City St. Joseph, Missouri Frequency 105.5 MHz | Branding K-JO 105-5 | |
Broadcast area St. Joseph, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri Slogan St. Joe's Hit Music Station First air date 1960 (as KUSN-FM at 105.1) | ||
KKJO-FM is a radio station in St. Joseph, Missouri, broadcasting at 105.5 on the FM dial. The station airs a Top 40 (CHR) format with the brand name K-Jo 105.5.
Contents
History
A radio station in St. Joseph, Missouri with the call letters KRES originally debuted in 1947 at 1230 AM and 250 watts. The KRES call letters were derived from last names of the four original station owners, local attorney Basil Kaufmann, sportscaster Paul Roscoe, local banker Don Epstein and investor/pharmacist Al Shanin. Paul Roscoe was the first station manager. In November 1951, the FCC licensed the station move to 1550 kHz AM with increased power of 5000 watts. The KKJO call letters were adopted in 1962, and KRES today is used by a country station in Moberly, Missouri. The owner at the time was George Marti a Cleburne, TX broadcasting equipment manufacturer. While the KKJO call sign was a convenient reference to "St. Joe", the actual choice of the call letters was an acknowledgement to Mr. Marti's wife, Jo. The middle of the road format was dropped in 1965 for Top 40. Calling themselves Tiger Radio, KKJO was St. Joseph's version of Top-40 radio akin to the pioneering sound at nearby WHB in Kansas City. As the 1970s passed, KKJO became more oriented to oldies, and into the 80s it had acquired more sports and talk oriented programming.
The FM counterpart to KKJO, originally at 105.1 MHz, debuted in 1960. KUSN-FM simulcast with Top 40 KUSN-AM at 1270 kHz. In the wake of KKJO's success, KUSN AM-FM switched to a modern country format in 1968. KUSN-FM's call letters were changed to KSFT (K-Soft) in 1974 to reflect a new automated Shulke beautiful music format which was adopted at the time. The FM power was increased from 3kW ERP to 27.5 kW ERP and stereo was first broadcast. In 1977, KSFT (T-105) adopted an automated Top Forty format, moved to Album Rock in 1978, and, when it was acquired from KUSN in 1979, was switched to a successful country format.
KKJO swapped frequencies with KSFT on March 1, 1989, moving the country format to the AM, and KKJO (K-JO 105) shifted to Contemporary Hit Radio (Top 40). In 1992, in the wake of the growing presence of rhythmic tracks on Top-40, KKJO became Hot Adult Contemporary while KSFT started broadcasting satellite formats, first adult standards and later oldies. On April 2, 2000, KKJO moved to 105.5 FM, as Susquehanna (now Cumulus Media) prepared to introduce an '80s music format, KFME. The station's song after the move was "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon. Today, the station has evolved back to a Top 40 (CHR) format.
K-JO in the ratings
St. Joseph, while a separate television market from Kansas City, is part of Kansas City's area of dominant influence in Arbitron ratings. As such, KKJO rarely shows up in Kansas City's ratings. However, as both Kansas City and St. Joseph stations can broadcast as far as Topeka, Kansas, KKJO has registered marginal ratings in Topeka's semi-annual surveys.
KKJO is currently programmed by Gregg Lynn.
Air staff
Mornings:
Middays:
Late Afternoons:
Nights:
Overnights:
Weekend/Swing: