City Shawnee, Kansas Frequency 94.9 MHz | Branding 94-9 KCMO | |
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Broadcast area Kansas City Metropolitan Area Slogan The Greatest Hits of the 70s and 80s
The Greatest Christmas Hits (Nov.-Dec.) Translator(s) 102.5 K273BZ (Kansas City, relays HD2) | ||
KCMO-FM (94.9 MHz, "94-9 KCMO") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Shawnee, Kansas and broadcasting to the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting and airs a classic hits radio format, switching to all-Christmas music from mid-November to December 25th. KCMO-FM's studios and offices are located on Foxridge Drive in Mission, Kansas. The transmitter is off Menown Avenue in Independence, Missouri.
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KCMO-FM broadcasts in HD, with its HD2 signal airing an adult hits format, known as 102.5 "JACK-FM" which is simulcast on 250 watt translator K273BZ at 102.5 MHz. The talk radio format of sister station AM 710 KCMO is carried on KCMO-FM's HD3 subchannel.
Early Years
One of the first FM stations in Kansas City, KCMO-FM signed on as KCFM in February of 1948. It simulcast 810 AM, at the time the dial location of KCMO-AM. During the Golden Age of Radio, the stations aired network dramas, comedies, game shows, soap operas and big bands. The KCMO-FM call letters were granted in 1950, the first of several times the station would go by that call sign. Meredith Broadcasting bought KCMO-AM-FM in 1953. On July 23, 1959, as the days of network programming ended, KCMO-AM-FM adopted an MOR and personality format.
Beautiful Music
On March 16, 1968, KCMO-FM separated its programming from 810 AM, and began airing a mostly instrumental beautiful music format as KCMU. In 1974, the station began adding a few vocals to the format and switched its call letters to KCEZ, "EZ 95", signifying easy listening. In 1983, Meredith Corporation (which had owned KCMO-FM since 1953) sold both of the KCMO radio stations to Richard Fairbanks, a one-time owner of what is now WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.
Country Music and Top 40
On October 10, 1983, the station adopted a country music format as "KC 95". The KCMO-FM call letters returned in 1984. The station gained attention when one of its billboards appeared in a Psychedelic Furs music video. Fairbanks sold both stations in 1985 to Summit Communications Group, and with it, a change to a dance-leaning Top 40 format as KBKC, "B95", on July 26, 1985. The Gannett Company bought the station in 1986, shifting to a more adult-friendly/mainstream Top 40 sound as KCPW, "Power 95", in August of that year.
Switch to Oldies
In August 1989, after playing "Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan, KCPW flipped to an oldies format as "Oldies 95," with the third use of the KCMO-FM call sign acquired days before the switch. The first song on "Oldies 95" was "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison. Another oldies station serving Kansas City, 710 WHB, saw most of its listeners switch over to KCMO-FM in a matter of months, prompting that station's conversion to farm radio.
In 1993, Gannett sold KCMO-AM-FM to Bonneville International, which also owned AM 980 KMBZ and FM 99.7 KLTH (now KZPT). Four years later, Bonneville sold all four of its Kansas City stations together with three radio stations in Seattle to Entercom Communications. Susquehanna Radio bought KCMO-AM-FM from Entercom in 2000, as Entercom was forced to sell the KCMO stations after its purchase of Sinclair Broadcast Group's radio stations KQRC-FM, KXTR-FM and KCIY. That left Sinclair with two stations over the Federal Communications Commission's single-market ownership limit. Susquehanna subsequently merged with Cumulus Media in mid-2006.
KCMO-FM enjoyed strong ratings throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but in 2005 it became concerned that the name "oldies" appealed to a more mature demographic, less attractive to advertisers. Ratings weren't an issue, as the station was often in the Top 10. The station dropped its "oldies" moniker in April 2005 and began calling its music "Greatest Hits", playing only mid-'60s to early-'80s music. Currently, KCMO uses the slogan "The Greatest Hits of the 70s and 80s" as a classic hits station.
KCMO-FM HD2
On February 14, 2011, the station turned on its HD2 sub-channel and launched an all-comedy format branded as "Funny 102.5". It is also broadcast on translator K273BZ 102.5 FM, hence the 102.5 in the moniker. On January 2, 2013, 102.5 FM flipped to sports talk, branded as "102.5 The Fan." On August 15, 2014, at 3 PM, the station abruptly dropped the sports format in the middle of a sports update, and began a brief 7-minute countdown. At 3:07 PM, 102.5/94.9 HD2 became one of the first affiliates of the new Cumulus-owned "Nash Icon" network as 102.5 Nash Icon, playing country hits from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. It began with "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker. On November 2, 2015, at Midnight, after playing "You Ain't Much Fun" by Toby Keith, 102.5/94.9 HD2 changed its format to alternative rock, branded as "102.5 The Underground", beginning with "Kansas City" by The New Basement Tapes. With the change, 102.5/94.9 HD2 became the first Nash/Nash Icon station to drop the format. On June 15, 2016, at 7:30 a.m., after playing "Up & Up" by Coldplay, 102.5/94.9 HD2 swapped formats with co-owned 105.1 KCJK, adopting that station's adult hits format, and rebranded as "102.5 Jack FM." The first song after the move was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones.
KCMO-FM HD3
KCMO-FM's HD3 subchannel is a simulcast of talk-formatted KCMO (710 AM).