The year 1993 in radio involved some significant events.
Events
January
The
Quad Cities' KSTT call letters are retired as 1170 AM is given the new call sign KJOC, reflecting that station's all-sports format. The station has been simulcasting
WXLP's FM signal for the past four years, although its sports programming has been steadily increasing during this time.
4 January –
WOWF/Detroit officially complete their flip from Top 40/CHR to
talk as "Wow FM."
6 January – After 5 days of
stunting with all-
Garth Brooks music, rhythmic CHR-formatted
WMXP/Pittsburgh flips to country as "K-Bear", WKQB.
10 January –
Denver gets its second local country outlet when
KDHT completes its move-in to the market and flips to "Big Dog 92.5."
15 January – KONC/Phoenix flips from classical to modern rock. A few weeks later, on 1 February, cross-town rival KFMA flips to beautiful music.
25 January – After stunting with all-
Elvis music for 3 days, Top 40/CHR-formatted
KFXD-FM/
Boise flips to adult contemporary.
26 January –
Toronto got its first country-formatted FM station when
CISS-FM signs on the air.
February – KZKZ/
Ft. Smith flips from album rock to gospel, while KTEZ/
Lubbock flips from beautiful music to country.
2 February – Pittsburgh picks up its third country outlet, as
WORD-FM's former 104.7 frequency flips from religious programming and became "Rebel 104.7", WXRB.
5 February
WODZ/Memphis flips from oldies to country as "Froggy 94", WOGY.
Top 40/CHR-formatted
KXXR/Kansas City changes call letters and rebrands as KISF, "Kiss 107.3."
7 February –
KLZR/
Lawrence, Kansas flips from satellite-fed Hot AC to modern rock
15 February – WXQL/Jacksonville flips to Urban AC
19 February –
KBEQ/Kansas City drops its top-40 format of 20 years as "Q-104" to go country as "Young Country 104." It will initially be simulcast on KBZR 1030, which has been airing
Z-Rock. The "Q-104" handle will return a few years later, but the format will remain country.
23 February –
KZGZ (9.75 FM) in
Agana, Guam signs on the air for the first time. The first format is
rhythmic top 40 music as "Power 98".
Cleveland-based Malrite Communications announces it will merge with Shamrock Broadcasting. The merger will be completed in August.
8 March – KKNB/
Lincoln signs on with a modern rock format.
10 March -
12 March – After 10 years in the Top 40/CHR format (with a few moniker and format modifications), WEGX/
Philadelphia becomes
smooth jazz-formatted
WJJZ. Three days later, struggling
ACWKSZ fills the format void by flipping to "Z100." However, due to the presence of nearby
WHTZ in New York (which is also located on 100.3 FM), the "Z100" moniker will be modified to "Y100".
2 April
After 20 years as an influential
Top 40 station,
WRBQ-FM/
Tampa flips to
country, while keeping its heritage "Q105" moniker.
Two stations in
Syracuse flip to country within two days of each other:
Beautiful Music-formatted
WRHP flips today, while classic rock-formatted
WKFM flips the next day.
19 April – WAQZ/Cincinnati flips from album rock to modern rock.
30 April –
Virgin Radio, originally called Virgin 1215, is launched nationally in the United Kingdom on 1215 kHz at 12.15pm by
Richard Branson. It subsequently becomes the most listened-to online radio station in the world.
28 May – At 4 PM,
WOWF/Detroit drop their 5-month-old talk format and flip to country, becoming one of the first "Young Country" stations.
3 June – Atlantic Ventures, Stoner Broadcasting and Multi Market Communications all merge to form American Radio Systems, consisting of 16 stations in 7 markets.
9 September – Cox and CBS make a swap involving the Dallas and Tampa radio markets. Cox receives AOR WYNF 94.9 "95 YNF" in Tampa from CBS to pair with its WWRM "Warm 107.3", while CBS receives KLRX "Lite 97.9" in Dallas from Cox to pair with its KTXQ "Q-102." KLRX flips to classic rock as KRRW "Arrow 97.9" on 15 October (becoming the second station to use that branding), while Cox moves the "Warm" format from 107.3 to 94.9 and launches 1970s hits WCOF "107.3 The Coast."
