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KMOX celebrates 100th anniversary

Mark Roberts

Mark Roberts

Legendary clear-channel KMOX in St. Louis celebrates its 100th anniversary today with special programming:

radioinsight.com

1120 KMOX Marks 11/20 For Centennial Celebration

Audacy News/Talk 1120 KMOX St. Louis/104.1 KMOX-FM Hazelwood is marking its centennial today as it celebrates 11/20 as "KMOX Day"
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

KMOX's actual anniversary date is December 24th. The "X" in KMOX stands for Christmas (Xmas) Eve. The AM station didn't broadcast on the 1120 frequency until 1941 as a consequence of the Havana treaty that reallocated frequencies for most North American stations.

Still, it's an occasion worth celebrating.
 
It was nice hearing some of the personalities from the 80's and 90's talking about the folks from the 60's and 70's, but as a former radio guy, I wish they had given us more clips and fewer anecdotes.
 
Yes prior to the 1941 frequency shift, KMOX spent time at 1070 and 1090 AM, both I assume clear channels in the 1920's and 1930's. The original transmitter site was off North Geyer Road north of Kirkwood (a rural area back then). The St. Louis Media History website has some great early pictures ogf KMOX and a complete KMOX history. They originally wanted the call letters KVSL (Voice of St. Louis) but that was already taken. Then tried for KMO (also alreaady taken), so they settled on KMO-X. The X, by tradition, is for Xmas Eve, the date of origianal broadcast. Original power was 5,000 watts (high power for the early 1920's). At that time KSD 550 had only 1,000 watts. The old Kirkwood site was later sold to KWK and used as a a KWK transmitter site for many years. Eventually KWK moved their tranmitter (1380 AM, at 5,000 watts, to an island in the Miississippi River, which was used until a month or two ago (as their daytime site for 1380 AM). The 1380 AM night-time site was built in East Carondelet, IL in the late 1970's (1,000 watts directional). KWK's original 5,000 watt, figure 8, nightime signal was lost in the early 1970's when the license was first suspended. The KMOX site was later moved to Baumgartner Road in South County in the 1930's, also a two tower suspended T antenna, when KMOX upgraded to 50,000 watts. It eventually was moved to Glen Carbon (Mitchell), IL in the 1940's or early 1950's to a single vertical radiator 50KW dasy and nights. The wide older 1940's guyed tower (a backup, or unused replacment for WBBM) was replaced in the late 1990's, I think, with a thinner guyed tower. They sold off historic tower chunks as collector pieces at the time.
 


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