WARH
Minneapolis-St. Paul) HD3: 80's hits "My 80s Mix" | |
Ownership | |
---|---|
Owner |
|
KPNT, KSHE, WIL-FM, WXOS | |
History | |
First air date | November 24, 1965 (as WGNU-FM) |
Former call signs | WGNU-FM (1965-1977) WWWK (1977-?) KWK-FM (1987-1988) WKBQ (1988-1994) WKKX (1994-2000) WSSM (2000-2005) |
Call sign meaning | The ARcH (taken from St. Louis landmark, the Gateway Arch) |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 74577 |
Class | C1 |
ERP | 90,000 watts |
HAAT | 309 meters (1014 ft) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | 1065TheArch.com |
WARH (106.5
"106-5 The Arch" using the primary slogan "You never know what we're going to play next." The station's name pays tribute to the iconic
WARH broadcasts in the HD Radio format; WARH-HD2 carries co-owned KTMY from Minneapolis, known as "My Talk Radio." (Before March 2017, it featured less familiar rock songs from the 1960s to the present, branded as "106-5 The Deep.") WARH-HD3 carries an all-80s hits format branded as “My 80s Mix”; this launched on WARH-HD3 in May 2021, after being moved from KSHE's HD3 sub-channel.
History
Country (1965-1977)
On November 24, 1965, WGNU-FM first
AOR (1977-1987)
In 1977, Norman sold the FM station to
The stations called themselves "Stereo WK."In November 1986, the two stations were bought by Chase Broadcasting.
Top 40 (1987-1993)
The simulcast ended in 1987, with AM 1380 flipping to oldies as KGLD, while FM 106.5 (now with the call sign KWK-FM) moved to a Top 40/CHR format.
In February 1988, KWK-FM changed call letters to WKBQ-FM, and retained the Top 40 format, but would rebrand as "Q106.5." After the market's CHR powerhouse station KHTR dropped its CHR format that November, WKBQ became the only Top 40 station in the area until the Top 40 launch of KHTK in August 1989. When mid-1989 rolled along, WKBQ briefly went towards rock-lean, but returned back to mainstream by mid-1990. In September 1991, WKBQ-FM brought the morning team of "Steve & DC" to St. Louis from Birmingham, Alabama. In 1993, "Steve & DC" and WKBQ-FM faces controversy over the use of a racial epithet on the air. The following year, they aired an interview with a woman accusing a local broadcaster of harassing her, which may have contributed to his death by suicide in a small plane crash.[6] Also in 1993, WKBQ-FM again was simulcast on AM 1380.
Country (1993-2000)
In late 1993, WKBQ-FM was purchased by Zimmer Radio Group of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. On January 20, 1994, WKBQ-FM and country-formatted sister station WKKX would swap frequencies, with WKBQ-FM moving to 104.1 FM, and WKKX moving to 106.5 FM (AM 1380 would continue to simulcast WKBQ-FM after the swap).[7][8] The station became "New Country Kix 106.5," with the popular morning duo "Steve & DC" heard for the second time on the 106.5 MHz frequency. That led to the team scoring its biggest ratings in St. Louis. The "Steve & DC" morning show consistently ranked #1 in the all-important Persons 18-49 and Persons 25-54 demographics on WKKX.
In November 1996,
Smooth jazz (2000-2005)
In 2000, Emmis swapped WKKX to
Adult hits (2005-present)
On April 10, 2005, after playing "Thank You" by
On January 19, 2011, Bonneville announced the sale of WARH, as well as 16 other stations in four markets (St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C.), to Minneapolis-based Hubbard Broadcasting.[12] The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.[13] Hubbard has kept the adult hits format in place, which continues as one of St. Louis' top stations.
References
- ^ WARH FCC.gov
- ^ "1065TheArch.com/contact". Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ "WARH-FM Radio Station Coverage Map". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1969 page B-54
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1982 page C-141
- ^ https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/the-worst-of-dc-2491877
- ^ Stark, Phyllis (January 15, 1994). "Vox Jox". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 3. p. 64.
- ^ American Radio History
- ^ American Radio History
- ^ World Radio History
- ^ American Radio History
- ^ "$505M sale: Bonneville sells Chicago, D.C., St. Louis and Cincinnati to Hubbard". Radio-Info.com. January 19, 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
- ^ "Hubbard deal to purchase Bonneville stations closes". Radio Ink. May 2, 2011. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
External links
- WARH official website
- MissouriRadio.net
- WARH in the FCC FM station database
- WARH in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- KWK FM 106 AM 13.8 A tribute site for KWK "The Rockin' Best!"