KKWD

KKWD
City Bethany, Oklahoma
Broadcast area Oklahoma City metropolitan area
Branding WILD 104.9
Slogan "All The Hits Now"
Frequency 104.9 MHz
First air date October 1, 1965 (as KNBQ)
Format Rhythmic Top 40 (CHR)
ERP 6,000 watts
HAAT 99 meters (325 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 6509
Callsign meaning K K WilD
Former callsigns KNBQ (1965–1971)
KGOY (1971–1978)
KJIL (1978–1990)
KNTL (1990–2000)
WWLS-FM (2000–2002)
KQBL (2002–2003)
WWLS-FM (2003–2006)
Owner Cumulus Media
(Radio License Holding CBC, LLC)
Sister stations KYIS, KATT, WWLS, KQOB, WKY
Webcast Listen Live
Website wild1049hd.com

KKWD (104.9 FM, "WILD 104.9") is a Rhythmic Top 40 (CHR) radio station serving the Oklahoma City area. The Cumulus Media outlet broadcasts at 104.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 6 kW and is licensed to Bethany, Oklahoma. Its studios are in Northwest Oklahoma City, and the transmitter is on the Westside.

Citadel Broadcasting relinquished 11 of its radio stations including KKWD to The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC upon merger of many ABC Radio stations. However, as of June 19, 2008; Arbitron has expanded Oklahoma City's market definition allowing Citadel to own 5 FM stations in the said area, at which time Citadel Broadcasting applied to re-acquire KKWD from The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC with the FCC. According to FCC documents, KKWD was re-absorbed into Citadel's station portfolio on July 9, 2009.

History

Early years

The station was on the air as Top 40 KNBQ in 1965 from the Coronado Shopping Center at 39th and MacArthur (NE Corner). In 1971 the station flipped to Gospel and changed its call sign to KGOY (K-JOY). In 1978 the station was broadcasting Inspirational music, then switched to a Christian Adult Contemporary format with the call sign KJIL ("Jesus Is Lord"). Shortly after being bought by Broadcast Equities,[1] the station call sign was changed to KNTL ("News Talk Leader") on March 19, 1990.[2] On April 20th of 1991, KNTL became "The Light 105" and began broadcasting a contemporary Christian music format. Bott Radio Network acquired the station in November 1994 and kept the format until 1996 when it became Christian Teaching.

Citadel Broadcasting purchased the station, along with "SportsRadio 640" WWLS-AM and "Sports Talk 1340" KEBC, in 1998. The purchase was finalized May 4, 1998, but the format was changed in advance (January 17, 1998) to Sports–Talk.[3] The station was known as WWLS-FM ("The Sports Animal”), a mirror of WWLS-AM, but on April 11, 2002, the Sports Animal moved to 105.3 FM. WWLS-FM became "K-Bull" with the calls KQBL and adopted a Hot Country format until Christmas 2002. On December 26, 2002, the station returned to sports-talk “WWLS The Sports Animal,” but the station was still operating under the KQBL calls until the WWLS-FM calls returned on March 6, 2003.

WILD 104.9

On October 23, 2006, KKWD swapped signals with sister station WWLS-FM and moved to the 104.9 frequency from 97.9 in order to have a new high definition signal. Under its format playing pop/Top40 music with a heavy mixture of recurrent dance hits from the past fifteen years, KKWD's main and only competitor is Top 40 rival KJYO.

KKWD has been known for its outlandish stunts since its January 2000 launch, such as the April Fools' Day stunts where the on-air announcers from sister KINB performed all shifts in Spanish and where the station ran a continuous loop of the song "Wild Thing" by Tone Lōc for two consecutive weeks. Most recently, after a change in on-air presentation, the station was "quarantined" by a fictional government agency due to the possibility of an "epidemic" among the station's staff; at the end of the stunt it was revealed that the station in fact had "Spring Fever" in reference to an upcoming station concert.

Following the purchase of Citadel Broadcasting by Cumulus Media, KKWD's format was tweaked to focus heavier on older, more familiar hits from the past fifteen years with a de-emphasis on newer music and only adding currents by high-profile artists and/or are chart-toppers.

Current on-air staff

Weekday hosts include The Wild Wake Up with Mike, Cameo, and Bobby the Italian Stallion on evenings. Weekend hosts include Justin Sane, Megs, Shortie and Sunday Night Slow Jams with R. Dub. Mixers include DJ Kidd Leow, DJ Diverse and DJ Limitless.

Former on-air staff

References

  1. ↑ http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R145895530
  2. ↑ http://www.recnet.com/cdbs/fmq.php?facid=6509&jaws=0
  3. ↑ http://sec.edgar-online.com/citadel-communications-corp/8-k-current-report-filing/2000/01/06/Section4.aspx

Coordinates: 35°29′53″N 97°37′12″W / 35.498°N 97.620°W / 35.498; -97.620

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