KKMS
Encyclopedia
KKMS is a Salem Communications
-owned radio station licensed to Richfield, Minnesota
, United States
and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Studios are located in Eagan, Minnesota
. They are co-owned with WWTC
and KYCR
.
The station programs a Christian
-based religious format primarily featuring ministry personnel and preachers such as John MacArthur
, Alistair Begg
, James Dobson
, J. Vernon McGee
and Tom Shrader. Other individuals may also lease air time on the station. Other hosts such as Hank Hanegraaff
and Janet Parshall
provide more interactive programming. The station produces its own afternoon show, The Word of Truth which is hosted by Pastor Brad Brandon. This show has replaced "KKMS Live! with Jeff and Lee." Several other shows are locally produced, such as Understanding the Times with Jan Markell and The Christian World View with David Wheaton
.
s.
As they were limited by their then-daytime only license at 980 AM, they started up WPBC-FM at 101.3 MHz
in August 1959, simulcasting the AM station.
The Stewarts sold the station in 1972 to Fairchild Industries for $1.5 million. Fairchild subsequently dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. On November 3, 1972, the AM station was relaunched as WYOO, picking up an oldies
format (with rock and roll included). A few days later, WPBC-FM became WRAH and programmed an automated album oriented rock format. When the oldies format of WYOO started to slide in the ratings, more MOR music was added, but ratings slid even further. Fairchild contemplated selling the station. The general manager and program director, both hired from established Top 40 station KDWB
, felt a major change needed to be made.
format, in contrast to what they saw as the rigid, bland presentation of other similar stations in town. They kept the WYOO call letters, to avoid the hassle and long process of changing call letters with the FCC. After being rebuffed in their planned use of "Y100" as the station's moniker, the new station was christened "U100." An interesting note was the placement on the dial. The AM broadcast at 980, and the FM at 101.3. Management reasoned that back then, all radios were analog
, and it seemed like the only number shown on that part of the dial was a big "100", so it was close enough to 980 and 101.3, close enough to "100" as far as they were concerned. The dial position was promoted similarly by WPBC, as "near 10 or 100 on AM or FM".
The changeover occurred on August 26, 1974 during a remote broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair
. The new U100 quickly became the topic of conversation throughout the area with its rowdy, outrageous mix of Top 40 and hard rock.
During the next two years, U100 quickly became the most talked-about radio station in town. Competition was fierce in rock 40 radio at the time, and compared to U100, WDGY
, KDWB
and KSTP seemed a bit tame in their on-air presentation. As an added advantage, U100 was the first Twin Cities top 40 station to broadcast on the FM dial in stereo (in addition to 980 AM).
(beautiful music
) station WAYL
was interested in the AM operation, to simulcast WAYL's signal and expand coverage in parts of the metro area. Since one company could not own more than one AM or more than one FM station in the same market at the time, they needed to find a buyer for the FM station, and sought out the owners of various AM stations in the area. Doubleday Broadcasting, owner of KDWB, wasn't actively seeking an FM station at the time but offered to buy 101.3 FM in February 1976 after they were offered a rather generous deal for $750,000 that included WYOO-FM and the building in Eagan that housed both stations.
U100 signed off for the last time at midnight on Wednesday, September 15, 1976. The following Monday, 980 AM came back on the air as WAYL.
WAYL (whose mascot was a whale) simulcast easy listening music on both 93.7 FM and 980 AM until 1982, when they briefly switched the AM station to lite rock, first as KKSS, and then to adult standards
as KMFY. The AM station's somewhat eclectic format was unsuccessful and it returned to simulcasting WAYL by 1984. By this time, the two stations were owned by a larger company, Entertainment Communications, later known as Entercom.
format was fading rapidly in popularity. While it had long been a strong ratings draw across the country, advertisers began to shun the older demographics
of its listeners. In 1987, WAYL-FM finally dropped easy listening and switched to classic hits
as KLXK. WAYL's call letters and format remained on 980 AM, before completely giving up on beautiful music and switching to a simulcast of the FM station.
In December 1990, the AM station branched off from its FM sister. The station picked up the full-time syndicated network
called "Z-Rock," following their departure from KZOW
(950 AM). The new call letters became KMZZ and the music full-time hard rock
and heavy metal
. As the Z-Rock network itself later shifted to a more mainstream rock presentation, KMZZ dropped them on January 1, 1993 and began programming an in-house automated hard rock format as "Mega Rock". Mega Rock did not last long, and the following May, 980 AM returned to simulcasting their FM sister station, now active rock
KRXX (93X).
When Entercom sold 93X to Capital Cities/ABC
in 1994, the AM station was not part of the deal. As a buyer was being sought, 980 was still owned by Entercom (though programmed by local ABC station KQRS-FM through a local marketing agreement) and continued to simulcast 93.7 FM until a buyer could be found. Upon taking control of KRXX in March, ABC immediately changed the format of KRXX-FM to modern rock
as KEGE ("The Edge"). AM 980's call letters would remain KRXX until finally picking up the KEGE call letters later that year.
and secular formats, is one of the biggest radio station owners in the industry, and they currently own two other AM stations in the Twin Cities market. All three stations are based at the same Eagan studios that housed 980 AM and its broadcast facilities through its many incarnations.
