 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater St. Louis |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 100.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 100.3 The Beat |
| Programming | |
| Format | Mainstream urban |
| Subchannels | HD2:Black Information Network (News) |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KATZ,KLOU,KSD,KSLZ,KTLK-FM,W279AQ | |
| History | |
First air date | September 1961; 64 years ago (1961-09) |
Former call signs |
|
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 48958 |
| Class | C3 |
| ERP | 17,000watts |
| HAAT | 120 meters (394 ft) |
| Translator | HD2: 103.7 W279AQ (Mascoutah) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | thebeatstl.iheart.com |
KATZ-FM (100.3MHz, "The Beat") is acommercialradio stationlicensed toBridgeton, Missouri, and servingGreater St. Louis. It broadcasts amainstream urbanradio format and is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc. It airs twonationally syndicated shows on weekdays:The Breakfast Club in morningdrive time andWay Up with Angela Yee in middays. KATZ-FM's studios are on Foundry Way at Forest Park Avenue, offInterstate 64 indowntown St. Louis.
KATZ-FM is aClass C3 station. It has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 17,000watts using adirectional antenna. Itstransmitter is on Kin-Arc Court off Meeks Boulevard inOlivette.[2] The station broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. Its HD2digital subchannel carries theBlack Information Network, anall-news radio service from iHeart which feedsFM translatorW279AQ at 103.7 MHz.
100.3 FM, which signed on in September 1961 as WOKZ-FM inAlton, Illinois, originally inherited the R&B format under the call letters WZEN, "Disco 100" (which began on April 18, 1979), which would later change call letters to KATZ-FM in 1988. But under its original owners, it was never successful and was always behindKMJM in terms of ratings and audience, which dates back to their days as rivaldisco outlets in the late 1970s. In 1980, the station flipped toCHR, and then flipped tourban AC the following year.
After KMJM's owners bought KATZ and became its sister station in the 1990s, they would go through a flux of formats, including jazz as "Jazz 100",urban oldies,Smooth jazz as KNJZ (which started on April 18, 1994, after a weekendstunt of all-Kenny G music), and then back toUrban AC (as "Kiss 100.3", which started on September 11, 1995).[3][4][5] But that all came to an end on April 1, 1999, when it swapped formats with KMJM. KMJM picked up theUrban AC format of KATZ; in return, KATZ picked up theurban contemporary format from KMJM, and rebranded as "100.3 The Beat." For a while, it had performed successfully under Clear Channel ownership and had proven to be a good complement to Rhythmic-leaning Top 40 sisterKSLZ.[6] Its competitors were Urban stationWHHL andUrban AC stationWFUN-FM. (KATZ-AM is now anUrban Gospel station.)
KATZ-FM had picked up theSteve Harvey Morning Show, a show syndicated throughPremiere Radio Networks, owned by KATZ-FM parent Clear Channel Communications, on November 27, 2006. At first, it seemed that KMJM should have gotten the show because it plays music on anUrban AC format due to Steve's history of not playing songs with "questionable" content – primarily rap. But KATZ was chosen because Clear Channel did not see it fit to replace Tony Scott, who was doing morning drive at KMJM.
However, after changes in programming at the Clear Channel St. Louis cluster, the Steve Harvey Morning Show began running on KMJM, with former morning host Tony Scott being displaced to PM Drive.
In September 2009, the station's ratings began to slide. Clear Channel would announce that they would end "The Beat" and go with a new format, with "The Beat" being relocated to the station's secondaryHD Radio subchannel. At 12 p.m. on October 30, 2009, after playingBoyz II Men'sEnd of the Road, KATZ-FM began stunting withHalloween music as "Halloween 100.3". On November 1, the station shifted their stunt toChristmas music under the name "Christmas 100.3". Finally, at 12:01 a.m. on December 26, 2009, "100.3 The Sound" debuted with aModern Adult Contemporary/Modern Rock hybrid format and new call letters WSDD. The first song played on "The Sound" wasOwl City's "Fireflies".[7][8] On October 2, 2010, WSDD moved its transmitter toOverland, Missouri and its city of license toBridgeton, Missouri. Despite an overall decrease in power, the new signal now covers a greater portion of the population core of the St. Louis area.
On December 26, 2010, exactly one year after its debut, WSDD flipped to an all-90s hits format and adopted the "Gen X Radio" moniker.[9] The first song on "Gen X Radio" was "Get Ready For This" by2 Unlimited. Although the format emphasized songs from the 1990s, they also played hits from the 1980s, 2000s, and some remaining currents from the previous format. On January 3, 2011, WSDD changed their call letters to WSGX to go with the "Gen X" branding.
On May 23, 2012, at Noon, WSGX changed their format toclassic rock, branded as "100.3 The Brew".[10] The final song on "Gen X" was "No Rain" byBlind Melon, while the first song on "The Brew" was "I Wanna Rock" byTwisted Sister.[11] On July 10, 2012, WSGX changed its call letters to KBWX. During its run as "The Brew", the station aired theIndianapolis-basedBob & Tom Show in morning drive.
On November 7, 2012, at 9 a.m., just five months after The Brew's debut, KBWX ended the classic rock format, and became the new home of KMJM'surban adult contemporary format, and rebranded as "Majic 100.3" (their former frequency, 104.9 FM, flipped toRhythmic CHR and took the KBWX calls, while 100.3 received the KMJM-FM call letters a few days later on November 15).[12] In March 2013, the station shifted its playlist to include more current and recurrent hip hop music, similar to KMJM's former wide-ranging urban contemporary format before altering to Urban AC in 1999. Due to low ratings, the station dropped most hip hop music in early 2014.
On November 18, 2014, at Noon, the station returned to the "100.3 The Beat" moniker, and flipped to aClassic hip hop format.[13] On September 30, 2016, at Noon, the format was shifted back to urban contemporary, returning the format to the frequency after 7 years and 5 other formats. The move comes along with the addition of the syndicatedBreakfast Club for mornings.[14]
On December 12, 2017, the station changed call letters back to KATZ-FM.[15]
38°41′06″N90°22′55″W / 38.685°N 90.382°W /38.685; -90.382