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| Broadcast area | Kansas City metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 96.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 96.5 The Fan |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports talk |
| Subchannels |
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| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | September 3, 1959; 66 years ago (1959-09-03) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Fans" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 57119 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 335 meters (1,099 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°01′19″N94°30′50″W / 39.022°N 94.514°W /39.022; -94.514 |
| Repeater | 610 KFNZ (Kansas City) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
KFNZ-FM (96.5MHz) is acommercial radio station inKansas City, Missouri. Itsimulcasts asports radioformat withsister stationKFNZ (610 AM), except during conflicting sports programming. The stations are owned byAudacy, Inc., with studios on Squibb Road inMission, Kansas. KFNZ-AM-FM air local sports shows on weekdays, withFox Sports Radio programming heard nights and weekends. They are theflagship radio stations for theKansas City Chiefs and theKansas City Royals.
KFNZ-FM is aClass C0 station, and has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. The station'stransmitter is off East 56th Street near Bennington Avenue in Kansas City.[2] KFNZ-FM broadcasts usingHD Radio technology.
The station began broadcasting on September 3, 1959.[3] For four decades, it was classical music station KXTR, first owned by Telesound Broadcasting, and initially operating at 58,500 watts. Stereo Broadcasters, Inc. bought the station in 1962, and Senthesound Broadcasting bought it three years later. Robert Ingram took over the station in 1976, and KXTR upgraded to 100,000 watts in 1981.
Ingram sold the station toHeritage Media (and thenSinclair Broadcast Group) in 1997. Sinclair then sold it to Entercom (the forerunner to the present-day Audacy) in 2000. By the mid-1990s, KXTR replaced much of its live, local air staff with satellite-fed national programming. Only mornings were local, as well as "Night on the Town" on Saturdays (which would becomesyndicated).
In the spring of 2000, KXTR's ratings were tied for 12th place, with a 3.8 share of the market. (It was ranked even lower in the 25-54 demographic, though ranked 9th in the 35-64 demographic.)[4]
On August 17, 2000, at 10 a.m., KXTR was moved to 1250 AM, displacingsports talk station KKGM (nowRegional Mexican stationKYYS). At that point, 96.5 beganstunting with a ticking clock. At noon, 96.5 flipped to aTop 40 format that emphasizedmodern rock hits (sometimes called "Rock 40"), taking aim at rival contemporary stationKMXV, and was branded as "96.5 The Buzz". The first song played on "The Buzz" was "Learn To Fly" byFoo Fighters.[5][6][7] Thecall sign changed to KRBZ on August 25, 2000.[8]
By 2002, KRBZ moved towards ahot adult contemporary format. However, the move failed, as the station fell to a 3.1 share of the market (15th place) by the spring of 2002.[9]
OnApril 1, 2002, the station stunted as "K-Gay 96.5", playing mostlydance music.[a] The next day, it refocused as amodern AC station, as well as introducing a new morning show, "The Kenny & Afentra Showgram".[10] Scott Geiger, known on the radio as Lazlo, was also hired in September 2002 to work nights, and would soon be promoted to afternoons.[11] "The Kenny & Afentra Showgram" morning show lasted until July 2003, when Kenny Holland was let go, and the show was re-branded as "Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz."
By September 2003, the station completely shifted to a full-fledgedalternative rock format, returning the format to the market for the first time since1999, whenKLZR shifted toTop 40/CHR and whenKNRX dropped its alternative format forurban oldies.