Salem Communications
Salem Communications is a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher specializing in evangelical Christian and conservative political talk radio. It owns 99 commercial radio stations, 65 of which are in the top 25 markets. Salem is the fifth largest U.S....
-owned radio station licensed to Richfield, Minnesota
Richfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 34,439 people, 15,073 households, and 8,727 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,993.9 people per square mile . There were 15,357 housing units at an average density of 2,226.9 per square mile...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Studios are located in Eagan, Minnesota
Eagan, Minnesota
Eagan is a city south of Saint Paul in Dakota County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from the confluence with the Mississippi River. Eagan and nearby suburbs form the southern portion of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the fifteenth largest...
. They are co-owned with WWTC
WWTC
WWTC is a long-standing radio station serving the Twin Cities region. Despite its up-and-down history, the station spawned two of the area's major television stations and had some very innovative and unusual periods in its history...
and KYCR
KYCR
KYCR is a radio station serving the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, and licensed to Golden Valley, Minnesota. The station is owned by Salem Communications and broadcasts a secular talk radio format...
.
The station programs a Christian
Christian radio
Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...
-based religious format primarily featuring ministry personnel and preachers such as John MacArthur
John MacArthur
John MacArthur may refer to:* John Macarthur , Australian wool industry pioneer and Rum Rebel* John McArthur, Jr. , American architect* John McArthur , Union general during the American Civil War...
, Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg is the senior pastor of Cleveland's Parkside Church , a position he has had since 1983. He is the voice behind the Truth for Life Christian radio preaching and teaching ministry that broadcasts his sermons daily to stations across the United States...
, James Dobson
James Dobson
James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...
, J. Vernon McGee
J. Vernon McGee
John Vernon McGee, Th.D., LL.D, was an ordained Presbyterian minister who later pastored an interdenominational church, a Bible teacher, theologian, and was also a radio minister.-Early Years and Education:...
and Tom Shrader. Other individuals may also lease air time on the station. Other hosts such as Hank Hanegraaff
Hank Hanegraaff
Hendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff also known as the Bible Answer Man is an American author, radio talk-show host and advocate of evangelical Christianity. He was born in the Netherlands and raised in the United States since childhood. He is married with 12 children...
and Janet Parshall
Janet Parshall
Janet Parshall is the host of the conservative, Christianity-based radio talk show In the Market with Janet Parshall, which is broadcast on the Moody Radio network. That program is the replacement for her previous radio show, Janet Parshall's America for the Salem Radio Network; that program was...
provide more interactive programming. The station produces its own afternoon show, The Word of Truth which is hosted by Pastor Brad Brandon. This show has replaced "KKMS Live! with Jeff and Lee." Several other shows are locally produced, such as Understanding the Times with Jan Markell and The Christian World View with David Wheaton
David Wheaton
David Wheaton is a former professional tennis player from the United States.Born in Minneapolis, Wheaton played in his first tournament at age eight, and won the Minnesota State High School tennis title in 1984, as a ninth grader. In 1987, he won the US Open junior title and was ranked the No. 1...
.
History
After two years of wrangling and obtaining start-up funds, WPBC officially signed on the air on October 18, 1949. The station was owned by the People's Broadcasting Company, founded by former WCCO announcer Bill Stewart and his wife Becky Ann. In contrast to WCCO and KSTP, WPBC carried no network programming, and were live and local all day. The station in the early years played a variety of middle of the road pop music and standards, and was even considered an innovator in the concept of singing jingleJingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
s.
As they were limited by their then-daytime only license at 980 AM, they started up WPBC-FM at 101.3 MHz
KDWB
KDWB-FM is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, the radio format was known for over fifty years as a major contemporary hit radio Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It broadcasts in 5.1 cinema-quality...
in August 1959, simulcasting the AM station.
The Stewarts sold the station in 1972 to Fairchild Industries for $1.5 million. Fairchild subsequently dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. On November 3, 1972, the AM station was relaunched as WYOO, picking up an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
format (with rock and roll included). A few days later, WPBC-FM became WRAH and programmed an automated album oriented rock format. When the oldies format of WYOO started to slide in the ratings, more MOR music was added, but ratings slid even further. Fairchild contemplated selling the station. The general manager and program director, both hired from established Top 40 station KDWB
KDWB
KDWB-FM is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, the radio format was known for over fifty years as a major contemporary hit radio Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It broadcasts in 5.1 cinema-quality...
, felt a major change needed to be made.
