Radio station in Belle Chasse, Louisiana
KMEZ
(102.9
MHz
), better known as "KMEZ 102.9", is an
urban AC
outlet serving the
New Orleans
area. The
Cumulus Media
station is licensed to
Belle Chasse, Louisiana
and broadcasts its format with an ERP of 4.7 kW. Its studios are located at the
Place St. Charles
building in
Downtown New Orleans
and the transmitter site is in
Chalmette, Louisiana
.
History
[
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]
The station, whose original calls were
KMEZ
, started off in 1992 with a gold-based
Urban AC
format and was known on-air as "Big Eazy 102.9", only to later re-image as "Old School 102.9" in an effort to capitalize on the growing interest in the
Rhythmic/Urban Oldies
format. By 2004, it modified its format by adding current Adult R&B product to its playlist and reimaged itself again as
"102.9, Old School & Today's R&B"
to reflect the changes?and compete with
WYLD-FM
and hip hop station
WQUE
. Despite being an Urban AC, KMEZ, who, during the
fall of 2007
, became the flagship station of the
New Orleans Hornets
of the
National Basketball Association
.
On May 20, 2008, KMEZ began simulcasting on sister station KKND, who in turn, dropped their struggling country format. The simulcast also marked KMEZ's move to the 106.7 frequency. This station received the callsign of
KKND
from 106.7 FM on May 29, 2008, which took the call sign of
KXOS
.
On July 3, 2008, at exactly 10:29 a.m.,
Rock with You
by
Michael Jackson
signaled the end of the "Old School" format (as that station completed its move to 106.7 FM), with the song fading into the introduction of the new
Rhythmic Contemporary
-formatted "Power 102.9", signing on with 10,000 songs in a row, starting with New Orleans native
Lil' Wayne
's "
Lollipop
". The station's logo and Hip-Hop direction is loosely based on
KPWR
Los Angeles
and is expected to challenge
WQUE
, who has dominated the R&B/Hip-Hop scene in New Orleans for nearly two decades and has yet to be defeated.
[1]
[2]
[3]
The station carried the syndicated
Big Boy's Neighborhood
from
ABC Radio
when it first signed on.
[4]
In March 2010, due to the possibility of the show being cancelled due to the loss of their syndication deal with ABC, the program was dropped for a local show hosted by Big Abe & The Power Posse.
[5]
The show only lasted two years, as they were replaced by the Atlanta-based
Rickey Smiley
Morning Show
in October 2012.
[6]
Despite having a Hip-Hop heavy direction, KKND has adjusted its musical focus in summer 2013 to allow some Rhythmic Pop tracks to be played on the station. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.
[7]
On December 6, 2018, the
urban AC
format of "Old School 106.7" moved back to the 102.9 FM frequency and rebranded as "KMEZ102.9". The two frequencies simulcasted until 106.7 adopted a new
classic hits
format as "The Krewe" the following month.
[8]
The KMEZ call letters were returned on December 17, 2018; in addition, the KKND calls returned to 106.7 on the same date.
Previous logos
[
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]
References
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]
External links
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]
29°57′14″N
89°57′00″W
/
29.954°N 89.950°W
/
29.954; -89.950