KATZ-FM

Broadcast areaGreater St. LouisFrequency100.3 MHz (HD Radio)Branding100.3 The BeatProgrammingFormatUrban ContemporarySubchannelsHD2: Black Information Network (News)AffiliationsPremiere NetworksOwnershipOwnerKATZ, KLOU, KSD, KSLZ, KTLK-FM, W279AQHistorySeptember 1961; 62 years ago (1961-09)Technical information^[1]FCCFacility ID48958ClassC3ERP17,000 wattsHAAT120 meters (394 ft)Translator(s)HD2: 103.7 W279AQ (Mascoutah)LinksWebcastListen LiveWebsitethebeatstl.iheart.com

KATZ-FM (100.3 MHz, "The Beat") is a commercial radio station licensed to Bridgeton, Missouri, and serving Greater St. Louis. It broadcasts an urban contemporary radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It airs two nationally syndicated shows on weekdays: The Breakfast Club in morning drive time and Way Up with Angela Yee in middays. KATZ-FM's studios are on Foundry Way at Forest Park Avenue, off Interstate 64 in downtown St. Louis.

KATZ-FM is a Class C3 station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 17,000 watts using a directional antenna. Its transmitter is on Kin-Arc Court off Meeks Boulevard in Olivette.^[2] The station broadcasts using HD Radio technology. Its HD2 digital subchannel carries the Black Information Network, an all-news radio service from iHeart which feeds FM translator W279AQ at 103.7 MHz.

History

The "Original" 100.3 The Beat

FM 100.3 signed on the air in September 1961; 62 years ago (1961-09). The original call sign was WOKZ-FM and it was based in Alton, Illinois. It had an R&B format under the call letters WZEN. On April 18, 1979, it switched to a disco music format as "Disco 100". It changed its call letters to KATZ-FM in 1988. Under its original owners, it struggled for listeners and advertisers, usually behind KMJM in ratings and audience. In 1980, the station tried a Top 40 - CHR format, and then flipped to urban AC the following year.

After KMJM's owners bought KATZ-FM and the two became sister stations in the 1990s, both stations would go through a flux of formats. KATZ-FM tried playing jazz as "Jazz 100". There were several months as an urban oldies station. The station changed its call sign to KNJZ and played smooth jazz, starting on April 18, 1994. It debuted after a weekend of stunting with all-Kenny G music. It returned to Urban AC as "Kiss 100.3", which started on September 11, 1995.^[3][4]

All that came to an end on April 1, 1999, when 100.3 swapped formats with KMJM. KMJM picked up the Urban AC format of KATZ-FM. In return, KATZ-FM picked up the urban contemporary format from KMJM, and rebranded as "100.3 The Beat." For a while, it performed successfully under Clear Channel Communications ownership. It proved to be a good complement to rhythmic-leaning Top 40 sister station 107.7 KSLZ. Its competitors were Urban station WHHL and Urban AC station WFUN-FM. ([[KATZ (AM)|KATZ] 1600 AM is now an Urban Gospel station.)

On November 27, 2006, KATZ-FM began carrying The Steve Harvey Morning Show, a program syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks, a Clear Channel subsidiary. At first, it seemed that KMJM should have gotten the show because it is mostly heard on Urban AC stations. Harvey has history of not playing songs with "questionable" content, primarily rap. But KATZ was chosen because Clear Channel didn't want to replace Tony Scott, who was doing mornings at KMJM. However, the Steve Harvey Morning Show eventually began running on KMJM, with former morning host Tony Scott moving to afternoons.

"The Sound"

Around 2009, KATZ-FM's ratings began to slide. In September 2009, Clear Channel announced that it would end "The Beat" and go with a new format. "The Beat" would being relocated to the station's secondary HD Radio subchannel.

At noon on October 30, 2009, after playing Boyz II Men's End of the Road, KATZ-FM began stunting. It played spooky Halloween music as "Halloween 100.3". On November 1, the station began playing Christmas music for the holidays under the name "Christmas 100.3".

Finally, at 12:01 a.m. on December 26, 2009, "100.3 The Sound" debuted with a Modern Adult Contemporary - Modern Rock hybrid format The call sign chosen for the sound was WSDD. The first song played on "The Sound" was Owl City's "Fireflies".^[5][6] On October 2, 2010, WSDD moved its transmitter to Overland, Missouri, and its city of license to Bridgeton, Missouri. Despite an overall decrease in power, the new signal now covers a greater portion of the population of the St. Louis area.

"Gen X Radio"

On December 26, 2010, exactly one year after its debut, "The Sound" was discontinued. WSDD flipped to an all-90s hits format and adopted the "Gen X Radio" moniker.^[7]

The first song on "Gen X Radio" was "Get Ready For This" by 2 Unlimited. Although the format emphasized songs from the 1990s, the station also played some hits from the 1980s, 2000s, and a few currents. On January 3, 2011, WSDD changed call letters to WSGX to go with the "Gen X" branding.

"The Brew"

On May 23, 2012, at Noon, WSGX changed to classic rock, branded as "100.3 The Brew".^[8] The final song on "Gen X" was "No Rain" by Blind Melon, while the first song on "The Brew" was "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister.^[9]

On July 10, 2012, WSGX changed its call letters to KBWX. During its run as "The Brew", the station aired the Indianapolis-based Bob & Tom Show in morning drive time.

"Majic 100.3"

On November 7, 2012, at 9 a.m., just five months after The Brew's debut, KBWX ended the classic rock format. FM 100.3 became the new home of KMJM's urban adult contemporary format, rebranded as "Majic 100.3". Meanwhile, 104.9 FM flipped to rhythmic contemporary and took the KBWX call letters. At the same time, 100.3 FM received the KMJM-FM call letters a few days later, on November 15.^[10]

In March 2013, the station shifted its playlist to include more current and recurrent hip hop music. The new sound was similar to KMJM's former wide-ranging urban contemporary format before altering to Urban AC in 1999. Due to low ratings, the station dropped most hip hop music in early 2014.

"The Beat" returns

On November 18, 2014, at noon, the station returned to the "100.3 The Beat" moniker. It flipped to a classic hip hop format.^[11] But the return of The Beat was short-lived.

Two years later, on September 30, 2016, at noon, the format was shifted back to urban contemporary. That returned the format to the frequency after seven years and five other formats. The move came with the addition of the syndicated Breakfast Club show for mornings.^[12] On December 12, 2017, the station changed call letters back to KATZ-FM.^[13]

References

External links

• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› KATZ in the FCC FM station database
• KATZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

38°41′06″N 90°22′55″W / 38.685°N 90.382°W / 38.685; -90.382