KBWX
| City of license | Columbia, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater St. Louis |
| Branding | Wild 104.9 |
| Slogan | "Party Hits!" |
| Frequency | 104.9 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) 104.9-2 FM-"The Beat" (Urban Contemporary) |
| First air date | February 15, 1964 (as WCBW) |
| Format | Rhythmic CHR |
| ERP | 7,800 watts (CP: 8,400 watts) |
| HAAT | 175 meters |
| Class | C3 |
| Facility ID | 13793 |
| Callsign meaning | K BreW X (previous format) |
| Former callsigns | WCBW (1964-1997) KMJM-FM (1997-2012) |
| Owner | iHeartMedia, Inc. (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KATZ, KLOU, KMJM-FM, KSD, KSLZ |
| Webcast | Listen Live HD2: Listen Live |
| Website | wild1049stl.com |
KBWX is an FM radio station licensed to Columbia, Illinois, better known as "Wild 104.9". The station airs a Rhythmic CHR format for the greater St. Louis, Missouri Metropolitan Area. The station's moniker is "Party Hits". Its transmitter is located in Gravois, and operates from studios in St. Louis south of Forest Park.
History
The 104.9 frequency originally went on the air February 15, 1964 from the basement of station owner Joseph Lepp as WCBW in Columbia, and was a typical small town radio station. In 1980, the station was sold to Continental Broadcasting, and the station became the first station in the St. Louis area with a format of Contemporary Christian Music, still with a weak 3,000 watt signal based in Columbia, but it could be heard in much of the St. Louis area. The station was called "104.9 The Bridge" at the time.
In 1993, the station was granted a major power upgrade allowing it to move to the St. Louis Master antenna site in Shrewsbury, and upgrade from 3,000 watts to 25,000 watts, making the 104.9 frequency a full market St. Louis signal. That made the station much more valuable, as did deregulation allowing operators to own several different FM stations in a market in 1996.
In 1997, the station was sold to Jacor Broadcasting, who also owned urban powerhouse KMJM, which was then at 107.7 FM. Instead of installing a new format on the 104.9 frequency, KMJM was relocated to the weaker 104.9 MHz frequency on October 20 of that year to allow its new CHR station KSLZ a better signal into the suburbs on the full 100,000 watt class C 107.7 frequency.
By 1999, KMJM became owned by Clear Channel Communications (now known as iHeartMedia, Inc. as of September 16, 2014), who also owned KATZ AM & FM. KATZ-FM aired an Urban Adult Contemporary format playing mostly slower R&B, while Majic played a format consisting mostly of Hip Hop/Rap and current R&B Hits. The formats on the two stations would swap on April 1 of that year, and Majic would take the Urban Adult Contemporary format from 100.3, while maintaining most of the same staff, and 100.3 was rechristened as "The Beat" with a mainstream urban format that would last until October 2009, when it flipped to Modern AC.
On November 7, 2012, at 9 AM, KMJM and its urban AC format moved to 100.3 FM (ironically, KATZ-FM's former frequency), replacing classic rock-formatted KBWX ("The Brew"). Simultaneously, the 104.9 frequency changed its format to rhythmic CHR, branded as "Wild 104.9." KMJM and KBWX also swapped call letters, which were approved on November 15.[1]
References
External links
- Official Website of Wild 104.9
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KBWX
- Radio-Locator information on KBWX
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KBWX
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