KSD (FM)

KSD (93.7 MHz, "93.7 The Bull") is a country music radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios on Highlands Plaza Drive in St. Louis, south of Forest Park. KSD carries two nationally syndicated iHeartRadio programs on weekdays, The Bobby Bones Show in morning drive time and After MidNite with Granger Smith overnight. KSD is unusual as an FM station with only three letters in its call sign. It inherited its call letters from its former sister station, KSD 550 AM, now KTRS, which originated in the earliest days of broadcasting.

KSD
Broadcast areaGreater St. Louis
Frequency93.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding93.7 The Bull
Programming
FormatCountry
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Ownership
Owner
KATZ, KATZ-FM, KLOU, KSLZ, KTLK-FM, W279AQ
History
First air date
March 27, 1955 (1955-03-27) (as KCFM)
Former call signs
  • KCFM (1955–1980)
  • KSD-FM (1980–1997)
Call sign meaning
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (original owner of KSD (AM), now KTRS)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID20360
ClassC1
ERP74,000 watts
HAAT309 meters (1,014 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
38°36′47″N 90°20′08″W
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
HD2: Listen Live
Website937thebull.iheart.com

KSD has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 74,000 watts.[2] The transmitter is in Resurrection Cemetery in Shrewsbury, amid the towers for other FM and TV stations.[3] KSD broadcasts using HD Radio technology, formerly carrying iHeartRadio's classic country music service on its HD2 digital subchannel.

KSD broadcasting in HD

History

KCFM

On March 27, 1955 (1955-03-27), the station signed on the air. Its original call sign was KCFM.[4][5] KCFM was owned by the Commercial Broadcasting Company and broadcast from the Boatmen's Bank Building.

Its studios and transmitter moved to 532 DeBaliviere Avenue in 1959. For much of the 1960s and 1970s, KCFM broadcast a beautiful music format, playing quarter hour sweeps of soft instrumental cover versions of popular songs with occasional middle of the road vocals.

KSD-FM

Combined Communications bought KCFM in 1978. The company also owned KSD 550 AM (now KTRS). Combined Communications relaunched KCFM as an adult contemporary music station. To trade on its AM station's well-known call letters, on July 10, 1980, KCFM became KSD-FM. KSD-FM evolved into a hybrid of AC music and adult top 40 hits (also known as hot AC). It used the moniker "KS94 FM".

Then, in August 1987, KSD-FM dropped the hot AC format for classic rock as "The New 93.7 KSD-FM". That format lasted until January 1999, when KSD-FM briefly went back to hot AC as "Mix 93.7".[6][7]

Country music

At noon on October 9, 2000, KSD-FM switched to country music as "93.7 The Bull", soon after 106.5 WKKX ("Kix 106") dropped country to become WSSM, "Smooth Jazz 106.5", now WARH. Due to a big ownership shakeup in 2000, Bonneville International ended up owning both competing St. Louis country stations. With 106.5 playing smooth jazz, that opened up a spot for a competitor to longtime country station 92.3 WIL-FM, also owned by Bonneville.

The first song on "The Bull" was "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks.[8][9] Since then, KSD-FM and WIL-FM compete for St. Louis country music listeners, with each station trading the lead in the Nielsen ratings.

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for KSD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. FCC.gov/KSD-FM
  3. Radio-Locator.com/KSD-FM
  4. "New KCFM Begins Broadcasting Today". St. Louis Globe=Democrat. March 27, 1955. p. G-1. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  5. "FM Station KCFM Going On Air Today". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 27, 1955. p. 4H. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  6. "R and R Newspaper" (PDF). www.americanradiohistory.com. 1987. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  7. "R and R Newspaper" (PDF). www.americanradiohistory.com. 1999. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  8. https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2000/RR-2000-10-13.pdf
  9. "Mix 93.7 KSD Becomes the Bull". 9 October 2000.


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