City St. Louis, Missouri Branding Now 96-3 | Broadcast area Greater St. Louis Slogan All the Hits | |
Frequency 96.3 MHz FM (also on HD Radio)
96.3-2 FM Classical "RAF STL"
96.3-3 FM Smooth jazz "Hip 96.3" Translator(s) 107.3 K297BI (St. Louis, relays HD2, owned by Radio Arts Foundation) | ||
KNOU (96.3 MHz) is an FM radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. The station airs a Top 40 (CHR) radio format branded as "Now 96-3". Owned by Emmis Communications, the station's studios are located in the Powerhouse building at Union Station, while its transmitter is located off Watson Road in Shrewsbury.
KNOU has two HD Radio channels. 96.3-HD2 airs a classical music format operated by the non-profit Radio Arts Foundation, branded as "RAF STL" (relayed on FM translator K297BI 107.3 FM), while 96.3-HD3 airs a smooth jazz format as "Hip 96.3".
History
The 96.5 frequency originally signed on the air on December 22, 1959 as KADI-FM as the sister station to AM 1320 KADI in suburban Clayton (now KSIV). The stations were owned by William Cady (hence the KADI call letters). KADI-FM was one of the first commercial FM radio stations in the St. Louis area. KADI-FM spent most of the 1960s on and off the air in the early turbulent days of FM radio, when few people had FM receivers. By the early 1970s, the station was sold to Richard J. Miller, who put a Progressive Rock format on the station. In the mid-'70s, KADI-FM moved down one notch on the FM dial to 96.3 MHz to allow new station KSCF (now KFTK-FM) in Florissant) to go on the air at 97.1 MHz.
In 1987, the station's call letters were changed to KRJY and the station switched to a Soft Adult Contemporary format as "K-Joy 96" (later "J96"). In late 1991, the station switched to 1950s/1960s oldies as "Jukebox 96."
In 1993, the station was sold by R.J. Miller to Heritage Broadcasting, who also owned 92.3 WIL-FM and 590 WRTH. On March 24, 1994, at noon, the station adopted the KIHT call letters and "K-HITS 96" identity, flipping to a "Greatest Hits of the '70s" format, which would evolve into classic hits over the next few years. Heritage's St. Louis properties were sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in the mid-1990s, and Sinclair sold the station to current owner Emmis Communications in 2000. Shortly after, 96.3 became the flagship for the #1 rated "Steve & DC" morning program in October 2000. The fans of the much-talked about duo immediately followed them down the dial from 106.5 to 96.3 and lifted KIHT-FM from 10th place to #1 in Persons 25-54 in only one ratings period upon the release of the Arbitron Fall 2000 book. That was a feat that continues to go unmatched in St. Louis radio history.
In 2014, while keeping a Classic Hits direction, KIHT added more music from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, to compete against adult hits-formatted 106.5 WARH.
On January 30, 2015, at 5 AM, after playing "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J, KIHT flipped to Top 40/CHR as "Now 96-3". The first song on "Now" was "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. On February 5, 2015, KIHT changed its call letters to KNOU to match the "Now" branding.