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 was 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 served the Imperial Valley of California as well as Mexicali, Mexico.  In 2010 they moved into the San Diego radio market and changed their city-of-license to Campo, CA.  They were sold in 2013 and are currently part of the Air1 Radio Network with call letters KYDO.

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.  KWKW is currently all-Sports "Tu Liga Radio".

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.