Thursday, April 30, 2009

KMUW


89.1 FM KMUW is a public radio station operated by Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.  Their call letters come from the original name of the school - (K) Municipal University of Wichita.  KMUW was the first non-commercial station in the state having gone on the air in April 1949.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

WDOW

WDOW was a Contemporary Christian(?) station licensed to (W) DOWagiac, Michigan. In March, 2011 the FCC cancelled their license and deleted the call letters from their database.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Amusing Call Letters #2 - WSEX

In 1983 the FCC reversed a decision that allowed Chicago's WTCO to change their call letters to WSEX. They also switched from Country to a "Sensual Contemporary" format using the slogan "Love Songs & More." According to an interview with the Operations Manager at the time, the station never used the word "sex" on the air and pronounced each letter of the calls individually. He also said they wouldn't even play "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. In 1986 they flipped to a Contemporary Hit format while keeping the call letters. "Top 10 Rad1o" was a unique spin on CHR in that they only played songs that reached the top 10 on the Billboard charts. WSEX was licensed to Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Market #1s - Boston - WXKS



WXKS began in 1979 as a Disco station before morphing into Urban Contemporary and eventually becoming one of the most influential mainstream Contemporary Hit stations in the country. They were #1 in the latest listener ratings for Boston, helped by morning DJ Matt Siegel who has been with the station for over 27 years. Kiss 108 is licensed to Medford, Massachusetts.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday Sticker - KCNW

KCNW (Kansas City's NeWs--referring to a previous News format) is a Religious Teaching station in Kansas City, Missouri. They are one of 18 satellite-fed stations in the Wilkins Communications Network. KCNW is licensed to Fairway, Kansas.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

WTRY


WTRY is a Classic Hits station licensed to Rotterdam, New York. Around the time the bottom sticker came out they had an Oldies format concentrating on music from the 1960s. The top decal dates to around 1984 when the Albany-Colonie A's, a Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, existed and presumably were broadcast on WTRY.

Friday, April 24, 2009

WSHL

WSHL (WStoneHiLl) is an Alternative Rock station operating from Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. They've been on the air since January, 1974.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

KSIQ

KSIQ is a Top-40 station licensed to Brawley, California. In the early 80s they were known as SI-96 (pronounced "See 96" as in the Spanish for "Yes 96") but changed to "Q96" in 1983. The station serves the Imperial Valley of California as well as Mexicali, Mexico.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

KRTH / Earth Day

The first Earth Day was on April 22nd, 1970. It was organized to bring awareness to environmental problems and with a goal of a healthy, sustainable planet. Earth Day grew partially out of the Zero Population Growth movement of the late 60s but now focuses mostly on clean energy, global warming and pollution control as well as household duties such as recycling and composting. Earth Day is celebrated every year on this date in 175 countries by more than half a billion people.




KRTH is an Oldies station from Los Angeles, California. It was named "K-Earth" after the first Earth Day which occurred about two years before. KRTH is known for an extremely tight playlist at one point only numbering 175 different songs. They've tweaked their format over the years, shifting from 50s and 60s oldies to gradually introducing hits from the 1970s and now even playing some from the early 1980s.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

KRSR

These days the AM dial is almost exclusively News/Talk or Sports radio. There are exceptions of course, but to hear a current music-based AM station is almost a novelty at this point. Even though KRSR 1140 AM The Krusher ceased to exist some 20 years ago, it still seems crazy that not only did they play music but they played Hard Rock/Heavy Metal music. KRSR was on the air during the glory years of hair bands (1985-1989) and licensed to North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Monday, April 20, 2009

KXLR


Tough to find a whole lot of information about this station. I know it's from Little Rock, Arkansas and I think it ran a Top-40 format. Not only doesn't KXLR exist anymore but there doesn't appear to be a station at 1150 at all in Arkansas anymore.
UPDATE:  See comments.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

KCMS




"Spirit 105.3" KCMS (KChristian Music Station) is a Contemporary Christian station in Seattle, Washington and licensed to Edmonds, WA.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

KWKW

The 1330 AM frequency in Los Angeles, California is one of the oldest in the United States having gone on the air in March, 1922. For decades they played Spanish-language music before focusing on a Regional Mexican format in the 1990s as "La Mexicana." In 2004 they dropped music and became affiliated with ESPN Deportes, airing Spanish-language sports talk as well as Los Angeles Lakers games en español.

Friday, April 17, 2009

KMRE

KMRE is a low-power (100 watts) FM station licensed to Bellingham, Washington. It is run by the Museum of Radio and Electricity (where it derives its call letters) and broadcasts the museum's media collection with music from the 1920s through the 1940s. KMRE came on the air in July, 2006.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

WZHT

WZHT has been an Urban station in Montgomery, Alabama since 1988. The station slogan refers to their enormous coverage area due to their tower being one of the tallest in the south at 1,830 feet. They sometimes even show up in the ratings books of neighboring markets in Georgia and southern Alabama. Hot 105 is licensed to Troy, Alabama.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

WJHO

WJHO was a Top-40 station licensed to Opelika, Alabama. I'll take a wild guess and say this sticker is from 1974. Not sure when they dropped the format but they're now a News/Talk station with WANI as their calls. Anyone know what the "Sail Thru" thing is all about?

