFO KTBL KTCK KTCT KTIK KTOP KTUC KUGN KVEN KVOR KWPN KXZZ KYNG WAAV WABC WALG WAPI WARM WAYS WBAP WBBF WBBW WBMQ WCOA WDDO WDUZ¹ WFAS WFNC WFNR WFTW WGLD WGOC WGOK WGOW WGPC WHBT WHGB WHLD WHLL WHSC WIBR WICC WIOV WISW WJBC WJCW WJLG WJOX WJR WJRW WJWF WKLQ WKY WLBY WLQR WLS WLTI WLWI WLZR WMAC WMAL WMSP WNAM WNML WOSH WPIC WPRO WPRV WRAD WRIE WSBA WSKO WSOM WSSO WTKA WTMA WTOD WTRX WUMP WVEL WVLK WVNN WWCK WXLM WXOK WXQW WXSM WYMB WYNN

FM radio stations	K279BI KAMO-FM KARN-FM KARX KATC-FM KATM KATT-FM KAYD-FM KBBM KBBQ-FM KBBY-FM KBCY KBEE KBER KBIU KBUL-FM KBXR KBZU KCDD KCFX KCHZ KCJK KCMO-FM KDJK KDRF KDVB KDVV KEHK KESN KENZ KFFG KFOG KGGO KHAY KHKI KHKK KHOP KHTB KHXS KHYT KIIM-FM KIPR KIZN KJJY KJMO KJOY KKEG KKFM KKGB KKGL KKMG KKND KKOB-FM KKPK KKWD KLAL KLIF-FM KLOS KLSZ-FM KLUR KMAJ-FM KMCK-FM KMEZ KMGA KMGV KMJ-FM KMJJ-FM KMJK KNEK-FM KNEV KNRQ KOLI KOMS KOQL KPLA KPLX KPUR-FM KQFC KQHN KQIZ-FM KQLK KQOB² KQRS-FM KQSM-FM KQXC-FM KQXL-FM KQXY-FM KRBE KRMD-FM KRMW KRRF KRRQ KRST KRWP KSAN KSCS KSKS KSMB KSZR KTCK-FM KTCX KTIK-FM KTLT KTOP-FM KUBL-FM KUJZ KURB KVMA-FM KVYB KWIC KWIN KWNN KWQW KWYE KWYL KXKC KXXR KYIS KYKZ KYYI KZEL-FM KZJF KZRK-FM W264AK WABD WAOA-FM WAQX-FM WARM-FM WBBL-FM WBHD WBHT WBLX-FM WBNQ WBRW WBSX WBWN WBZE WBZF WCMG WCTO WCYN-FM WDAI WDEN-FM WDLT-FM WDRQ WDUZ-FM¹ WDVD WDZZ-FM WEAN-FM WEAS-FM WEBE WEDG WEGC WEMX WFBE WFMS WFTK WFYR WGFX WGKX WGLF WGLO WGNI WGOW-FM WGRF WGRR WGVX WGVZ WHBX WHHY-FM WHKR WHLZ WHNN WHOT-FM WHRP WHTS WHTT-FM WILZ WIOG WIOV-FM WIVK-FM WIWF WIXO WIXV WJAD WJBC-FM WJCL-FM WJEZ WJJK WJOX-FM WJQX WJTQ WKAK WKDF WKHX-FM WKIM WKKO WKOR-FM WKOS WKQZ WKRU WKSM WKXS-FM WLAV-FM WLAW WLCS WLEV WLFF WLLF WLQR-FM WLS-FM WLTO WLWI-FM WLXC WLXX WLZN WMAL-FM WMAS-FM WMDH-FM WMEZ WMGB WMGL WMGS WMGU WMIM WMNX WMOS³ WMXS WMXT WMXU WNBM WNCV WNKT WNML-FM WNMQ WNMX WNNF WNNK-FM WNNX WNSH WNTQ WNUQ WOFX-FM WOGB¹ WOGT WOKI WOMG WORC-FM WPCK¹ WPEZ WPKR WPLJ WPRO-FM WPSK-FM WQGN-FM WQHZ WQKL WQLH¹ WQQK WQSM WQUT WQVE WQXA-FM WQXK WRBO WRCQ WRKN WRQN WRQQ WRQX WRRM WRRX WRWM WRXP WSEA WSJR WSJZ-FM WSKZ WSM-FM WSMS WSOX WSSX-FM WSYN WTCB WTNR WUHT WVBO WVIB WVLK-FM WVNN-FM WWBU WWCK-FM WWFF-FM WWFN-FM WWFX WWIZ WWKI WWKL WWKX WWLD WWLI WWLS-FM WWQQ-FM WWSN WWTN WWWM-FM WWWQ W255CJ/WWWQ-HD2 WWWW-FM WWWZ WXBM-FM WXFX WXKC WXKR WXKR-HD2/W265CB WXLO WXMX WXTA WXTL WXZZ WYAY WYFM WYNN-FM WYZB WZAT WZCY-FM WZNS WZPW WZRH WZRR WZYP

Radio networks	Arkansas Radio Network CBS Sports Radio* Titans Radio Network Westwood One (see navpage)

Online assets	iHeartRadio¹

Television-related assets	Nash TV

Other assets	Broadcast Software International CumulusJobs.com San Francisco Giants (minority interest in LP)

See also	Citadel Broadcasting Cumulus Media Networks Susquehanna Radio Corporation

¹ = Owned by iHeartMedia; operated by Cumulus under an LMA. ² = Co-owned with Champlin Broadcasting under an LMA. ³ = Operated by the Mohegan Sun under an LMA. AaBbCc = Owned by The Walt Disney Company; operated by Cumulus under an LMA. * = Owned by CBS Radio, operated by Cumulus.

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