KABZ (103.7MHz) is a commercialFMradio station inLittle Rock, Arkansas. The station is owned by Signal Media and thebroadcast license is held by Signal Media of Arkansas, Inc. KABZ airs asportsradio format, known as "103.7 The Buzz." The station's studios are located on Cottondale Lane, just west of downtown along the south shore of theArkansas River (David D. Terry Lake). Thetransmitter is located onShinall Mountain, near theChenal Valley neighborhood of Little Rock.^[2]

On weekdays, KABZ airs local sports shows from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nights and weekends, the station carries theESPN Radio Network.KATV, Little Rock'sABCNetwork affiliate, supplies news and weather updates. Some KABZ local sports shows are also heard on other Arkansas sports radio stations.

On June 22, 1961, the stationsigned on asKARK-FM, the FMsimulcast of KARK (920 AM), one of Little Rock's earliest radio stations. KARK-FM’s effective radiated power was 22,500watts on a 790-foot tower. KARK-AM-FM were co-owned withKARK-TV, Little Rock'sNBC affiliate. In 1967, FM stations in most cities could not simulcast their AM stations full-time any longer per an FCC order; because of this, KARK-FM switched to anautomatedTop 40 format, usingsyndicator TM Century's "Stereo Rock" format.

In 1972, aDenver-based company bought KARK-TV. In those days, broadcast stations owned by different companies could not have the samecall sign. The TV station has kept the KARK-TV call letters to this day, while the radio stations switched to KARN andKARN-FM.^[3] By then, KARN-FM had boosted its power to 95,000 watts and nearly doubled its antenna height to 1510 feet, boasting a signal that could be heard on a good car radio fromFort Smith toMemphis, along the entireI-40 run through Arkansas.

In 1973, to carve out its own identity, it switched call letters toKKYK, continuing to run the "Stereo Rock" format for several years as "K-Kick 104." As a top 40 station, KKYK usually finished well behind KLAZ (98.5 FM) and its successor KZOU "Zoo 98." KKYK was the dominant CHR station in the early-to-mid 1980s, but fell behind when KZOU became the more dominant CHR station in the market. During the 1980s, KKYK was an affiliate withAmerican Top 40 withCasey Kasem, while KZOU was an affiliate withRick Dees Weekly Top 40. Ted Snider, the owner of KARN, sold the FM station to Shepard Communications in late 1988 after members of his family bought an interest in anurban contemporary station,KIPR "Power 92." After Shepard bought it, KKYK dropped the automation, hired adisc jockey staff, and adopted a more major-market sound, overtaking "Zoo 98." It usually finished in the top three behindcountry music outletKSSN and either just behind or just in front ofbeautiful music KEZQ (100.3 FM, nowKDJE).

When Top 40/CHR began to falter in the early-1990s, KKYK saw its ratings decline. KZOU was forced out of the format in June 1991, becominghot ACKURB "B-98.5." While that would normally have been a moment of celebration, KKYK was unable to capitalize on the demise of its competitor. KURB hired KKYK's popular morning man Craig O'Neill away, and KKYK began a steep drop despite its biggest competitor leaving the format.

KKYK attempted several reboots of its Top 40 format throughout parts of the 1980s and the 1990s, including an attempt at bringing back the old "K-Kick 104" branding and moving to a so-called "Rock 40" format as "Kick 103.7." None of these steps were successful, and in the summer of 1993, the Top 40 format was jettisoned foralbum rock as "K-Rock 103.7." "K-Rock" was more successful ratings-wise than the last few years of KKYK's top 40 format, but it struggled to compete against the established rock station,KMJX, then known as "Magic 105." It was also had to deal with a glut of rock stations launching around the same time in the market, including KLPQ/KOUN, which ran a classic rock format.

In 1994, Shepard sold KKYK to Philip Jonsson, owner of Signal Media, which owned KBIS (1010 AM) and KHLT (94.1 FM). Shortly after buying KKYK, Signal Media flipped KHLT from "K-Lite 94.1" toKKPT "94.1 The Point," running aclassic rock format. Signal attempted to tag-team its classic rock station, KKPT, with a younger-skewingactive rock station, KKYK, to run the other local rock stations out of the format. Although the rock combo had some success in the ratings, it failed to force any major competitors to switch to other formats.

KKYK's fate as a rock station was sealed afterGroup W bought 1010 AM, by then known as KSYG, to silence it, which would decrease nighttime interference to its ownWINS inNew York City. In 1996, Jonsson moved the AM station's talk format to 103.7 FM, which assumed theKSYG call letters and became known as "The Signal." After six years as "The Signal," in 2000, it took on the call signKABZ and became "103.7 The Buzz." During its time as "The Buzz," it aired mostlyhot talk and guy talk programming withmodern rock in late nights and on the weekends. Eventually, all music programming was discontinued while the talk format remained. In 2004, KABZ took on a sports talk format, at first carrying theFox Sports Radio Network, and in 2009, switching to ESPN, apart from its local shows.

• KABZ official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 60134 (KABZ) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KABZ inNielsen Audio's FM station database

• Radio stations in Arkansas
• Sports radio stations in the United States
• Radio stations established in 1962
• 1962 establishments in Arkansas

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