10 September – CBS installs the very first 70s-based
classic hits-formatted "
Arrow" station on
KCBS-FM/Los Angeles, who drop their 4-year old
oldies format.
Memphis gets its sixth urban-formatted station when WOGY-AM drops the simulcast with
its FM sister station and flips to urban oldies as "The Juice", WJCE.
Carl Hirsch launches his new radio group venture, OmniAmerica Communications.
11 October
Westwood One announces it will acquire Unistar Radio Networks for $101.3 million; in addition, Westwood One will sell a 25% equity stake to
Infinity Broadcasting for $15 million.
KPOI/Honolulu flips from album rock to modern rock.
25 October –
Smooth jazz-formatted
KHIH/Denver flips to religious programming; the format void will be filled by AC-formatted
KHOW-FM a few days later.
November
WWKS/Pittsburgh flips from classic rock to hard rock.
Booth American Company and Broadcast Alchemy announce plans of a merger, with the newly combined company getting 11 stations in 7 markets and $160 million. In addition, Metroplex Communications will merge with Clear Channel, a deal worth $53 million.
10 November – KQBR/Sacramento drops country for
smooth jazz
12 November – After 23 years in the country format,
KLAC/Los Angeles flips to Unistar's
adult standards "AM Only" format.
19 November – The "Arrow" format is expanded to two adult contemporary-formatted stations in two markets; in Washington, D.C.,
WLTT adopts the format, while in Houston,
KLTR flips to the format four days later.
28:
Salty Brine, longtime morning host at
WPRO does his last program on that station.
September
3 – Final broadcast of Unistar's "Solid Gold Country," a five-day-a-week country gold program, after 10 years, the last 8-1/2 of which were as a daily one-hour program. The final show's topic spotlights songs from award-winning albums.
^Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc.
ISBN978-0-7864-3848-8.
The year 1993 in radio involved some significant events.
Events
January
The
Quad Cities' KSTT call letters are retired as 1170 AM is given the new call sign KJOC, reflecting that station's all-sports format. The station has been simulcasting
WXLP's FM signal for the past four years, although its sports programming has been steadily increasing during this time.
4 January –
WOWF/Detroit officially complete their flip from Top 40/CHR to
talk as "Wow FM."
6 January – After 5 days of
stunting with all-
Garth Brooks music, rhythmic CHR-formatted
WMXP/Pittsburgh flips to country as "K-Bear", WKQB.
10 January –
Denver gets its second local country outlet when
KDHT completes its move-in to the market and flips to "Big Dog 92.5."
15 January – KONC/Phoenix flips from classical to modern rock. A few weeks later, on 1 February, cross-town rival KFMA flips to beautiful music.
25 January – After stunting with all-
Elvis music for 3 days, Top 40/CHR-formatted
KFXD-FM/
Boise flips to adult contemporary.
26 January –
Toronto got its first country-formatted FM station when
CISS-FM signs on the air.
February – KZKZ/
Ft. Smith flips from album rock to gospel, while KTEZ/
Lubbock flips from beautiful music to country.
2 February – Pittsburgh picks up its third country outlet, as
WORD-FM's former 104.7 frequency flips from religious programming and became "Rebel 104.7", WXRB.
5 February
WODZ/Memphis flips from oldies to country as "Froggy 94", WOGY.
Top 40/CHR-formatted
KXXR/Kansas City changes call letters and rebrands as KISF, "Kiss 107.3."
7 February –
KLZR/
Lawrence, Kansas flips from satellite-fed Hot AC to modern rock
15 February – WXQL/Jacksonville flips to Urban AC
19 February –
KBEQ/Kansas City drops its top-40 format of 20 years as "Q-104" to go country as "Young Country 104." It will initially be simulcast on KBZR 1030, which has been airing
Z-Rock. The "Q-104" handle will return a few years later, but the format will remain country.