UPDATE: See comments

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

WAPS




91.3 WAPS is an Adult Album Alternative station licensed to Akron, Ohio and operated by that city's public school system.  Weekends are set aside for block programming such as rap and reggae along with a wide variety of ethnic music shows including Serbian, Hungarian, Italian and Indian. While owned by (W) Akron Public Schools, the station is run like a "regular" public radio station (i.e. run by adults) and students are mostly used as interns.  They moved from 89.1 FM to 91.3 FM in 1994.

Monday, April 13, 2009

WCYY

94.3 WCYY is a Modern Rock station licensed to Biddeford, Maine and serves the Portland market. They no longer simulcast at 93.9 (WCYI) after selling off that frequency to the Air 1 Radio Network in 2008.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Egg

WWEG was a high-cholesterol Country music station licensed to Racine, Wisconsin circa 1981. 1460 AM is now WJTI and runs a Regional Mexican format.

Sunday Sticker - KCIV

KCIV is a Religious Teaching station from the Central Valley region (Fresno, Modesto, Merced) of California. Their tower is located on top of Mount Bullion which is also their city of license.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Dart on Map - WBHT


Today's random dart landed on Blakeslee, Pennsylvania which is in the Pocono Mountain region of that state. WBHT is a Contemporary Hit Radio station licensed to nearby Mountain Top, PA. They're now known as "97 BHT" but used the "Hot 97" branding until the late 1990s.

CFPS

CFPS is an Adult Contemporary station from Port Elgin, Ontario. In 2005 they converted to 97.9 FM and signed off the AM signal. They are now known as "98 The Beach."

Friday, April 10, 2009

WOBR


WOBR is a Classic Rock station licensed to Wanchese, North Carolina. They were the first FM station on the Outer Banks of NC when they went on the air in 1974 with an Easy Listening format. Subsequent format changes include Adult Contemporary, Adult Album Alternative, Alternative Rock and Modern Adult Contemporary.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

WLLZ

My Chevy Blazer recently made it to 100,000 miles which, I’m told by some, is when an internal switch is flipped and the engine will soon die. They were kidding of course but the sad fact is that my Blazer has had an array of problems for most of its life. The worst of which has been the front axle area which had to be repaired three times. Something about ball joints and Pitman arms and other terms that I have no idea what they are but get expensive real fast. It's a bad feeling when you hear a horrible thud and get out to see your wheel caved in toward the axle.  Good thing I wasn't going highway speed when it happened.  
I grew up in a Toyota family. Nothing but Coronas, Cressidas, a Prius and a 4-Runner. My dad got 400,000 miles on his 1982 Cressida station wagon. I’ll have to make a decision in the not-so-distant future if I’m gonna use my GM credit card discount and go for another Chevy or switch to another brand. I guess a second Mini Cooper would be totally impractical, especially when I need to haul some wood or bags of mulch.


WLLZ was a Detroit Rock station which lasted from 1980 to the mid 90s. They were a more hit-oriented competitor of heritage rocker WRIF and managed to beat them in the ratings from time to time. The grunge era brought a format change to Modern Rock but in 1995 they switched to Smooth Jazz as WVMV.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

KBUY

KBUY was a Country music station from Amarillo, Texas. It used to be co-owned with KSEL from nearby Lubbock ("Buy & Sell".) KBUY is now "Mix 94.1" KMXJ an Adult Contemporary station.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

KCQL

KCQL is a Sports Talk station licensed to Aztec, New Mexico.

Monday, April 6, 2009

NCAA Championship Game - North Carolina vs Michigan State

I wasn't planning on writing another NCAA basketball post but then realized that both universities have second campus radio stations which I have stickers from.
As far as the basketball pool at work, if MSU wins tonight I split the pot with one other person. If Carolina wins I get all the filthy lucre to myself. Bwa ha ha ha!$!$!$!$!

WKAR (Kollege of AgricultuRe - referring to MSU's original name, Michigan Agricultural College) plays Classical music along with News/Talk from National Public Radio and oh yes, Folk music on Sunday evenings.

WUNC is the flagship station of North Carolina Public Radio based in Chapel Hill. They have a News/Talk format much of which comes from National Public Radio. WUNC is also home to Back Porch Music a Folk/Traditional program now in its 33rd year.

Reds Opening Day

The Cincinnati Reds host their 128th Opening Day at 1:00 this afternoon. With a forecast high of 39 degrees and a chance of snow showers it should be a delightful time at the old ballpark. As the oldest franchise in the sport -dating back to 1869- Major League Baseball decreed that the first pitch of every season would be thrown in Cincinnati. This changed in the past decade as ESPN has been carrying opening games on Sunday night. The Reds are the only team to always start the season in their home ballpark and their first game is still considered the traditional Opening Day.
If I was honest with myself I would admit that the Reds have slowly become my favorite baseball team and not these guys.




WLW (World's Largest Wireless) has been the Reds flagship station for over 60 years. "The Nation's Station" is a 50,000 watt clear channel signal which can be heard across 38 states at night. The father/son duo of Marty and Thom Brennaman do the play-by-play on about 50 affiliates of the Reds Radio Network.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Mystery sticker #7 SOLVED!


The handwritten call letters on the back of this sticker pretty clearly says KEAM but Google hasn't been much help in trying to find out where this station was from. I looked through most of these for a KEAM at 1510 but found none. Any ideas?

UPDATE:  KEAM is from Port Arthur, Texas circa 1981.  Thanks Anonymous!