Also in 2003, KRBZ was nearly pulled off the air when plans for sports stationKCSP forced longtimecountry music stationWDAF to look for an FM home. Fans gathered to "Save The Buzz", showing a huge turnout and solidifying the station's alternative format. Instead, WDAF moved to 106.5 FM, displacing KCIY, asmooth jazz station.[12][13]
On June 1, 2006, afternoon host/program director Lazlo announced he was leaving the station to become program director of sister stationKNDD inSeattle.[14] His then-wife, Afentra, host of morning show "Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz," worked her last day from the studios in Kansas City on August 4, but continued to host mornings at KRBZ viasatellite from her home in Seattle until November. Her co-hosts remained in Kansas City. Operations Manager Greg Bergen took over as program director in the wake of Lazlo's exit. On September 8, morning co-host Danny Boi announced plans to leave the show and the station. He was replaced as co-host by Slimfast.[15][16][17]
On November 10, 2006, it was announced that Lazlo, Afentra, and Slimfast would reunite on-air for "The Church of Lazlo", which broadcast from Seattle onKNDD and simulcast on KRBZ.[18] On February 12, 2007, "The Dick Dale Show with Jessica Chase" debuted as the station's new morning show.[19] Less than a month later, Chase quietly departed the station, ultimately being replaced by Kevin Quinn. On July 9, 2008, the morning show was disbanded with Dick Dale being let go from the station.[20]
On July 17, 2008, Lazlo, Afentra, and Slimfast announced plans to end The Church of Lazlo's run onKNDD. This came shortly after the announcement that former KRBZ Program Director Mike Kaplan would take over programming duties at KNDD.[21][22]
On August 25, 2008, both "Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz" and "The Church of Lazlo" returned live to Kansas City.[23]
In 2014, the station was forced to pay $1 million in a defamation lawsuit that spawned from comments made on the morning show.[24]
Afentra abruptly left the station on August 1, 2018, due to her contract not being renewed. Her co-hosts, Danny Boi and Mark Van Sickle, continued the morning show as "Danny and Mark in the Morning".[25] In 2022, Afentra would file an Equal Pay and Discrimination lawsuit against KRBZ for her termination.[26]
On September 24, 2018, Jordin Silver joined Danny Boi and Mark on the morning show, and it was renamed "Mornings with Jordin Silver and Friends". Silver previously worked atKYSR in Los Angeles and KNDD. Danny Boi and Mark eventually left the station.[27]
On September 14, 2020, KRBZ rebranded as "Alt 96.5." The move came after Entercom initiated airstaff cuts at their country and alternative formatted stations nationwide, which included morning host Jordin Silver (who would return to the station in April 2022 to host middays remotely from Los Angeles) and night host/"The Church of Lazlo" producer Hartzell Gray (who has since returned to Audacy) being let go. KRBZ began airing Stryker & Klein (later renamed Klein & Ally) and Megan Holiday from sisterKROQ in Los Angeles for mornings and middays, and Kevan Kenney and Bryce Segall fromWNYL in New York City for nights and overnights, respectively. In addition, "The Church of Lazlo" remained in afternoons, though it would be syndicated to sister stations inDallas,Detroit, andLas Vegas; also, former midday host Jeriney became a co-host (she has since left the station, and has been replaced by former "Church of Lazlo" co-host Snowcone).[28][29][30][31] In addition, longtime specialty programs such as "Homegrown Buzz", "Resurrection Sunday", "Lazlo's Hardrive", and "Sonic Spectrum" were dropped.
On November 15, 2021, KRBZ dropped Klein & Ally, as the show ended syndication to focus on their local audience in Los Angeles.[32] Mornings would run jockless until January 3, 2022, when KRBZ became an affiliate forElliot in the Morning, based at Washington, D.C.'sWWDC.[33] In August 2022, "The Church of Lazlo" stopped airing in syndication, but continued to air in afternoons on KRBZ.[34] At the end of 2022, KRBZ droppedElliot in the Morning; mornings would remain jockless for the remainder of the alternative format's run.[35]
On August 8, 2024, at 10 a.m., Audacy announced that KRBZ would flip to a simulcast of co-ownedsports talk AM station KCSP, and rebrand as “96.5 The Fan”, beginning August 15. Concurrent with the flip, KRBZ would take on new call sign KFNZ-FM. (In addition, KCSP would also adopt the KFNZ call letters to match.) With the move, KFNZ-FM became the exclusive FM home of theKansas City Royals and would add theKansas City Chiefs, which had been onWDAF-FM.[36] WDAF-FM would continue to air Chiefs games during the 2024 season, and some Royals games would remain solely on KFNZ (AM).[37] TheChurch of Lazlo would immediately move to co-ownedKQRC, with the show airing on both stations in the interim week as a transitionary move.
At 6 p.m. on August 14, following the end of that day'sLazlo broadcast (and after playing "Last Goodbye" byJeff Buckley; the last song under the alternative format prior to the Lazlo simulcast wasWeezer's "Say It Ain't So"), both KRBZ and KCSP began stunting, running announcements teasing the new format and runningpodcast-style monologues on notable teams in Kansas City sports history, beginning and ending with the2023 Chiefs winningSuper Bowl LVIII. "The Fan" officially launched at 6 a.m. on August 15 on both 96.5 FM and 610 AM; in addition, the KFNZ-FM call sign went into effect.[36]