23 February –
KZGZ (9.75 FM) in
Agana, Guam signs on the air for the first time. The first format is
rhythmic top 40 music as "Power 98".
Cleveland-based Malrite Communications announces it will merge with Shamrock Broadcasting. The merger will be completed in August.
8 March – KKNB/
Lincoln signs on with a modern rock format.
10 March -
12 March – After 10 years in the Top 40/CHR format (with a few moniker and format modifications), WEGX/
Philadelphia becomes
smooth jazz-formatted
WJJZ. Three days later, struggling
ACWKSZ fills the format void by flipping to "Z100." However, due to the presence of nearby
WHTZ in New York (which is also located on 100.3 FM), the "Z100" moniker will be modified to "Y100".
2 April
After 20 years as an influential
Top 40 station,
WRBQ-FM/
Tampa flips to
country, while keeping its heritage "Q105" moniker.
Two stations in
Syracuse flip to country within two days of each other:
Beautiful Music-formatted
WRHP flips today, while classic rock-formatted
WKFM flips the next day.
19 April – WAQZ/Cincinnati flips from album rock to modern rock.
30 April –
Virgin Radio, originally called Virgin 1215, is launched nationally in the United Kingdom on 1215 kHz at 12.15pm by
Richard Branson. It subsequently becomes the most listened-to online radio station in the world.
28 May – At 4 PM,
WOWF/Detroit drop their 5-month-old talk format and flip to country, becoming one of the first "Young Country" stations.
3 June – Atlantic Ventures, Stoner Broadcasting and Multi Market Communications all merge to form American Radio Systems, consisting of 16 stations in 7 markets.
9 September – Cox and CBS make a swap involving the Dallas and Tampa radio markets. Cox receives AOR WYNF 94.9 "95 YNF" in Tampa from CBS to pair with its WWRM "Warm 107.3", while CBS receives KLRX "Lite 97.9" in Dallas from Cox to pair with its KTXQ "Q-102." KLRX flips to classic rock as KRRW "Arrow 97.9" on 15 October (becoming the second station to use that branding), while Cox moves the "Warm" format from 107.3 to 94.9 and launches 1970s hits WCOF "107.3 The Coast."
10 September – CBS installs the very first 70s-based
classic hits-formatted "
Arrow" station on
KCBS-FM/Los Angeles, who drop their 4-year old
oldies format.
Memphis gets its sixth urban-formatted station when WOGY-AM drops the simulcast with
its FM sister station and flips to urban oldies as "The Juice", WJCE.
Carl Hirsch launches his new radio group venture, OmniAmerica Communications.
11 October
Westwood One announces it will acquire Unistar Radio Networks for $101.3 million; in addition, Westwood One will sell a 25% equity stake to
Infinity Broadcasting for $15 million.
KPOI/Honolulu flips from album rock to modern rock.
25 October –
Smooth jazz-formatted
KHIH/Denver flips to religious programming; the format void will be filled by AC-formatted
KHOW-FM a few days later.
November
WWKS/Pittsburgh flips from classic rock to hard rock.
Booth American Company and Broadcast Alchemy announce plans of a merger, with the newly combined company getting 11 stations in 7 markets and $160 million. In addition, Metroplex Communications will merge with Clear Channel, a deal worth $53 million.
10 November – KQBR/Sacramento drops country for
smooth jazz
12 November – After 23 years in the country format,
KLAC/Los Angeles flips to Unistar's
adult standards "AM Only" format.
19 November – The "Arrow" format is expanded to two adult contemporary-formatted stations in two markets; in Washington, D.C.,
WLTT adopts the format, while in Houston,
KLTR flips to the format four days later.
28:
Salty Brine, longtime morning host at
WPRO does his last program on that station.
September
3 – Final broadcast of Unistar's "Solid Gold Country," a five-day-a-week country gold program, after 10 years, the last 8-1/2 of which were as a daily one-hour program. The final show's topic spotlights songs from award-winning albums.
^Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc.
ISBN978-0-7864-3848-8.