KMBS (AM)

KMBS is a radio station airing a talk format licensed to West Monroe, Louisiana, broadcasting on 1310 kHz AM. The station serves the Monroe, Louisiana area, and is owned by Red Bear Broadcasting Corporation.[2]

KMBS
Broadcast areaMonroe, Louisiana
Frequency1310 kHz
BrandingRedden Radio 1310
Programming
FormatTalk
AffiliationsMusic of Your Life
Ownership
OwnerRed Bear Broadcasting Corporation
History
First air date
August 4, 1956 (1956-08-04) (as KUZN)
Former call signs
KUZN (1956–1984)[1]
Technical information
Facility ID55336
ClassD
Power5,000 watts day
49 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
32°29′2.4″N 92°9′10.8″W

History

KUZN signed on the air August 4, 1956. The 1,000-watt, daytime-only station[1] was owned by Howard E. Griffith and broadcast primarily country and gospel music.[3] KUZN moved to new quarters on Parkwood Drive in 1967, when Griffith launched a television station, KUZN-TV channel 39.[4] An expansion into FM radio followed the next year with KUZN-FM 98.3.[5] In the mid-1960s, Gary Burbank worked at KUZN as "Johnny Apollo, the blue-eyed soul brother in the front row".[6]

Griffith, who also was an engineer who had developed a new type of television antenna and who had twice attempted to establish local TV stations, died of a heart attack in February 1976.[7] The next year, KUZN and the FM station (by this point known as KYEA) were sold to Morgan Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Chuck and Kay Morgan, for $305,000.[8] The buyer was intimately familiar with the Griffith stations, as he had worked for KUZN since its 1956 establishment as staff announcer and served as general manager since 1961.[9] Under Charles Morgan, the station became KMBS in 1994; it changed formats several times, including contemporary hit radio, jazz[10] and lastly oldies, which was the format at the time of Chuck Morgan's death and the transfer of KMBS to his widow Kay.[11] The FM station was sold off in 1986.[12]

Kay Morgan sold KMBS in 1993 to Red Bear Broadcasting Company, owned by Chuck Redden.[13] Under Redden, the station has aired a variety of oldies and talk formats; it also aired Fox Sports Radio for a time.[14]

References
  1. FCC History Cards for KMBS
  2. KMBS fcc.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2012
  3. "Radio Station KUZN Will Go On Air Saturday". Monroe News-Star. August 1, 1956. p. 3. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  4. "West Monroe UHF Channel On Air Today". Monroe Morning World. August 19, 1967. p. 3-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  5. "KUZN-FM Back In Operation". Monroe News-Star. March 1, 1968. p. 6-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  6. O'Day, Dan (July 22, 1988). "WLW's Master Of Characters" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 39. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  7. "Howard Griffith". Monroe News-Star. February 10, 1976. p. 12-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  8. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 4, 1977. p. 90. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  9. "Morgan Buying Stations". Monroe News-Star. December 6, 1976. p. 5-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  10. "Motion" (PDF). Radio & Records. November 5, 1982. p. 22. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  11. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 11, 1991. p. 8. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  12. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 27, 1986. p. 118. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  13. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. June 28, 1993. p. 55. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  14. Letlow, Paul J. (May 17, 2002). "AM station starts sports talk radio". Monroe News-Star. p. 1C. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
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