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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater St. Louis |
| Frequency | 106.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 106.5 The Arch |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult hits |
| Subchannels |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KPNT,KSHE,WIL-FM,WXOS | |
| History | |
First air date | November 24, 1965; 60 years ago (1965-11-24) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "The Arch" (referencing theGateway Arch) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 74577 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 90,000 watts |
| HAAT | 309 meters (1014 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°34′24″N90°19′30″W / 38.5734°N 90.3251°W /38.5734; -90.3251 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WARH (106.5MHz "106-5 The Arch") is a commercialFM radio stationlicensed toGranite City, Illinois and servingGreater St. Louis, including sections ofIllinois andMissouri.[2] WARH is owned byHubbard Broadcasting and airs anadult hitsradio format. The station's studios and offices are inCreve Coeur, Missouri (although a St. Louis address is used).[3] Itstransmitter is located near Resurrection Cemetery off Mackenzie Road in St. Louis.
"106-5 The Arch" using the primary slogan "You never know what we're going to play next." The station's name pays tribute to the iconicGateway Arch monument inDowntown St. Louis. The format is musically similar to thesyndicatedJack FM stations in the U.S. and Canada. However, "The Arch" uses a live and local DJ staff around the clock, whereas "Jack" stations are, for the most part,automated with no live voices. WARH uses voice actor Howard Cogan for voice imaging; Cogan was the former voice of the network syndicated version of Jack FM.
WARH broadcasts in theHD Radio format; WARH-HD2 carries co-ownedKTMY fromMinneapolis, known as "My Talk Radio." (Before March 2017, it featured less familiar rock songs from the 1960s to the present, branded as "106-5 The Deep.") WARH-HD3 carries an all-80s hits format branded as "My 80s Mix"; this launched on WARH-HD3 in May 2021, after being moved fromKSHE's HD3 sub-channel.
On November 24, 1965, WGNU-FM firstsigned on as the FM counterpart ofWGNU (920 AM), under the ownership of Chuck Norman.[4] Both stationssimulcasted acountry music format for Granite City and its surrounding communities.
In 1977, Norman sold the FM station toDoubleday Broadcasting Co., a subsidiary of publisherDoubleday and Company, who would boost the station's signal to cover most of the St. Louisradio market. Thecall sign was changed to WWWK, and later, KWK-FM, with the station simulcasting thealbum oriented rock (AOR) format of KWK (1380 AM, nowKXFN).[5] The stations called themselves "Stereo WK." Doubleday sold the stations to Robinson Broadcasting in 1984.[6]
The simulcast ended in 1986, with AM 1380 flipping tooldies as KGLD, while FM 106.5 (now with the call sign KWK-FM) moved to aTop 40/CHR format. The stations were sold to Chase Broadcasting in 1986.[7]
In February 1988, KWK-FM changed call letters to WKBQ-FM, and retained the Top 40 format, but would rebrand as "Q106.5."[8] After the market's CHR powerhouse stationKHTR dropped its CHR format that November, WKBQ became the only Top 40 station in the market until the launch ofKHTK in August 1989. When mid-1989 rolled along, WKBQ briefly went towards a rock-lean, but returned back to a mainstream direction by mid-1990. In September 1991, WKBQ-FM brought the morning team of "Steve & DC" to St. Louis fromBirmingham, Alabama. In 1993, "Steve & DC" and WKBQ-FM faced controversy over the use of a racial epithet on the air. The following year, they aired an interview with a woman accusing a local broadcaster of harassing her, which may have contributed to his death by suicide in a small plane crash.[9] Also in 1993, WKBQ-FM again was simulcast on AM 1380.
In late 1993, WKBQ-FM was purchased by Zimmer Radio Group ofCape Girardeau, Missouri. On January 20, 1994, WKBQ-FM andcountry-formatted sister station WKKX swapped frequencies, with WKBQ-FM moving to 104.1 FM, and WKKX moving to 106.5 FM (AM 1380 would continue to simulcast WKBQ-FM after the swap).[10][11] The station became "New Country Kix 106.5," with the popular morning duo "Steve & DC" heard for the second time on the 106.5 MHz frequency.[12] That led to the team scoring its biggest ratings in St. Louis, as the "Steve & DC" morning show consistently ranked No. 1 in the all-important Persons 18-49 and Persons 25-54 demographics on WKKX.
In November 1996,Emmis Broadcasting bought the station.[13]
In 2000, Emmis swapped WKKX toBonneville International for Los Angeles country music station KZLA (nowKLLI). At 12:00 a.m. on October 4, 2000, after the sale to Bonneville closed, WKKX changed call letters toWSSM and adopted aSmooth Jazz format as "Smooth 106.5" (later "106.5 Smooth Jazz").[14][15][16][17]
On April 10, 2005, after playing "Thank You" byEuge Groove, the station adopted its currentadult hits format, branded as "106-5 The Arch." The first song on "The Arch" was "Roll With the Changes" byREO Speedwagon.[18][19] The station adopted its currentWARH call letters on April 18, 2005. WARH was initially programmed by Jules Riley. The Program Director since 2019 is Marty Linck, who also serves as the program director for sister stationKSHE.
On January 19, 2011, Bonneville announced the sale of WARH, as well as 16 other stations in four markets (St. Louis, Chicago,Cincinnati and Washington, D.C.), to Minneapolis-based Hubbard Broadcasting.[20] The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.[21]