KREF-FM (94.7
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
) is a commercial
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
located in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
. KREF-FM airs a
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
format branded as "94.7 The Ref". Owned by
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
, its transmitter is located in Northeast Oklahoma City, and studios are located at the
50 Penn Place
50 Penn Place is an upscale mixed-use complex in the inner Northwest part of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The galleria-style shopping mall and tower is located at 1900 Northwest Expressway in the Penn Square trade area immediately at I-44 and Northwe ...
building on the Northwest side.
Prior stations on 94.7 in Oklahoma City
The current KREF-FM license is the third to operate on 94.7 in Oklahoma City.
KOCY-FM
The first was KOCY-FM, which was the first FM station to broadcast in the state, opening on September 16, 1946. Initially broadcasting on 98.5 MHz, KOCY-FM was co-owned with
KOCY (1340 AM). KOCY-FM quickly increased its effective radiated power, to 3,000 watts in January 1947; it changed frequencies to 94.7 in mid-1947.
A year later, KOCY-FM activated a new transmitter site and increased its power to 70,000 watts, claiming "the tallest exclusive FM tower in the world". KOCY-FM was additionally used to feed eight AM stations in a statewide network that began operations in September.
KOCY-FM ceased operations in 1950. Its tower was acquired by station
KOMA (1520 AM) for use in broadcasting television.
KEFM/KMWC
It would be another eight years before a new 94.7 station operated; on August 17, 1958, Carl E. Williams opened KEFM, offering a "fine music" format. The fine music outlet was hit with staff turmoil in 1960 when it moved to a more upbeat music policy during the daytime hours; former station manager Earl Thomas claimed no involvement with the change.
1963 saw an even larger change; the station moved to
Midwest City
Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,371, making it the eighth largest city in the state.
The city was developed in r ...
and adopted new KMWC call letters to reflect its home. KMWC, along with
KJEM-AM-FM, carried daily radio broadcasts from
Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City.
The base, origina ...
. However, Williams made an ill-advised move; he leased the station for six months in 1964 to Marlin Joe Pershall without
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
approval. In March 1965, the FCC fined Williams $1,000. Later that year, the station was deleted, and the FCC set aside the fine that December.
History
KEBC
The Electronic Broadcasting Company applied on October 9, 1965, to build a new FM radio station on 94.7 in Oklahoma City. The FCC approved its application for a construction permit on August 17, 1966,
and KEBC—named for the owner—signed on in May 1967. The station was a country music outlet, broadcasting from studios at 3920 SE 104th Street on the city's southeast side; in 1970, the studios were moved to 830 SW 31st Street.
In 1971, Ralph Tyler and Harold McEwen bought a majority share in KEBC, and a new tower facility followed in 1973. KEBC established itself as a force in the market; it pulled double-digit ratings in each year between 1979 and 1982, fighting with
KKNG
KKNG-FM (97.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Blanchard, Oklahoma, serving the Oklahoma City Metroplex. It is owned by Stanton Nelson, through licensee WPA Radio LLC.
KKNG-FM carries a religious talk and information radio format focusing on C ...
and
KTOK
KTOK (1000 AM) is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City and airs a talk radio format. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and licensed as iHM Licenses, LLC. The studios and offices are in the 50 Penn Place Building on the northwest side of ...
for the top spot in Oklahoma City.
However, KEBC gained a formidable competitor on May 27, 1982, when
KXXY-FM
KXXY-FM (96.1 MHz, "96.1 KXY") is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It airs a classic country radio format. In its logo, the station omits one of the two Xs in its call sign, calling itself ...
flipped to country. The more aggressive KXXY-FM edged ahead of KEBC in 1983 and would widen its lead to eight ratings points by the end of the decade.
While KXXY-FM surged, KEBC was sold several times. Van Wagner Broadcasting, which only owned two outlets in Michigan, bought the station from Ralph Tyler for $4 million in 1986. Two years later, Van Wagner sold KEBC to Independence Broadcasting for $3.9 million. Independence would see a return on its investment when Clear Channel Communications, forerunner to iHeartMedia, acquired KEBC for $7.5 million in 1993.
