KMJM-FM
Encyclopedia
KMJM-FM is an FM
radio station
licensed
to Columbia, Illinois
, USA better known as "Majic 104.9". The station airs an Urban Adult Contemporary
format, and has been the top-rated station in St. Louis among African American listeners for over two decades.
In 1993, the station was granted a major power upgrade allowing it to move to the St. Louis Master antenna site in Shrewsbury, MO, and upgrade from 3,000 Watts to 25,000 Watts, making the 104.9 frequency a full market St. Louis signal. That made the station much more valuable, as did deregulation allowing operators to own several different FM stations in a market in 1996.
In 1997, the station was sold to Jacor Broadcasting, who also owned Urban powerhouse KMJM, which was then at 107.7 FM. Instead of installing a new format on the 104.9 frequency, KMJM was relocated to the weaker 104.9 MHz frequency to allow its new Contemporary Hits station KSLZ a better signal into the suburbs on the full 100,000 Watt Class C 107.7 frequency as it remains to this day.
By 1999, through a corporate takeover, KMJM became owned by Clear Channel Communications, who also owned KATZ AM & FM. KATZ-FM was an Urban Adult Contemporary format playing mostly slower R&B, while Majic played a format consisting mostly of Hip Hop/Rap and Current R&B Hits. The formats on the two stations would swap, and Majic would take the Urban Adult Contemporary format from 100.3, while maintaining most of the same staff, and 100.3 was rechristened as "The Beat" with an all hip hop and R&B format that would last until October 2009.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to Columbia, Illinois
Columbia, Illinois
Columbia is a city in Monroe and St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Illinois, about south of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 7,922 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, USA better known as "Majic 104.9". The station airs an Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
format, and has been the top-rated station in St. Louis among African American listeners for over two decades.
History
The 104.9 Frequency originally went on the air February 15, 1964 from the basement of station owner Joseph Lepp as WCBW in Columbia, IL, and was a typical small town radio station. In 1980, the station was sold to Continental Broadcasting, and the station became the first station in the St. Louis area with a format of Contemporary Christian Music, still with a weak 3,000 Watt signal based in Columbia, IL, but it could be heard in much of the St. Louis area.In 1993, the station was granted a major power upgrade allowing it to move to the St. Louis Master antenna site in Shrewsbury, MO, and upgrade from 3,000 Watts to 25,000 Watts, making the 104.9 frequency a full market St. Louis signal. That made the station much more valuable, as did deregulation allowing operators to own several different FM stations in a market in 1996.
In 1997, the station was sold to Jacor Broadcasting, who also owned Urban powerhouse KMJM, which was then at 107.7 FM. Instead of installing a new format on the 104.9 frequency, KMJM was relocated to the weaker 104.9 MHz frequency to allow its new Contemporary Hits station KSLZ a better signal into the suburbs on the full 100,000 Watt Class C 107.7 frequency as it remains to this day.
By 1999, through a corporate takeover, KMJM became owned by Clear Channel Communications, who also owned KATZ AM & FM. KATZ-FM was an Urban Adult Contemporary format playing mostly slower R&B, while Majic played a format consisting mostly of Hip Hop/Rap and Current R&B Hits. The formats on the two stations would swap, and Majic would take the Urban Adult Contemporary format from 100.3, while maintaining most of the same staff, and 100.3 was rechristened as "The Beat" with an all hip hop and R&B format that would last until October 2009.