WKZA (106.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Lakewood, New York, United States, the station serves the Jamestown, New York area. The station is currently owned by MediaOne Radio Group.[2]
 | |
| Broadcast area | Jamestown NY area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 106.9 MHz |
| Branding | Kissin Oldies 106.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Oldies |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WHUG, WJTN, WKSN, WQFX-FM, WWSE | |
| History | |
First air date | September 5, 2000 |
Former call signs | WKSQ-FM (9/05/2000 - 10/09/2000) |
Call sign meaning | KinzuA tribute to WKZA (AM) Kisz |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 48736 |
| Class | B1 |
| ERP | 5,100 watts |
| HAAT | 225 meters (738 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°57′31″N 79°16′11″W / 41.95861°N 79.26972°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | WKZA 106.9 |
History
editThe station originally intended to sign on as WKSQ-FM, as FCC records dated September 5, 2000 indicate. On October 9, 2000, the station changed its call sign to the current WKZA,[3] the call sign made popular by a now-defunct AM station in nearby Kane, Pennsylvania. However, the station did not sign on until late November 2000.
The station's first format was a stunt, airing continuous Christmas music. Soon after, the station "officially" signed on with its format of KISS-FM hit radio, which it maintained for the next 23 years.
As an independently owned station, WKZA sometimes leaned toward hot adult contemporary, thus overlapping and competing against WWSE, the established adult-contemporary station in Jamestown. MediaOne Group, owners of WWSE, purchased WKZA from its owners Cross Country Communications in August 2018, closing on its deal October 31 of that year.[4] With the change, each station received a clear focus: WKZA would serve as a pure top-40 outlet, WWSE would stay with hot adult contemporary, while gold-based soft adult contemporary would move to AM/FM outlet WJTN. WKZA temporary morning host Kyle Lewis was retained in the purchase, moving to afternoons, and Andrew Hill and Noel Blackhall began doing the morning show separate from their afternoon program on sister station WWSE.
On July 1, 2023, as part of a realignment among Media One's stations, the programming that had previously been heard on sister station WKSN (which had coincidentally been branded as "Kissin' Oldies" since before WKZA signed on) moved to WKZA, thus flipping 106.9 to oldies. WKZA's existing programming was merged onto WWSE, with the company noting in a statement that hot adult contemporary and contemporary hit radio were experiencing major overlap at the time, and thus WKZA and WWSE were essentially still directly competing against each other until the change.[5][6]
References
edit- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WKZA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WKZA Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ "WKZA Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (August 20, 2018). NERW 8/20/18: Media One Grows in Jamestown. NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ "Media One Flips Two In Jamestown - RadioInsight". 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ Adjustments. Media One Radio Group press release. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
External links
edit- Official Website
- Facility details for Facility ID 48736 (WKZA) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WKZA in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
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