 | |
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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Kansas City metropolitan area (Missouri-Kansas) |
| Frequency | 107.3MHz |
| Branding | 107.3 The Vibe |
| Programming | |
| Format | Contemporary hit radio |
| Affiliations | Westwood One |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KCHZ,KCFX,KCJK,KCMO,KCMO-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | September 11, 1969; 56 years ago (1969-09-11) |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies | 106.3 MHz (1969-1981) |
Call sign meaning | "Magic" (former moniker) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 33713 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 100,000watts |
| HAAT | 299 meters (981 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1073thevibe.com |
KMJK (107.3FM, "107.3 The Vibe") is acontemporary hit radiostation serving theKansas City metropolitan area. It islicensed toNorth Kansas City, Missouri, and owned byCumulus Media, with studios on Indian Creek Parkway nearInterstate 435 inOverland Park, Kansas.
KMJK has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000watts. Thetransmitter is off Pleasant Prairie Road at Doris Neer Road inNapoleon, Missouri.[1]
What is now KMJK started broadcasting on September 11, 1969, at 106.3 FM as KLEX-FM.[2] Thecall sign represented the originalcity of license,Lexington, Missouri. Thetower was just north ofOdessa, Missouri. The format wascountry music. The station's call letters changed to KBEK-FM in 1976, and relocated to 107.3 FM in 1981 with a class C signal. The station was locally owned by Lexington Broadcasters, until being sold in September 1989.
In 1984, the station changed formats to satellite-fedadult contemporary music as KCAC. On December 1, 1988, the station flipped back to country music and changed its call sign to KCFM. The station was acquired by Meyer Communications in September 1989.
KCFM swapped formats and frequencies with Capitol Broadcasting's KXXR on February 16, 1992, at midnight. (KXXR was aTop 40 station at 106.5 FM, nowWDAF-FM.) The first song played after the swap was "I'm Too Sexy" byRight Said Fred. Meyer continued to own the station, while being operated by Capitol via alocal marketing agreement (LMA).[3][4] The KXXR call letters officially moved to 107.3 FM on March 13, 1992. (106.5, meanwhile, adopted the KKCJ call letters four days earlier.) US Radio, led byPhiladelphia attorney Ragan Henry who owned other radio stations across the country, bought the station in October 1992.[5]
On February 4, 1993, after 24 hours ofstunting with a loop of "Kiss" byPrince, the station changed call letters to KISF, and rebranded as "Kiss 107.3".[6][7] AfterKBEQ's unannounced flip to Country later that month, KISF became the only Top 40 station in the Kansas City market. That changed whenKMXV flipped from hot adult contemporary to Top 40 in March 1994. In addition, KMXV had a signal that covered the entire Kansas City metro. Despite KISF lacking full-market coverage, the station still received decent ratings.[8][9][10]
During the mid-1990s,alternative rock was becoming the popular sound of the decade, while the Top 40 format was entering a period of decline. Management decided to follow the trend and compete againstLawrence, Kansas-basedKLZR, which was seeing success with the format. KISF started evolving towardsmodern rock with a lean on 1980snew wave in late 1994, with the shift complete by January 1995, including a slight name change to "107.3 Kiss FM." (The station would later rebrand as simply "107.3".)[11][12]
With the new format, the station initially had trouble gaining an audience, due in part because the station hung on to remnants of its former format, including imaging and presentation.[13] In addition, the station shifted through several morning shows.[14][15] Due to US Radio's financing balloon bank note becoming due, Henry was forced to sell his 49-station empire, with KISF being bought by Metropolitan Radio Group in April 1996. Syncom bought the station in May 1997.