Alternative, soft rock, and alternative again, plus sports
After 28 years in the country format, KEBC relaunched on July 3, 1996 as an
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
station known as "95X", adopting the call letters KNRX.
It was the market's first station in the format. However, less than 18 months later, another change came. On November 7, 1997, after repeating the song "
A Change Would Do You Good
"A Change Would Do You Good" is the fourth single from American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow's 1996 self-titled album. The song uses a series of non sequitur lyrics to describe what one should change in life. It became Crow's third top-five sing ...
" by
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
for an hour, KNRX became
soft adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...
KQSR, seeking to target the 35–44 audience and citing the duplication of alternative music on stations in other formats in Oklahoma City.
The station returned to alternative on July 8, 2002 and became KHBZ-FM "The Buzz",
stunting beforehand with a buzzing noise played over the soft rock songs and notifying listeners that their "technicians were working to get 'the Buzz' out". Starting with the 2006-07
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
Basketball season, KHBZ also served as the flagship station for the
New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and caused extensive damage to the New Orleans Arena. As a result, the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s New Orleans Hornets were unable to play any home games at th ...
Basketball team replacing sister station
KTOK
KTOK (1000 AM) is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City and airs a talk radio format. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and licensed as iHM Licenses, LLC. The studios and offices are in the 50 Penn Place Building on the northwest side of ...
that served as the Hornets flagship station for the 2005-06 NBA season. On January 11, 2008, at 5 p.m., the station began stunting with all-
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, relaunching the following Monday with an
active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
format. Despite a format emphasizing active rock and some classic rock titles, KHBZ-FM was still placed on the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
panel by
Radio & Records
''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
/
Nielsen BDS
Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...
.
By the spring of 2009, KHBZ had adopted Clear Channel's syndicated
Premium Choice
The majority of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia is distributed through its subsidiary, Premiere Networks, owned by the company since 1999 and purchased by antecedent Jacor in 1997. However, several music and talk shows originated on iHeartM ...
active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
format, becoming musically identical outside of morning drive to sister stations
KIOC
KIOC is an active rock-formatted radio station in Beaumont, Texas. It serves the entire Golden Triangle region and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios are located southeast of the I-10/US 69 interchange in Beaumont, and its transmitter is l ...
in
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
and
WHRL
WHRV is a Public Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. It is the flagship National Public Radio member station for Hampton Roads, and is a sister station to the area's PBS member, WHRO-T ...
in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
.
The Brew
On December 29, 2009, KHBZ flipped to 1980s-based
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
, branded as "The Brew." With the flip, the station changed call letters to KBRU. The station's initial slogan was "Classic Rock's Next Generation".
Since adopting the "Brew" moniker, KBRU shifted between rock formats on several occasions. In 2012, the station began playing more recent titles, bringing it closer to the music mix heard on the former KHBZ; later in the year, the station added more classic rock titles, eventually moving fully to classic rock as a competitor to
KQOB
KQOB (96.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Enid, Oklahoma, and serving the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. It is owned by Champlin Broadcasting and calls itself ''Freedom 96.9''. ...
. Since 2015, when the station moved back to mainstream rock, KBRU had oscillated between classic and mainstream rock formats.
94.7 The Ref
On August 18, 2021, after playing "
The End
The End may refer to:
Films
* ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine
* ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds
* ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997
* ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...
" by
The Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
, KBRU flipped to sports, branded as "94.7 The Ref", under new KREF-FM call letters.
For overnight programing, the station simulcasts
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...
along with other sports stations in the OKC radio market.
KGHM,
KREF in
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
, and
KZLS
KZLS (1640 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Enid, Oklahoma. The station is currently owned by Chisholm Trail Broadcasting Co. The transmitter is off Route 51 in Hennessey, Oklahoma. KZLS is powered at 10,000 watts by day and 1,000 watts ...
in
Enid.
Translators
KREF-FM's only translator carries its HD2 subchannel, a
regional Mexican
Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...
format known as El Patrón.
References
External links
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{{IHeartMedia
REF-FM
Sports radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1967
IHeartMedia radio stations
1967 establishments in Oklahoma