KCMO-FM

KCMO-FM (94.9 MHz, "94-9 KCMO") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Shawnee, Kansas and serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting and airs a classic hits radio format, switching to all-Christmas music from mid-November to December 25. KCMO-FM's studios and offices are located in the Corporate Woods area in Overland Park, Kansas. The transmitter is off Menown Avenue in Independence, Missouri.
KCMO-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio format, with its HD2 signal airing an adult hits format, known as "102.5 Jack FM," which is simulcast on 250 watt translator K273BZ at 102.5 MHz. The talk radio format of AM sister station KCMO is carried on KCMO-FM's HD3 subchannel.
History.
Early years.
One of the first FM stations in Kansas City, KCMO-FM signed on as KCFM in February 1948. It simulcast 810 AM, at the time the frequency of KCMO (AM). During the "Golden Age of Radio," the stations aired ABC Radio Network dramas, comedies, news, sports, game shows, soap operas and big band broadcasts. The KCMO-FM call sign was granted in 1950, the first of several times the station would go by that call sign.
The Meredith Corporation bought KCMO-AM-FM in 1953. On July 23, 1959, as the days of network programming ended, KCMO-AM-FM adopted a full service, middle of the road (MOR) personality format.
Beautiful music.
On March 16, 1968, KCMO-FM separated its programming from 810 AM, and began airing a mostly instrumental beautiful music format as KCMU. In 1974, the station began adding a few vocals to the format and switched its call letters to KCEZ, "EZ 95".
In 1983, The Meredith Corporation, which had owned KCMO-AM-FM since 1953, sold both stations to Richard Fairbanks, a one-time owner of what is now WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, and the head of Fairbanks Broadcasting.
Country music and Top 40.
On October 10, 1983, the station adopted a country music format as "KC 95." The KCMO-FM call letters returned in 1984. The station gained attention when one of its billboards appeared in a Psychedelic Furs music video. Fairbanks sold both stations in 1985 to the Summit Communications Group. Summit changed KCMO-FM to a dance-leaning Top 40 format as KBKC, "B95", on July 26, 1985.
The Gannett Company bought the station in 1986, shifting to a more adult-friendly mainstream Top 40 format as "Power 95 KCPW," on August 25 of that year.
Switch to oldies.
On July 28, 1989, at 5 p.m., after playing "Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan, KCPW flipped to an oldies format as "Oldies 95," with the third use of the KCMO-FM call sign, acquired days before the switch. The first song on "Oldies 95" was "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison.
Another oldies station serving Kansas City, 710 WHB, saw most of its listeners switch over to KCMO-FM in a matter of months, prompting that station's conversion to farm radio.
In 1993, Gannett sold KCMO-AM-FM to Bonneville International, which also owned KMBZ and KLTH (now KZPT). Four years later, Bonneville sold all four of its Kansas City stations together with three radio stations in Seattle to Entercom Communications.
Cumulus ownership.
Susquehanna Radio bought KCMO-AM-FM from Entercom in 2000, as Entercom was forced to sell the KCMO stations after its purchase of Sinclair Broadcast Group's radio stations KQRC-FM, KXTR-FM and KCIY. That left Entercom with two stations over the Federal Communications Commission's single-market ownership limit. Susquehanna subsequently merged with Cumulus Media in mid-2006.
KCMO-FM enjoyed strong ratings throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but in 2005 it became concerned that the name "oldies" appealed to older listeners, less attractive to advertisers. Ratings weren't an issue, as the station was often in the Top 10. The station dropped its "oldies" moniker in April 2005 and began calling its music "Greatest Hits", playing only mid-'60s to early-'80s music.
In the mid-2010s, KCMO began playing hits from the early 1990s, and scaled back music recorded before the 1970s.
KCMO-FM HD2.
On February 14, 2011, the station turned on its HD2 sub-channel and launched an all-comedy format branded as "Funny 102.5." It is also heard on translator station K273BZ (102.5 FM), hence the 102.5 in the moniker. On January 2, 2013, 102.5 FM flipped to sports talk, branded as "102.5 The Fan."
On August 15, 2014, at 3 p.m., the station abruptly dropped the sports format in the middle of a sports update, and began a 7-minute countdown. After the countdown, 102.5/94.9-HD2 became one of the first network affiliates of the new Cumulus-owned "Nash Icon" format as "102.5 Nash Icon", playing country hits from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. "Nash Icon" began with "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker.
On November 2, 2015, at midnight, after playing "You Ain't Much Fun" by Toby Keith, 102.5/94.9-HD2 changed its format to alternative rock, branded as "102.5 The Underground", beginning with "Kansas City" by The New Basement Tapes. With the change, 102.5/94.9-HD2 became the first Nash/Nash Icon station to drop the format.
On June 15, 2016, at 7:30 a.m., after playing "Up & Up" by Coldplay, 102.5/94.9-HD2 swapped formats with co-owned KCJK, adopting that station's adult hits format, and rebranded as "102.5 Jack FM", while the alternative format moved to KCJK. The first song after the move was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones.
KCMO-FM HD3.
KCMO-FM's HD3 subchannel is a simulcast of talk-formatted KCMO 710 AM.