Nebraska
Does anybody have the "Edge" sign on???
March Madness 2004
Prior to the launch of the Spring book in 2004 several stations in Lincoln and Omaha repositioned themselves via music or on the dial.
3/12/04
Waitt Radio's Sweet 98 and 106 9 The City were the first stations to instigate format flips. Sweet 98 was an Omaha legend, but their audience had grown tired of the heavy Urban slant in CHR and any new audience was torn between the dominant Channel 94.1 and Waitt's flanker Hot 107 7/97 3. Meanwhile the AAA format of KCTY was dismal in numbers. Waitt saw an opening to showcase the Sweet 98 listeners using a Retro format as well as keep listeners who favored modern music, without the rap factor. The result can be heard below:
3/17/04
104.1 in Lincoln has been called a "Cursed" frequency. A majority of the problem comes from the fact that it's a rimshot licensed to Crete. B-104, The Planet, The Point and even Clear Channel's KISS format failed to bring listeners to 104.1. The solution? Bring an existing format to the frequency whose core listeners were very loyal, and would follow the station.
KISS 104 begins simulcating with 106 3 The Blaze
3/18/04
NEEDED: audio of The Dam switching to Country format.
3/19/04
With Clear Channel's decision to move The Blaze, the 100,000 watt powerhouse at 106.3 left an opportunity open for a new station in Lincoln. Once KIBZ was moved to 104.1, construction began on the new station.
3/24/04
The replacement on 106.3 was more than just a whim. Lincoln only had one female adult station and it happened to be next door (both on the dial and relative to tower localtion) at 107.3. KBBK had repositioned itself a couple of years earlier as more of a modern rock format. This left open the door for a pure A/C station.
93 K-Rock in Omaha anticipated a directive
from Infinity to cease using the trademarked "K Rock" moniker.
This is the result.
THE DAM
94.1 WOW..The end of an era.
Right or
wrong, sometimes a new company feels they need to completely shed the old
company image to accomplish anything. So, when Great Empire sold WOW AM/FM
to Journal, the hacking began. 590 went on to do great things as KOMJ, one
of the highest rated Adult Standards stations in the country. 94.1 was
dealt a different fate. "Those legendary 3 lettter calls, beginning
with W on the wrong side of the Mississippi". At 5pm Bill Jensen gave
the final WOW hourly newscast and WOW became
Kiss Country as KSS0..
...But not for long. Clear Channel claimed ownership to the "KISS" trademark (and the competing country station in town) forcing another quick change by Journal. 94 1 Max Country would come out with their best book ever...the day after the format was discontinued on May 3rd of 2002. (See 97 7 info for the rest of the story) Listen to the lyrics of the song right before the sign off announcement by Tom Land. Coincidence?
Scoped version of last 5 songs and farewell announcement (15 minutes of dead air followed "Happy Trails"before Channel 94 1 hit the air)
Clip Courtesy of JJ Stevens and Gus Rodino
95.1 KNET was
seeking the heyday it once enjoyed as Oldies 95-KLDZ. The last of the
format flips made "95 Rock" one of the surviving Classic Rock stations
that would take on the Heritage Classic Rocker, 92.9 The Eagle. They would
carry Bob & Tom in morning
Drive until 2002. History of 95.1
95 Rock "stunting" (MP3)
97.7 once broadcasted to the heart of
Nebraska City from a water tower. Then one day they got an upgrade and a
really big tower. Suddenly they covered Lincoln and Omaha. After
failed success as a Classic Rock station, Smooth Jazz, KOSJ was born.
Successful, but not successful enough. Journal had just moved Ligth A/C
KESY from 104.1 to 97.7 when they decided it was time to try something
completely different. Enter Channel 97 7 (KQCH).
Sample of 97 7's first days
On May 3, 2002 Journal Broadcast discontinued 94 Max Country (KMXM), their country format, at the old WOW-FM frequency. Channel 97 7 had proven itself as a market dominator, knocking Sweet 98 off of it's top rated roost. So, when Max went to sleep, Journal's Rhytmic giant was moved to the better frequency as Channel 94 1. 97.7 began simulcasting 1420 KBBX, Nebraska's second full time Spanish station(The first was KMMJ 750 in Grand Island). It has the distinction of being Omaha and Nebraska's first full time Spanish Language station on FM.
977's Announcement (Featuring Channel DJ's inviting you to make the switch, Operations Manager Tom Land, and Jose Ramone the KBBX morning guy.
Jose's Welcome (5/10/02) KBBX LEGAL ID
101.9 The Edge I wish I had tape of the
incredible sign on of Omaha's first attempt at an alternative station.
After the Heritage AOR station KFMQ had been ruined by new management, moved to
Omaha and flipped to Country, it was sold to Mitchell Broadcasting.
Those who listened were faithful, but it wasn't enough to sustain the
format. All we have to honor its memory is the Dual Sweet 98/KGDE Legal ID that
aired the weekend before The Edge would join the Classic Rock war between The
Eagle, 95 rock, and CD-105.
Sweet/Edge Dual ID Typical
Edge Liner
101.9 The Fox becomes Lite Rock 101.9 The company that had the non-O&O Radio Disney affilate in Omaha knew it was "time to say goodbye"...but not to the successful kids format. On February 1, 2002 there was over 9 inches of snow on the ground and Classic Rocker, 101.9 The Fox, began playing "Winter Wonderland". This would continue until "9:00 Monday Morning".
B-104, once a competitor with KFRX came full circle as a direct competitor once again, in December 2001. In between "The Planet" had been anihilated by the Edge and had people asking "What is 'The Point'?". So, the controversial "Brady Goodman Show" as cancelled and General Manager Julie Gade got a KISS from the corporate folks at Clear Channel.
History of 104.1
An Original "B-104" Sweeper (Real
Audio)
Clip courtesy of Eric Taylor
106.3 KHAT becomes KMXA after a weekend
of "All Phil Collins" Stunting. Known as "Mix
106" and "KMX". History for 1530/106.3
MIX 106 Basic Jingle MIX 106 Morning Jingle KMX Jingle
MIX 106 Jingle MIX 106 70's 80's 90's Best Mix Jingle
Jingles coutesy of Tim Sheridan
KLMS Tribute Montage, put
together by Tim Sheridan (The Blaze/The Dam) who at the time, was part of
Lincoln's Music Station at 1480 AM. You'll hear Kool 105's J Marshall Stewart
on here, among other KLMS classics. I hear that a photo of 1290 KKAR's
Kent Pavelka is still floating around someplace from his KLMS Days.