| SimulcastsKMJ, Fresno | |
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| Broadcast area | Fresno metropolitan area;Central California |
| Frequency | 105.9MHz |
| Branding | KMJ Now |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | December 8,1979 (as KKDJ) |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 26933 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 2,400 watts |
| HAAT | 597 meters (1,959 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°4′22.8″N119°25′54.4″W / 37.073000°N 119.431778°W /37.073000; -119.431778 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
KMJ-FM (105.9MHz) is acommercial radio station inFresno, California. The station, owned byCumulus Media, airs anews/talkradio format,simulcast withsister stationKMJ (580 AM). The studios and offices are located at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno. KMJ-FM'stransmitter is off Auberry Road inMeadow Lakes, California.[2]
KMJ-AM-FM focus primarily on locally produced talk programming and news on weekdays. Mornings begin with anagricultural news hour, followed by "Fresno's Morning News", a three-hour block of news, sports, traffic and weather. Middays and afternoons feature local talk hosts. Severalnationally syndicated programs are carried at night, includingMark Levin,Armstrong & Getty,Red Eye Radio andAmerica in The Morning fromWestwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media, the parent company of KMJ-AM-FM.
Weekends feature shows on money, health, real estate, auto repair and dining. Some shows are paidbrokered programming. Weekend hosts includeChris Plante, Chad Benson andRic Edelman. Local newscasters are heard at the beginning of most hours, withFox News Radio carried at night.
The stationsigned on the air on December 8, 1979.[3] It was owned by Pacific Quadracasting, Inc. It was analbum-oriented rock (AOR) station known as "KKDJ 106". The KKDJcall letters were previously used by a rock station in Los Angeles. There was another KMJ-FM between 1949 and the 1980s, at 97.9 MHz. It was the original FM simulcast of 580 KMJ, then switched toclassical music and laterTop 40, before becoming today'sKMGV.
KKDJ was the leading rock station in Fresno throughout the 1980s, largely due to the popularity of KKDJ's morning show, The Dean and Don's Breakfast Club. Dean was also known as Bobby Volare and Don as Donnie Rotten. The Dean and Don's Breakfast Club had an avid following in Fresno during the late 1970s and early 1980s. KKDJ also brought 1980s concert acts such as The Knack, Huey Lewis and the News, The Motels and The Babys to the Star Palace and Warner's Theatre.
In 1980, Dean and Don along with their co-host Jimmy Michaels recruited the KKDJ 106 Cheerleaders, eight women and one man. The applicants had to submit a written essay of why they wanted to become a KKDJ 106 Cheerleader. The hip and sexy 1980s cheer team was recruited to promote concerts and other events, hosted by the Breakfast Club. Some of the team members include; Susan "Sexy Susan " Johnson, Rebecca "Becky Baby" Perryman, Mayer "Mary Maybe" Daher, Julie "Jules" Contreras, with Susan "Sassy Sue" Riley, and Cecelia "Lusty Lolita". Other KKDJ 106 DJs at the station during this time included Jeffrey D. Reidel, Michael "Mike The Wild Kingdom" Wild, with David "Dead Air Dave" Sozinho, and Sue Delany. Dean's weekend show was called Dean Opperman's Off-Ramp to Nowhere.
KKDJ's dominance as a rocker was hurt when 103.7 KMGX changed its format fromTop 40 to hard-edged rock in 1989, as KRZR (todayKFBT). In 1991, KKDJ changed its format from album rock toalternative rock under the nickname "105.9 The Edge". This format lasted until January 1994.
When Henry Broadcasting acquired KKDJ, it was relocated from its studios on Shaw Avenue to a small trailer in the KSKS/KMJ parking lot, a trailer previously used by sister station KDON-FM for live remotes. Henry Broadcasting also changed the format of KKDJ toclassic rock, to compete with KJFX. In September 1996, KKDJ's format changed again, this time to Spanish soft ballads as KRNC, "Romance 106".[4] That evolved into a more uptempo Spanish Hits format as "Viva 106".
In July 2004, the station flipped to ahot talk format known as "The Edge", with the call sign KKDG, and featuredHoward Stern's syndicated show in the morning. The talk format barely made a dent in the ratings; in February 2005, "Viva 106" was temporarily revived, while still running Howard Stern in morningdrive time.
In September 2005, the format was changed again toadult hits as anaffiliate of theJack FM format, rebranded as "105.9 Jack FM", and changing its call sign to KFJK. Jack FM was among the highest-rated stations in the Fresnomarket for several years, due to its largeplaylist, made up of rock, alternative and pop hits from the past and present, as well as its own unique system of playing these songs at random, hence the slogan, "Playing What We Want". In addition, Jack had no DJs, which was heavily promoted. One station announcement said, "You don't hear someone talk in between songs on a CD, so why would you hear someone talk in between songs on the radio?" In response to the success of KFJK, in December 2006,KWYE changed its format, which had previously been Top 40.
Jack FM's popularity declined by 2009, eventually ranking 15th (out of 38).[5] On March 26, 2009, KFJK changed its format to news/talk, branded as "KMJ Now", in tandem withKMJ 580 AM. On March 27, 2009, KFJK changed its call letters to KMJ-FM. KMJ-FM's switch to talk created the region's fifth such station. At first KMJ-AM and FM shared only some programs, but today the two stations are fullysimulcast. The ratings for both stations are combined, so it does not matter whether a listener tunes in 580 or 105.9.
On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in whichTownsquare Media would purchase Peak Broadcasting, and then immediately swap Peak's Fresno stations, including KMJ-AM-FM, toCumulus Media in exchange for Cumulus' stations inDubuque, Iowa, andPoughkeepsie, New York. The deal was part of Cumulus' acquisition ofDial Global; Peak, Townsquare, and Dial Global were all controlled byOaktree Capital Management.[6][7] The sale to Cumulus was completed on November 14, 2013.[8]