KZCH
Encyclopedia
KZCH "Channel 96.3" is a Mainstream Top 40 station serving the Wichita area
Sedgwick County, Kansas
Sedgwick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 498,365 for the 2010 census. The largest city and county seat is Wichita. The county was named after General John Sedgwick...

. The Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 outlet broadcasts at 96.3 MHz with an ERP of 50 kW and is licensed to Derby, Kansas
Derby, Kansas
Derby is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. Formerly known as El Paso, it is a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 22,158. As of 2008 the population was estimated at 22,517, making it the 17th largest city in the state of Kansas...

.

History

KZCH is a successor to heritage Top 40 KKRD (See KTHR
KTHR
KTHR is a radio station operating in Wichita, Kansas. The station runs a rock music format.-History:KTHR's format history includes Easy Listening as KARD, later evolved into an Adult Contemporary format...

), who they replaced in June 2004. Prior to that, the 96.3 signal was Classic Rock KRZZ, which began airing in 1985.

The first personality to debut on KZCH was Wichita native "HaZe" who held down the night shift from 7PM-Midnight. He later moved on to Sinclair Broadcasting's former CHR WZNR in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

. He would later move on to KSLZ
KSLZ
KSLZ, "Z107.7", is a Top 40 Mainstream FM radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The Clear Channel Communications outlet broadcasts at 107.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. Its transmitter is located in Shrewsbury, a suburb of St...

 in St. Louis.

When the station began, the station leaned heavily on rhythmic material. In 2006, the station readjusted towards a more mainstream direction. In 2009, the station would lean rhythmic again, and also mixed in old school
Old school
In slang, old school can refer to anything that is from an earlier era. Old school refers to something that is fairly old and not very recent. Depending on the context and intent, the term can imply a high regard or respect, or be a pejorative...

.

On March 23, 2009, at 10 am, the station changed its name (temporarily) to Britney 9-6-3 in order to gain support for Britney Spears' Circus Tour concert in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 on April 2nd. It reverted back to Channel 9-6-3 after the concert.

HD Radio

In 2006, KZCH signed on HD Radio operations. On their HD 2 channel, the station carried Club Phusion
Club Phusion
Club Phusion is a HD2 Dance Top 40 station, one of three Dance-formatted HD2 stations programmed by Clear Channel Communications through their Format Lab, a new division set up to expand music formats over their HD2 subcarriers...

. In 2011, it was replaced with modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...

, filling the void KANR
KANR
KANR is an American radio station broadcasting a Spanish language format in Wichita, Kansas. The station is licensed to Belle Plaine, Kansas.-History:...

 left open when that station flipped to Spanish in 2006.

Morning Show Shuffle

KZCH has seen several morning radio shows come and go since its inception. The stations original morning show, "The Mat Mitchell in the Morning Show" featuring Mat Mitchell and Big Head Ted ran from late 2004 until November of 2006 when the show was eventually cancelled. They were replaced by then KZCH afternoon DJ Brett Andrews however he too left the station shortly thereafter assuming the role of morning DJ and moved to Las Vegas (he is now in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 at KKRZ
KKRZ
KKRZ is a commercial broadcast radio station in Portland, Oregon, also known as Z-100, broadcasts CHR music.-History:What is now KKRZ first signed on May, 7, 1946 as KGW-FM on 95.3 MHz and moved to 100.3 MHz on September 22, 1947...

). Andrews was then in turn replaced by KZCH night DJ Spoon. However, just like Brett Andrews, "Spoon" did not last long during his stint as morning DJ and he left the station to take over nights in Jacksonville, Florida. The current morning show on KZCH is "The Bobby Bones Show"
Bobby Bones Show
The Bobby Bones Show is a morning radio show broadcast in Austin, Texas, on 96.7 KISS FM and syndicated in Wichita, Kansas, Amarillo, Texas, Lubbock, Texas, Augusta, Georgia, Waco, Texas, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Bobby Bones is accompanied by co-hosts Lunchbox, Amy, Carlos, and Alayna. Jay Shannon...

 which began broadcasting Monday March 26, 2007. The show syndicates from KHFI in Austin, TX.
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