Radio This Week Back Then #58: March 2-8
This week: adult hits WJKR "103.9 Jack FM" Columbus, R&B WMPW "Power 99" Memphis, rhythmic CHR KBOS "B95" Fresno, AAA WOKI-FM "100.3 the River"
What was on the radio this week…back then. This is a weekly visit of radio audio from this week in past years for those that enjoy radio history, those working in radio looking for promotional ideas, or stations looking to re-find lost audio of their heritage. If you enjoy these weekly audio rewinds, they take a lot of time to put together, so please do me a favor, subscribe, and share and pass it on. Thank you! A searchable and sortable index of all the audio is located on the Aircheck Index page.
This week features four new stations to the aircheck vault:
Columbus OH | adult hits WJKR 103.9 “Jack FM” (2017)
Memphis | R&B WMPW 98.9 “Power 99, Non-Stop Hip Hop” (2005)
Fresno | rhythmic CHR KBOS 94.9 “B95, the Killer Bee” (1988)
Knoxville | AAA WOKI-FM 100.3 “100.3 the River” (2005)
Happy reading and listening!
Related: Columbus
Back this week in 2017, I was in Columbus for a sports weekend around the enormous Arnold [Schwarzenegger] Fitness Expo and a Blue Jackets NHL game. I was able to record much of the dial over that time, but I picked the WJKR aircheck from then since they are in the headlines for changing formats again a week ago to classic country “103.9 the Maverick.”
The 103.9 signal signed on in the fall of 1998 as classic rock WAXV “Eagle 103.9.” At the time, it was licensed Westerville OH as a rimshot to Columbus from the northeast. It changed calls to WEGE to better match the “Eagle” handle a few weeks after sign on. The signal was re-engineered to reach more of the city via a re-license to Worthington and transmitter move to inside the I270 loop in 2013.
The signal has seen a number of formats over the years. After WEGE, it became adult hits WTDA “Ted FM,” talk, classic hits “Classic Hits 103.9,” news WMNI-FM, adult hits WJKR “103.9 Jack FM,” country “Country 103.9,” and now classic country.
This aircheck comes from its “Jack FM” days, the most tenured format and brand on the frequency that ran from July 2013 to April 2022.
Related: Memphis
Presently news/talk WKIM, the 98.9 signal started out as KBOA-FM, licensed to the small town of Kennett MO as the FM off-shoot of KBOA 830. In 2001, it re-licensed to Munford TN and moved into the Memphis market as smooth jazz WJZN “Smooth Jazz 98.9.”
The smooth jazz format survived three years before it flipped to R&B WMPW “Power 99, Non-Stop Hip Hop,” which is the era this audio comes from. Six more format changes bring us to the present day.
I recorded this Sunday night “Power 99” aircheck on a road trip that passed through Memphis back in 2005.
Related: Fresno
KBOS-FM1 signed on 16 September 1965 as KGEN-FM, the FM off-shoot of daytimer KGEN 1370. For the launch and its early days, it simulcasted KGEN’s country format. It then shifted to its own MOR format of classical, popular music and jazz.2 That lasted until July 1967 when it picked up the KBOS calls and began running a “Boss Radio” top 40 format. Originally, the signal was more modest than the current class B facility that allows it to cover Fresno.
By the time of this aircheck in 1988, KBOS had shifted to a dance-driven top 40 format. Four decades later, B95 is still going strong running rhythmic hits and hip hop.
This aircheck is from AM drive with legendary jock Jack Armstrong, and his sidekick character Gorilla. Armstrong had spent the previous years of that decade with top 40s KFRC 610 San Francisco and KKHR 93.1 Los Angeles.
Presently country WCYQ “100.3 the Wolf,” the 100.3 facility started off as progressive WOKI-FM in 1974.
I recorded this aircheck in the morning of Sunday 6 March 2005 as part of an I40 road trip that started that morning in Knoxville and ended that night in Memphis (for the WMPW aircheck above). The WOKI-FM calls and AAA “100.3 the River” format were two months away from ending their run on that signal. In May, WOKI-FM picked up the news/talk format and calls from WNOX-FM/AM 99.1/990. The WOKI-FM calls and AAA format, in turn, moved to rhythmic WYIL 98.7.
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts. Similarly, other data (charts, ratings, etc.) belong to their respective owners.
KBOS is now KBOS-FM. It added the suffix in 1992 when then-sister KKAM 1340 Fresno began a period of simulcasting B95 under the KBOS calls.
"KGEN-FM To Be On Air Thursday," Tulare Advance-Register, 15 September 1965.