M
Mid West Clubber
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Can anyone tell me when WKBQ signed on, and was it always top 40? Also, when did WKBQ move from 106.5 to 104.1, and what were the formats on 104.1 and 106.5 prior to WKBQ.
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WKBQ went on the air around 1987 or 88, as a new ID for already Top 40 station KWK at 106.5. 106.5 went on the air as WGNU-FM, owned by the late Chuck Norman, who sold the station in 1977 to Doubleday Broadcasting. Doubleday already owned 1380 KWK in St. Louis, and purchased the FM to simulcast AM programing. However, since the station was east of the Misssissippi, it could not become KWK-FM, but instead for a number of years were WWWK-FM, and was known as Stereo WK, unitl a waiver was granted to them in the early 80s to become KWK-FM. During the 80s, KWK was primarily a "Rock 40" station until morphing into WKBQ. It was 1993 when Country Kix 104 (WKKX), and WKBQ would trade places.
104.1 went on the air as WJBM-FM in Jerseyville in the late 60s, as a counterpart to the still on the air WJBM at 1480. IICR, WJBM was a Country Music station, but carried a lot of block programming as was common for small town stations then. In 1985, the tower was relocated to Godfrey, IL, and the station was rechristened with the new call letters WKKX Kix 104, and studios were opened in Westport Plaza; Frank O Pinion, and other top notch personalities were brought it, and despite a "rimshot" type signal became a formidable competitor for longtime country powerhouse WIL, but ultimately squeezed AM competitor 550 KUSA out of the format alltogether to move to All CNN News (Now 550 is talk KTRS).
Zimmer Radio bought 104.1 in 1991, and added 106.5 in 1993, after Saul & Michael Frischling (Who then owned CHR/Rhythmic Hot 97 KHTK) defaulted on its purchase, and the station ended up being purchased by Zimmer, and formats were quickly swapped in 1993, giving WIL its first ever competition from another full market 100kW FM.
104.1 would go on as WKBQ until it was purchased by Emmis in 96, and was subsequently switched to Modern AC WALC "Alice @ 104.1," which was a disaster. 104.1 would ultimately go through a series of call letters and formats such as: Active Rock WXTM Extreme Radio, 80s & More WMLL "The Mall," and New Standards WRDA "Red 104.1" before ultimately being sold to its current ownership Radio One, and the station is now WHHL Hot 104.1, and it received a major signal boost in the area a year or so ago, when it changed Cities of license from Jerseyville, IL to Hazelwood, MO, and relocated its transmitter to the old Majic 108 tower on DeBallevire Av. in the heart of the City with a power of 50,000 watts giving the station a full market signal for the first time.
104.1 went on the air as WJBM-FM in Jerseyville in the late 60s, as a counterpart to the still on the air WJBM at 1480. IICR, WJBM was a Country Music station, but carried a lot of block programming as was common for small town stations then. In 1985, the tower was relocated to Godfrey, IL, and the station was rechristened with the new call letters WKKX Kix 104, and studios were opened in Westport Plaza; Frank O Pinion, and other top notch personalities were brought it, and despite a "rimshot" type signal became a formidable competitor for longtime country powerhouse WIL, but ultimately squeezed AM competitor 550 KUSA out of the format alltogether to move to All CNN News (Now 550 is talk KTRS).
Zimmer Radio bought 104.1 in 1991, and added 106.5 in 1993, after Saul & Michael Frischling (Who then owned CHR/Rhythmic Hot 97 KHTK) defaulted on its purchase, and the station ended up being purchased by Zimmer, and formats were quickly swapped in 1993, giving WIL its first ever competition from another full market 100kW FM.
104.1 would go on as WKBQ until it was purchased by Emmis in 96, and was subsequently switched to Modern AC WALC "Alice @ 104.1," which was a disaster. 104.1 would ultimately go through a series of call letters and formats such as: Active Rock WXTM Extreme Radio, 80s & More WMLL "The Mall," and New Standards WRDA "Red 104.1" before ultimately being sold to its current ownership Radio One, and the station is now WHHL Hot 104.1, and it received a major signal boost in the area a year or so ago, when it changed Cities of license from Jerseyville, IL to Hazelwood, MO, and relocated its transmitter to the old Majic 108 tower on DeBallevire Av. in the heart of the City with a power of 50,000 watts giving the station a full market signal for the first time.
KIX 104 was a GREAT sounding station...