"Super U100"
The decision was made to change to a Top 40/hard rockHard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
format, in contrast to what they saw as the rigid, bland presentation of other similar stations in town. They kept the WYOO call letters, to avoid the hassle and long process of changing call letters with the FCC. After being rebuffed in their planned use of "Y100" as the station's moniker, the new station was christened "U100." An interesting note was the placement on the dial. The AM broadcast at 980, and the FM at 101.3. Management reasoned that back then, all radios were analog
Analog transmission
Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying voice, data, image, signal or video information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that of a variable...
, and it seemed like the only number shown on that part of the dial was a big "100", so it was close enough to 980 and 101.3, close enough to "100" as far as they were concerned. The dial position was promoted similarly by WPBC, as "near 10 or 100 on AM or FM".
The changeover occurred on August 26, 1974 during a remote broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair
Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the 2nd largest fair in the United States, and the largest state fair in the United States in terms of average daily attendance, though the State Fair of Texas runs...
. The new U100 quickly became the topic of conversation throughout the area with its rowdy, outrageous mix of Top 40 and hard rock.
During the next two years, U100 quickly became the most talked-about radio station in town. Competition was fierce in rock 40 radio at the time, and compared to U100, WDGY
KFAN (AM)
* See also KFXN-FMKTCN —branded News/Talk 1130—is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, broadcasting a conservative news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications, and serves the Twin Cities market. KTCN's main studios are in St...
, KDWB
KDWB
KDWB-FM is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, the radio format was known for over fifty years as a major contemporary hit radio Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It broadcasts in 5.1 cinema-quality...
and KSTP seemed a bit tame in their on-air presentation. As an added advantage, U100 was the first Twin Cities top 40 station to broadcast on the FM dial in stereo (in addition to 980 AM).
WAYL and the Entercom years
In early 1976, Fairchild Industries decided to put both stations on the market. The owner of easy listeningEasy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
(beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
) station WAYL
KXXR
KXXR is an active rock radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media, which also owns KQRS-FM and the three station trimulcast known as "Love 105"...
was interested in the AM operation, to simulcast WAYL's signal and expand coverage in parts of the metro area. Since one company could not own more than one AM or more than one FM station in the same market at the time, they needed to find a buyer for the FM station, and sought out the owners of various AM stations in the area. Doubleday Broadcasting, owner of KDWB, wasn't actively seeking an FM station at the time but offered to buy 101.3 FM in February 1976 after they were offered a rather generous deal for $750,000 that included WYOO-FM and the building in Eagan that housed both stations.
U100 signed off for the last time at midnight on Wednesday, September 15, 1976. The following Monday, 980 AM came back on the air as WAYL.
WAYL (whose mascot was a whale) simulcast easy listening music on both 93.7 FM and 980 AM until 1982, when they briefly switched the AM station to lite rock, first as KKSS, and then to adult standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
as KMFY. The AM station's somewhat eclectic format was unsuccessful and it returned to simulcasting WAYL by 1984. By this time, the two stations were owned by a larger company, Entertainment Communications, later known as Entercom.
From easy listening to hard rock
As the mid-1980s approached, the easy listeningEasy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
format was fading rapidly in popularity. While it had long been a strong ratings draw across the country, advertisers began to shun the older demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
of its listeners. In 1987, WAYL-FM finally dropped easy listening and switched to classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
as KLXK. WAYL's call letters and format remained on 980 AM, before completely giving up on beautiful music and switching to a simulcast of the FM station.
In December 1990, the AM station branched off from its FM sister. The station picked up the full-time syndicated network
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
called "Z-Rock," following their departure from KZOW
KTNF
KTNF is a radio station licensed to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The station brands itself as "The Voice of Minnesota," and offers a combination of locally produced and nationally syndicated progressive talk programming.In the summer of 2004,...
(950 AM). The new call letters became KMZZ and the music full-time hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. As the Z-Rock network itself later shifted to a more mainstream rock presentation, KMZZ dropped them on January 1, 1993 and began programming an in-house automated hard rock format as "Mega Rock". Mega Rock did not last long, and the following May, 980 AM returned to simulcasting their FM sister station, now active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
KRXX (93X).
When Entercom sold 93X to Capital Cities/ABC
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
in 1994, the AM station was not part of the deal. As a buyer was being sought, 980 was still owned by Entercom (though programmed by local ABC station KQRS-FM through a local marketing agreement) and continued to simulcast 93.7 FM until a buyer could be found. Upon taking control of KRXX in March, ABC immediately changed the format of KRXX-FM to modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
as KEGE ("The Edge"). AM 980's call letters would remain KRXX until finally picking up the KEGE call letters later that year.
Sale to Salem
After more than two years on the market, the AM station was finally sold in December 1996 to a religious broadcaster and the call letters switched to the current KKMS. Eventually, Salem Communications, a company that grew by buying less desirable AM stations around the country, acquired the station. Today, Salem, which programs both ChristianChristian radio
Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...
and secular formats, is one of the biggest radio station owners in the industry, and they currently own two other AM stations in the Twin Cities market. All three stations are based at the same Eagan studios that housed 980 AM and its broadcast facilities through its many incarnations.