Radio station in Bethany?Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
KKWD
(104.9
FM
, "Alice 104.9") is an
adult hits
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.
History
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]
Early years
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]
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"
[
citation needed
]
) on March 19, 1990.
[2]
On April 20, 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 then became "K-Bull" with the calls
KQBL
and adopted a
country
format. The country format did not last long; on December 26, 2002, the station returned to sports-talk “WWLS The Sports Animal." The station still operated under the KQBL calls until the
WWLS-FM
calls returned on March 6, 2003.
WILD 104.9
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Former "Wild 104.9" logo
On October 23, 2006,
KKWD
swapped frequencies with sister station
WWLS-FM
and moved to the 104.9 frequency from 97.9 FM in order to have a new high definition signal. Under its
rhythmic contemporary
format, KKWD primarily competed with
Top 40
rival
KJYO
, as well as rimshot
urban contemporary
rival
KVSP
.
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 L?c
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.
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.
Following the purchase of
Citadel Broadcasting
by
Cumulus Media
in September 2011, 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. In early 2016, the station was tweaked back to its original current-focused format.
Alice 104.9
[
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]
At approximately 3:10 p.m. on May 23, 2022, after playing "
Freaky Deaky
" by
Tyga
and
Doja Cat
, KKWD began
stunting
with construction sounds. At 5 p.m., KKWD flipped to
adult hits
, branded as "Alice 104.9". The flip brings the format and "Alice" moniker back to the market for the first time since
KQOB
dropped it nearly six months prior as part of Cumulus ending a
local marketing agreement
with that station's owners (KQOB now airs a
news/talk
format simulcasting
KZLS
). The first song on the revived "Alice" was "
Don't Stop Believin'
" by
Journey
.
[4]
References
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]
External links
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]
35°29′53″N
97°37′12″W
/
35.498°N 97.620°W
/
35.498; -97.620