97.5 KWTX-FM/Waco, TX
Top 40 “97.5FM, Today’s Hit Music”
4/27/2012, 4:45PM
Ironic Rebrand of the Day
In case you missed it, Clear Channel Radio rebranded today as Clear Channel Music + Entertainment, taking the focus off of the company’s radio operations and basically reinforcing the idea that the company’s 850-or-so AM & FM stations exist for the purpose of pushing iHeartRadio (and the presumably-annual iHeartRadio Festival), and the personalities and programming features of sister company Premier Radio Networks.
I realize that in the modern broadcasting industry, a wider focus on online and digital media is required to remain relevant, but am I the only one who finds it ironic that a company named after a wide-area AM frequency is de-emphasizing its radio operations?
I scored a sweet Sterling Country KOKE coffee mug at Goodwill today!
A low-rated—but critically-acclaimed—”progressive” country station throughout the 1970s, KOKE shifted to a mainstream, hit-oriented sound called “Sterling Country” on September 15, 1977. In 1981, KOKE received new competition in the FM country format in 100.7/KASE-FM, who flipped from Beautiful Music and became almost an instant ratings success.
KOKE didn’t last long as “Sterling Country”—they flipped to Adult Contemporary in 1984, shedding the heritage KOKE call letters in favor of KLQT (“Lite 95”) in 1985. Today, 95.5 is Entercom-owned KKMJ-FM, continuing the Adult Contemporary format as “Majic 95.5.” The AM side—1370—is now News/Talk KJCE, and remains a sister station to 95.5.
Also: the tattoo on my left hand makes a cameo.
THIS BLOG.
But I’m back out of the redemption period with a fresh new renewal and a credit card on file that’s not about to expire!
This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. The Tumblr’s in your area in voluntary cooperation with the FCC along with federal, state and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. This is only a test.
Radio (and TV) stations across the country participated in today’s national test of the Emergency Alert System. coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Administration in association with the Federal Communications Commission.
Here is local EAS primary station 93.7 KLBJ-FM (Classic Rock, “the Rock of Austin”) at 1:00PM Central Standard Time today, running the test.
In 1975, Combined Communications purchased 1150 KFSG from the Foursquare Gospel Church and changed the station to Adult Contemporary KIIS, with “IIS” resembling “115”. The station was paired with Combined’s 102.7 KKDJ later that year in an “on-air wedding” and the stations were christened “K-Double I-S”.
While there were occasional references to the pronunciation of “KIIS”, it was only atfer KIIS-FM changed to Top 40 in 1980 that the station began to consistently brand as “Kiis FM”.
The More You Know™
92.3 WDVW-FM (New Orleans) Legal ID, 8/12/2007
WDVW flipped in November 2004 from AC WCKW “Lite 92.3” to a Rhythmic AC format peppered with lifestyle and entertainment news features throughout the day.
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans the next summer, knocking many of New Orleans’ radio and TV stations off the air—including WDVW. Broadcasting from a tower in rural Vacherie—far enough from New Orleans to not sustain much damage—WDVW was one of the first stations to return to the air a few days after the storm passed. When the station returned, however, the music mix was drastically changed to a hybrid Dance-Hot AC format, including current dance music and remixes. The entertainment news features were dropped and pre-90s tracks were reduced to a couple of plays per hour before eventually being eliminated.
Diva lasted until December 20, 2007, when owner Citadel flipped WDVW to Adult Top 40 as “Mix 92.3.” Since July 23, 2010, the 92.3 frequency has been Alternative WRKN “Rock 92.3”.
Voiceover: John Pleisse
