KIXQ (102.5 FM, "KIX 102.5") is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

formatted

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 ...

licensed in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

, and is owned by the

Zimmer Radio Zimmer Radio is a radio broadcasting group of Zimmer Marketing with six radio stations (four FM, two AM) with studios in Joplin, Missouri. * KIXQ-FM 102.5, Country * KSYN-FM 92.5, Top 40 * KJMK-FM 93.9, Classic Hits * KXDG-FM 97.9, Classic ...

It is the third radio station in the four-state area to multicast in

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

. KIXQ is simulcast on HD-1.

KZRG KZRG (1310 AM) is a far-right commercial radio station broadcasting from Joplin, Missouri. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Zimmer Radio, Inc. The studios and offices are on East 32nd Street in Joplin. KRZG is powered at 5,000 ...

is simulcasted on HD-2. KIXQ was part of the family-owned Zimmer Radio Group. The stations were sold in July 2007 to James Zimmer and he created a new company called Zimmer Radio, Inc. In the spring of 1981 under the ownership of Pat Demaree, 102.5 was a Top 40 (CHR) format under the moniker Z-103 and was rebranded "The Z 102.5" around 1990 under the helm of Al Zar and Gary Bandy that lasted a year. Following that time, the station went through a number of format changes including adult contemporary and satellite-fed country. Chuck Dunaway of Big Mac Broadcasting purchased the station, changed its call letters to KJKT and rebranded it as Country Kat 102.5. Mr. Dunaway then purchased KSYN 92.5 FM and rebranded the station, "Kissin' 92.5." During this time, KIXQ was on air at 93.9 FM (known as KIX 94) playing more traditional country in the era when

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

had exploded on the scene. The owners of KIX 94 purchased the 97.9 FM frequency which, at the time, was a Christian station and Ralph Cherry changed 97.9's format to Big Dog New Country to compete against Country Kat. Mr. Dunaway then bought 93.9 and 97.9. This left them with two competing

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

music format stations. The decision was made to combine the two stations into one with the KIXQ call letters and "KIX" slogan at the 102.5 FM frequency. For a brief period, the same programming was simulcast on both stations and they were referred to as "KAT, and KIX 102.5." Once the transition was complete, 102.5 FM officially became KIX 102.5, 93.9 FM flipped to an

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, quie ...

station known as Magic 93.9 with the call letters

KJMK KJMK (93.9 FM) is a classic hits radio station broadcasting from Joplin, Missouri, with an effective radiated power of 48,000 watts. KJMK used to be a part of the family-owned Zimmer Radio Group. The stations were sold in July 2007 to James Zimm ...

and 97.9 flipped to

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 ...

Big Dog 97.9. Mr. Dunaway sold the stations to the

Zimmer Radio Group Zimmer is a Germanic word meaning ''room'' and also a surname. It may refer to: People * Zimmer (surname), people with the surname * Zimmer massacre, the 1812 massacre of the Zimmer family in Ohio Places * 3064 Zimmer, asteroid named after Lou ...

External links

IXQ Country radio stations in the United States {{Missouri-radio-station-stub