Tuesday, May 5, 2009

WNJO

WNJO was an Oldies station in central New Jersey that lasted from 1998 to 2001. They focused mainly on late-1950s to mid-1960s songs with an occasional tune from the 1970s. By the fall of 2001 they had switched to a Classic Hits format as WTHK "The Hawk." The station was revived in 2006 as a commercial-free internet station at wnjofm.com. WNJO was licensed to Trenton, New Jersey.

Monday, May 4, 2009

KLEM

1410 AM KLEM is a Soft Adult Contemporary station licensed to (K) LE Mars, Iowa. They are now also heard on 96.9 FM via translator station K245AM.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Sunday Sticker - KCTA


KCTA (Know Christ The Answer) is a daytime-only Religious Teaching/Christian Talk station licensed to Corpus Christi, Texas.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Actual sticker sighting #1 - WJQK

You rarely see radio stickers on car bumpers or windows anymore. There are three main reasons I can think of for this:1. People don't stick anything on their cars as much as they used to. (This could easily be untrue. I have seen an awful lot of Calvins peeing on Chevy logos and people telling me to "Fear This" and Dale Earnhardt logos with angel wings. Maybe I just live near a lot of rednecks.)
2. Nobody is so passionate about a radio station anymore that they're willing to essentially place an ad for them on their cars.
3. Stations don't have stickers to give away. I talked briefly to an employee of WSHZ Star 108 in Holland, Michigan today. He said that their station no longer had stickers because people tend to stick 'em where they're not supposed to (stop signs, postal boxes, public property etc.) He was doing a remote at the Tulip Festival in Holland and was nice enough to give me a sheet of plastic banner with the station logo on it though.

Anyway....I've decided to make a post anytime that I see a radio sticker on a vehicle (assuming I have the decal in my collection.) Local stations are exempt because otherwise this "actual sightings" series would just be a bunch of Dayton radio stickers.

Driving from Holland, Michigan towards Grand Rapids today I saw this sticker from JQ99 FM.

WJQK is a Contemporary Christian station licensed to Zeeland, Michigan.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Market #1s - Texarkana - KKYR


102.5 KKYR is a Country music station licensed to Texarkana, Texas.  They are known as "Kicker 102.5" and were #1 (easily) in the most recent listener ratings that I could find for that market.

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 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.