Yes, Kix 104 was a great station - up until the time it was bought by the Zimmers, then it sort of went downhill. John King, who went on to be a media executive was the original PD, and then Stlmedia.net admin Mike Anderson was PD. Very Top 40 approach to the Country Format, they even sped up the CD players slightly so the station would sound brighter than WIL. For as bad as the signal was back then, they made a pretty respectable dent in WIL's audience.
I went to work at KIX in 1988 on a part time basis. Enjoyed my time there despite some wierd managers (i.e. Shelly Davis).
Actuall the signal wasn't that bad. The tower had been moved closer to St. Louis around 1985. It was a 40KW ERP and it covered most of the Metro area. There were some poor reception areas, especially in Jefferson County, but all in all not a bad signal.
John King was the best PD I ever worked for. Knew when to push and when to back off and leave you alone.
And you are very right about the Zimmers. They loaded the staff with young, low priced, medium market talent. And that's just what it sounded like.
Jim Shannon
Actuall the signal wasn't that bad. The tower had been moved closer to St. Louis around 1985. It was a 40KW ERP and it covered most of the Metro area. There were some poor reception areas, especially in Jefferson County, but all in all not a bad signal.
John King was the best PD I ever worked for. Knew when to push and when to back off and leave you alone.
And you are very right about the Zimmers. They loaded the staff with young, low priced, medium market talent. And that's just what it sounded like.
Jim Shannon
A couple of minor corrections to Mbatchelor's post, and a few additional pieces to the 104.1 and 106.5 history.
Doubleday bought KWK-AM in 1977, while the 1380 frequency was dark (between 1973 and 1978). After several weeks of non-commercial broadcast tests (featuring the music they would eventually air), they officially started up on 16 November 1978. The FM started broadcasting on 17 March 1979, taking over the former WGNU-FM. At the time WGNU-FM had a paid religion format. The AM and FM had a full simulcast until November of 1979, and from then on only simulcast during moring and afternoon drive. The deal between Doubleday and Chuck Norman allowed Norman to get night signal for WGNU-AM.
KWK was a tightly programmed Top-40 at first. During the summer of 1979, the station made a shift to AOR to compete head on with KSHE. In the process, then AOR KADI exited the format, first to a soft album rock format, and then to AC in 1981.
The KWK-FM call was granted in either July or August 1981. After AOR took a hit in the ratings from KHTR, some CHR hits were added to their AOR playlist, and once KWK-FM was sold to Robinson in 1984, they became a CHR. In 1986, they tweaked their format, featuring an unusual mix of CHR and modern rock, with Kevin Matthews in morning drive. Matthews would later go on to working many years at WLUP Chicago. This format would not last, and the station started reverting back to playing a number of their former AOR hits.
Once Robinson sold KWK and KGLD to Chase Broadcasting, KWK changed formats to CHR in January 1987. The call letters were de-emphasised and they called themselves "Hits 106." Another thing changed--their processing. KWK, especially under Doubleday, had a great airchain. In 1987, all of the bass was removed and the midrange and highs were cranked up. It sounded terrible. In 1988, the audio chain improved, and the WKBQ "Q-106.5" era started. One of the reason the KWK calls were dropped was due to the constant format changes that took place during its existence. It was viewed as a clean break from the past.
One of the block programs I remember on WJBM-FM was an oldies show. They signed off at either 10 PM or Midnight. WKKX/Kix-104 signed on in September 1985. Their studios were on the 10'th (?) floor of the Gold Tower at Westport Plaza. Their mix of country had a high rotation of currents mixed with more gold cuts than WIL-FM.
Frank O. Pinion's morning show helped put the station on the map, but the financial situation became shaky in 1990-1, and the station filed for Chapter 11 (so did KSTZ-FM, now known as The Point). That's when Zimmer got it.
Once WKKX went to 106.5, they really came into their own, and sounded great. The Country music boom of the 1990's helped too. It was well programmed, and is a station I really miss.
Doubleday bought KWK-AM in 1977, while the 1380 frequency was dark (between 1973 and 1978). After several weeks of non-commercial broadcast tests (featuring the music they would eventually air), they officially started up on 16 November 1978. The FM started broadcasting on 17 March 1979, taking over the former WGNU-FM. At the time WGNU-FM had a paid religion format. The AM and FM had a full simulcast until November of 1979, and from then on only simulcast during moring and afternoon drive. The deal between Doubleday and Chuck Norman allowed Norman to get night signal for WGNU-AM.
KWK was a tightly programmed Top-40 at first. During the summer of 1979, the station made a shift to AOR to compete head on with KSHE. In the process, then AOR KADI exited the format, first to a soft album rock format, and then to AC in 1981.