The station rebranded as "107.3 The X" on March 16, 1997, and took the new call sign KCCX on June 25 of that year.[16]Classic rock stationKCFX nearly threatened to sue the station because the call letters were too similar.[17] To remedy this, the call letters were changed to KNRX on March 1, 1998. During this time, the station started leaning towards theactive rock route by playing harder-edged rock acts, in order to compete withKQRC. The station's airstaff during this period included Kansas City-nativeMancow Muller syndicated fromChicago (who began airing in mornings on March 14, 1997). OtherDJs included Jason Justice, "The Morning (and later, Afternoon) Headrush" with Jay Charles and Sammye Phelps, and Roach and Sumo (with The Fonz) hosting "The Midnight Moshpit". Specialty programming included "Off the Beaten Track" featuring afreeform format on Friday (and later, Sunday) nights, "Resurrection Sunday" and the syndicated "Out of Order Countdown" withJed the Fish on weekends.[18][19]
Likely because of the station's signal issues, and being one of two modern rock stations covering the Kansas City market, in addition toKLZR, the station's ratings were only modest during this time, usually in the mid-2 shares (12+).[20] By the Fall of 1997, the station's ratings plummeted to 15th place with a 1.5 share (12+).[21][22] Mancow's show was dropped on November 20, 1998.[23][24]
At 10:04 a.m. on January 5, 1999, without warning, KNRX dropped the modern rock format. Jason Justice played the final song on "The X", which was the acoustic version of "Plush" byStone Temple Pilots. The station then beganstunting with a ticking clock and a loop of "1999" byPrince. (On the same day, rivalKOZN dropped itsmodern AC format.)
The following day at noon, KNRX flipped tourban oldies as "K-107, The Rhythm & Soul of Kansas City".[25][26][27] K-107's first song was "Celebration" byKool and The Gang.[28] The station also picked upTom Joyner for morning drive.[29] The station's ratings began to improve after the flip. In the summer of 1999, "K-107" peaked at a 3.6 share (12+).[30][31]
On February 1, 2001, the station's call letters changed to the current KMJK. During the summer of that year, the station moved towards anurban adult contemporary format with the new moniker "Majik 107.3". In October 2003, Cumulus Media purchased KMJK along with Radio 2000-ownedKCHZ. In the Summer of 2004, KMJK altered its moniker to "Magic 107.3". In 2008, the station changed itscity of license toNorth Kansas City, Missouri. The station also had anFCCconstruction permit to move its transmitter from Odessa to a site nearLevasy, Missouri.
In 2011, withCumulus Media's acquisition ofCitadel Media, Cumulus announced that KMJK would be spun off and put into a trust called Volt Media, LLC, in order to meet FCC mandates on ownership limitations. This was despite Citadel not owning any stations in Kansas City. However, in October of the same year, Cumulus announced plans to reacquire the station.
Over the course of 2018, KMJK began dropping most classic soul and pre-1990s music from the playlist, and began adding morehip hop tracks, in order to better compete againstKPRS. During the fall of 2019, the station also dropped the "Magic" moniker, rebranding to "107.3 KC's R&B and Hip Hop", and switching mostly from urban AC to mainstreamurban contemporary. By 2023, KMJK's playlist focused primarily on 1990s to current R&B, along with some classic and current hip hop songs.
On September 28, 2023, at 4 p.m., after playing "End of the Road" byBoyz II Men, KMJK's urban contemporary format moved to sister stationKCJK, which rebranded as "Power 105.1". With the move, the R&B lean was dropped in favor of the inclusion of more hip hop songs. In addition,The D.L. Hughley Show was dropped from afternoons, as well as the weekday eveningslow jam program107.3 After Dark. Both KCJK and KMJK simulcasted until midnight on October 6; at that time, after playing "Turn Yo Clic Up" byQuavo andFuture and a short commercial break, KMJK assumed KCHZ's Top 40/CHR format as "107.3 The Vibe". Both KMJK and KCHZ simulcasted until after midnight on October 12, when KCHZ flipped to a simulcast ofKCMO’snews/talk format.[32][33][34]
Other uses of KMJK
39°05′38″N94°05′49″W / 39.094°N 94.097°W /39.094; -94.097