Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

KXJM

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City
  
Banks, Oregon

Branding
  
JAM'N 107.5

KXJM

Broadcast area
  
Portland Metropolitan Area

Slogan
  
Portland's #1 for Hip Hop & Throwbacks

Frequency
  
107.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) 107.5-2: Dance "Pride Radio"

First air date
  
March 8, 1991 (as KDBX)

KXJM (107.5 FM, "JAM'N 107.5") is a commercial broadcast radio station located in the Portland, Oregon area and broadcasts at 107.5 FM. The transmitter is located in Portland's west hills; their studios are in Tigard, Oregon, and the license location is in Banks, Oregon. They are the second station in Portland to use the call letters, which they acquired from its former home at 95.5, which is now KBFF. It is currently under ownership of iHeartMedia, Inc..

Contents

1990s

This station debuted on March 8, 1991 as KDBX broadcasting the K-Love Christian music format. In 1992, it became "Spirit FM 107.5" with the stated goal of playing Christian hit music 24/7, a first for the Portland market.

On October 1, 1996, the station changed ownership to American Radio Systems, which would later be bought out by Infinity Broadcasting, and then, CBS Radio. The Christian format would be moved to AM 800, while 107.5 would debut a new format. After stunting with alternative rock music for 24 hours as "107.5 The End", the station flipped to Modern AC and call letters to KBBT - The Beat at 107 dot 5, which was formerly on AM 970 (now KUFO). The station specialized in newer music, but by 1999, the station mixed in 1980's hits as well. On June 2, 2000, most of the on-air staff was fired, with exception of Cort Webber (of Cort and Fatboy fame) and Troy Daniels, and the station flipped to Mix 107.5 with a full blown '80s hits format and the KVMX call letters. In 2006, it shifted to a "Rock Hits" format focusing mostly on rock music from the 1980s, and picked up Bob Rivers' syndicated morning show, which was based out of Seattle's KZOK-FM.

Movin 107.5

On October 5, 2006, at 10 am, immediately after Rivers' show, KVMX changed their format to a Rhythmic Hot AC format as "MOViN 107.5". The "MOViN'" brand had previously been picked up by KQMV/Seattle, KMVN/Los Angeles, KYMV/Salt Lake City, KFRC/San Francisco, KMVK/Dallas (Who, by the way, also had the same logo as KVMX due to both stations being at 107.5) and WMVN/St. Louis.

It should also be noted that KVMX's PD, Lisa Adams (who would continue in the same position after KVMX's transition to Rhythmic Top 40 in May 2008), was KQMV's first PD the day it launched their "MOViN'" format in May 2006, and had been formerly a DJ with KBBT.

JAMMiN' 107-5

On May 1, 2008, Rose City Radio Corporation announced that it would change the format of KXJM, "Jammin' 95.5", the market's first Rhythmic Contemporary station, to all sports on May 12, 2008 as "95.5 The Game." The shift almost left Portland without a hip-hop-based station, and possibly without a home for "The Playhouse".

But that would all change eight days later, when KVMX dropped the "MOViN'" format and became the all-new "JAMMiN' 107.5," Portland's newest Rhythmic Contemporary outlet. The transition began May 9, at 6 PM, when CBS Radio acquired the Rhythmic format, the website and the intellectual properties, including the popular morning show "The Playhouse" and the KXJM call letters, from Rose City. While they were making the changes, both KVMX and KXJM simulcasted via KXJM's web stream. When the transition was completed on May 12, 2008 at 9 AM (Pacific Time), the 107.5 frequency become the "new" "JAMMiN' 107-5" KXJM, "Portland's Hits & Hip-Hop" and the original KXJM became "95.5 The Game". "The Playhouse" simulcasted their show on both KVMX and KXJM on May 12, then kicked off Jammin' 107-5's new lineup on May 13. On May 27, 2008, the KVMX to KXJM call letter change was approved by the FCC, while the original KXJM chose the new calls KXTG for their station (the sports format would move to 750 AM and 95.5 would become KBFF in May 2011).