The KWK-FM call was granted in either July or August 1981. After AOR took a hit in the ratings from KHTR, some CHR hits were added to their AOR playlist, and once KWK-FM was sold to Robinson in 1984, they became a CHR. In 1986, they tweaked their format, featuring an unusual mix of CHR and modern rock, with Kevin Matthews in morning drive. Matthews would later go on to working many years at WLUP Chicago. This format would not last, and the station started reverting back to playing a number of their former AOR hits.
Once Robinson sold KWK and KGLD to Chase Broadcasting, KWK changed formats to CHR in January 1987. The call letters were de-emphasised and they called themselves "Hits 106." Another thing changed--their processing. KWK, especially under Doubleday, had a great airchain. In 1987, all of the bass was removed and the midrange and highs were cranked up. It sounded terrible. In 1988, the audio chain improved, and the WKBQ "Q-106.5" era started. One of the reason the KWK calls were dropped was due to the constant format changes that took place during its existence. It was viewed as a clean break from the past.
One of the block programs I remember on WJBM-FM was an oldies show. They signed off at either 10 PM or Midnight. WKKX/Kix-104 signed on in September 1985. Their studios were on the 10'th (?) floor of the Gold Tower at Westport Plaza. Their mix of country had a high rotation of currents mixed with more gold cuts than WIL-FM.
Frank O. Pinion's morning show helped put the station on the map, but the financial situation became shaky in 1990-1, and the station filed for Chapter 11 (so did KSTZ-FM, now known as The Point). That's when Zimmer got it.
Once WKKX went to 106.5, they really came into their own, and sounded great. The Country music boom of the 1990's helped too. It was well programmed, and is a station I really miss.
KSTZ filed bankruptcy because a number of employees were going to file involuntary bankruptcy and they found out, and filed a few hours quicker.
spiritof67 said:One of the block programs I remember on WJBM-FM was an oldies show. They signed off at either 10 PM or Midnight.
Yes that was "Ed and Alice's Rock n Roll Show." It hosted by Ed and Alice Gore (husband and wife), one would host Monday and Wednesday night, the other Tuesday and Thursday and then they would team up on Saturday night. Friday night was for high school sports, I think. The show was on from 7 pm to 10 pm.
BTW, Gary "Records" Brown eventually bought WJBM-AM and reprised his Sunday Oldies Show, until his death in 2000.
Hits 106 went on the air late 1986. Waylon Richards was the PD Dick Bremkamp GM.Steve Cochran and Rick Rumble did mornings. I'm not sure when but Waylon was let go and Lyndon Abel was brought in but that was when things started to change. They made the call letter change to WKBQ , Q106.5 and followed that with some solid promotions. The on air staff stayed intact for five years + with the exception of mornings which saw, Cochran and Rumble go their separate ways, then Big Ron O'Brien and John Millinder before Steve and DC. Chris Knight did middays from the beginning, Geoff Davis replaced the original afternoon guy, Mike Mitchell in May of '87 and stayed until May of '92. Jimmie Paige stayed from the beginning until sometime in "92 or '93 and Steve Byes , Stevie B did overnights.
You are right about the processing that was Lyndon's deal. He changed that we he arrived which coincided the ratings increase along with the aggressive promotions and marketing and Lyndon allowing the on air staff the freedom to have fun on the air.
I remembered when we met for the call letter change and they assured everyone that nobody was going to be let go and that nothing was really going to change expect the name. We all pretty much laughed out loud but, that is exactly what happened. Chase was good to work for.
It was one of a very few if any radio stations in St. Louis that had success without a real St. Louis connection. Jimmie Paige was from St. Louis but never had worked in St. Louis radio, Lyndon was from DC , Chris Knight had worked in Boston , Colorado and other markets, Geoff Davis came in from the East Coast , Big Ron from LA, and nobody was sure where Millinder was from.
You are right about the processing that was Lyndon's deal. He changed that we he arrived which coincided the ratings increase along with the aggressive promotions and marketing and Lyndon allowing the on air staff the freedom to have fun on the air.
I remembered when we met for the call letter change and they assured everyone that nobody was going to be let go and that nothing was really going to change expect the name. We all pretty much laughed out loud but, that is exactly what happened. Chase was good to work for.
It was one of a very few if any radio stations in St. Louis that had success without a real St. Louis connection. Jimmie Paige was from St. Louis but never had worked in St. Louis radio, Lyndon was from DC , Chris Knight had worked in Boston , Colorado and other markets, Geoff Davis came in from the East Coast , Big Ron from LA, and nobody was sure where Millinder was from.
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