KMGM (105.5
FM) is an American
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
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to serve the community of
Montevideo, Minnesota
Montevideo is a city in Chippewa County, Minnesota, Chippewa County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,383 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chippewa County, Minnesota, Chippewa County. The town ...
, United States. The station, established in 1982, is owned and operated by the Iowa City Broadcasting Company. KMGM broadcasts a
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 ...
format
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
to the greater southwestern Minnesota area.
This station is unrelated to Los Angeles radio station KMGM (now
KYSR
KYSR (98.7 FM) is a commercial alternative radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., KYSR is the flagship station of syndicated morning drive program ''The Woody Show''. T ...
) launched by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
in 1948.
Programming
The station launched in October 1982 with a
full service Full service or Full Service may refer to:
* Full-service radio, a wide range of programming
* Full Service Network, a communications company
Entertainment
* "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block''
* F ...
radio format that mixed
middle of the road,
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
, and
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
music with 20 hours per week of farm and agricultural programming.
However, by 1985 the station would drop the farm programs and move to a mix of Top 40 and
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 ...
music.
By 1987, with the station up for sale, the format would transition to a pure adult contemporary mix.
The format would soften by the end of the century but the adult contemporary format has remained on the station for nearly a quarter-century.
The station is an affiliate of the weekly syndicated
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
program "
Floydian Slip
''Floydian Slip'' is a weekly, one-hour syndicated radio program produced by Random Precision Media LLC (RPM), exclusively devoted to the music and history of the British rock band Pink Floyd. The show has an affiliate base of around one hundred ...
."
History
In November 1979, Jerald Hennen's Western Minnesota Stereo, Inc., applied to the
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 ...
(FCC) for a
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
for a new broadcast radio station.
The FCC granted this permit on May 7, 1982, with a scheduled expiration date of May 7, 1983.
The new station was assigned
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
"KMGM" on July 23, 1982.
After construction and testing were completed, the station was granted its
broadcast license
A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...
on October 31, 1983.
In March 1987, license holder Western Minnesota Stereo, Inc., reached an agreement to sell Eagle Broadcasting Corporation. The FCC approved the deal on April 7, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on June 3, 1987.
Just over a decade later, in August 1997, Eagle Broadcasting Corporation, Inc., made a deal to sell KMGM to the Iowa City Broadcasting Company. The FCC approved the license transfer on October 21, 1997, and the deal was formally consummated on December 1, 1997.
, Iowa City Broadcasting Company holds the broadcast licenses for 13 radio stations, including both KMGM and
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
KDMA in Montevideo.
On October 19, 2020 KMGM rebranded as "Bigfoot 105.5 FM".
Bigfoot Takes Over Southwestern Minnesota Station
/ref>
Station alumni
Broadcast veteran and KMGM founder Jerald "Jerry" C. Hennen died at 69 on July 7, 2009, in Fargo, North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
.KQHT
KQHT (96.1 FM, "96.1 The Fox") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format serving Grand Forks, North Dakota, that's licensed to Crookston, Minnesota. It began broadcasting in 1985. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KQHT p ...
(104.3 FM) in Grand Forks
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...
, North Dakota.
References
External links
KMGM official Facebook page
{{Classic Rock Radio Stations in Minnesota
Radio stations in Minnesota
Classic rock radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1982
Montevideo, Minnesota
1982 establishments in Minnesota