While Portlanders have embraced the switch, there has been some criticism from others about the current KXJM's presentation, especially in the area of its music content and airstaff, which was a factor in the demise of its predecessor at 95.5 in their final years. The station was usually in the middle of the Arbitron ratings overall, although it was still favored well with its core audience of young adults and teens.

In December 2008, CBS Radio traded KXJM and KLTH to Clear Channel Communications in a five station exchange deal for Clear Channel's Houston outlets KLOL and KHMX. The deal was completed on April 1, 2009. KXJM currently co-exists with longtime rival Top 40 Mainstream station KKRZ, who Clear Channel had operated prior to the transaction. Both stations continue to co-exist.

In December 2009, The Playhouse was dropped from the KXJM lineup. After this period, ratings for the station started to plummet.

WiLD 107.5

On March 15, 2010, at 10 am, after playing "Carry Out" by Timbaland, KXJM relaunched its Rhythmic CHR format as "WiLD 107.5" and adopted the slogan "Portland's Party Hits." Although they kept the KXJM calls intact, its logo is patterned after its sister station in San Francisco, KYLD. KXJM's first song as "WiLD 107.5" was "La La La" by LMFAO. The changes reflected the station's shift away from what had been a Hip-Hop/R&B-leaning direction to a more broader Rhythmic approach that includes Dance-pop tracks, a move that has taken place at other Rhythmic outlets in the United States. All mix shows and syndicated shows except for Baka Boyz' Hip Hop Master Mix and Slow Jams with R. Dub were temporarily removed for a few weeks, but were later restored (both Baka Boyz and R. Dub have been dropped, though both would return with the rebranding to "JAM'N" in 2014). The station also added Friday and Saturday Night live mixshow broadcasts from 9 pm to Midnight, along with a nightly mix from 9–10 pm Monday through Thursday. Interestingly, the change from "JAMMiN'" to "WiLD" has paid off for KXJM, even with sister station KKRZ in the mix, as evidenced in its first Arbitron PPMs for September 2010, where its strength is among 18–34s. In the June 2011 PPMs, KXJM posted its best numbers among ratings and cumes in nearly four years since its move from the 95.5 signal (and giving the 107.5 signal its best success with this format), overtaking KKRZ as the most listened-to Top 40 outlet in Portland.

JAM'N 107.5

On February 20, 2014, at Noon, KXJM relaunched their Rhythmic format again, this time as "JAM'N 107.5." This time around, the music continues to focus on current Rhythmic hits, but now incorporates a gold and re-current component to its library featuring older Rhythmic product, as well as adding more Hip-Hop/R&B material while decreasing on Dance-pop tracks, using the slogan "Jams from Today & Back in the Day." The station's moniker and logo are based on sister station WJMN/Boston.

During the latter weeks of December 2016 and the first two weeks of January 2017, KXJM began reducing the currents on its playlist (while retaining some recurrents and emphasized more older material), and evolved to Rhythmic AC, while retaining the "Jam'n" moniker.

Programming

As of June 2013, the KXJM on-air DJs are APD/MD Kristina with a K in mornings with KEX's Lynn Masterson for traffic, Tra'Renee in middays, G-Off in afternoons/mix show duties, Chino in evenings, Nessa in overnights/weekends (voicetracked), KayDo and Mike Adam in weekends, and DJ Jerm handling mix shows duties. Cool Nutz hosts the local R&B/Hip-Hop music showcase program "The NW Breakout Show" on Sunday nights. The show was co-created by former DJ Danny Merkury and Terrence "Cool Nutz" Scott.

KXJM-HD2

On June 3, 2010, KXJM-HD2 signed on with a rhythmic adult contemporary format, branded as "Rhythmix", with the same format as "MOViN" that was on this same frequency before its flip to Rhythmic Top 40 in May 2008. As of January 2012, 107.5 HD2 flipped to all-dance music, and rebranded as "Too Wild." It was programmed by Michael Oaks (Mike O.), owner of Energy 98, former KHYZ 99.7 (Highway Vibe) Program Director and KVBE/Las Vegas Assistant PD & MD, and PD of now-defunct KNRJ/Phoenix. "Too Wild" used the same music logs as The Vibe's online stream. In June 2016, KXJM-HD2 flipped to iheart's "Pride Radio" format.

References

KXJM Wikipedia