KRBB (97.9 FM, "B98") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. It is owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. 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 ...

, and it broadcasts 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 ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

, switching to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

for much of November and December. KRBB carries several nationally syndicated shows, including "Murphy, Sam and Jodi" in morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, "

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

" in evenings, and "

Ellen K Ellen K. (born September 19, 1962) is an American radio personality in the Los Angeles, California market and a television host. She is the host of the Ellen K Radio Show on KOST 103.5 FM, and the nationally-syndicated weekend program ''Ellen K Wee ...

" from

KOST KOST (103.5 FM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an AC radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. Its studios are co-located with its sister stati ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on Saturday mornings. KRBB's studios are located on East Douglas Avenue in Downtown Wichita. KRBB has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s; their

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is located outside

Colwich, Kansas Colwich is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States, located northwest of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,455. History Colwich was founded in 1887. The name is a portmanteau of Colorado and Wichita, o ...

. KRBB broadcasts using

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 ...

technology; its HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

carries an

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

format, known as "Kiss Radio."

History

KFH-FM and KBRA

On September 19, 1948, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air as KFH-FM, and was located at 100.3 MHz. It is Wichita's oldest FM outlet. Like most FM stations at the time, it largely

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

ed its AM counterpart, KFH (then at 1330 AM, now at 1240 AM). In 1965, KFH-FM relocated to its current frequency. Two years later, KFH-FM broke from the AM simulcast and flipped to

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

as "Channel 97." The station was affiliated with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's American FM Radio Network. In October 1971, KFH-FM flipped to

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...

as KBRA. It played quarter hour sweeps of mostly soft instrumental

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs. On July 28, 1982, KBRA adjusted its format to

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 ...

as "KB-98." On November 6, 1984, KBRA changed its call letters to KLZS, and rebranded as "Class FM 98". On March 23, 1987, KLZS rebranded as "Magic 98", and tweaked its format to include more

new age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than tr ...

and

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

. The long association with KFH-AM was discontinued in 1988, as the two stations were sold to separate owners.

B98 FM

On October 12, 1989, at Noon, the station adopted its current format as "B98 FM" (which would later be renamed as simply “B98” in the late 2010s). The call sign switched to KRBB to go along with the new identity. The station's morning show was long hosted by Brett Harris and Tracy Cassidy. Harris was released from the station in July 2012, while Cassidy was let go in May 2014. Lukas Cox replaced Harris in September 2012, while former

Miss Kansas The Miss Kansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the US state of Kansas in the Miss America pageant. Kansas has won the Miss America crown on three occasions. Ayanna Hensley of Dodge City was crowned Miss Kansas ...

Theresa Vail Theresa Marie Vail (born October 1, 1990) is Miss Kansas 2013. She subsequently placed in the top ten of the Miss America 2014 pageant, where she became the first contestant to openly display tattoos (during the swimsuit competition) and won the ...

joined the show as a co-host for a time before being replaced by Careth Beard. In April 2019, Cox and Beard were let go, and were replaced by the syndicated "Murphy, Sam and Jodi", who are based at

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

sister station

KRVE KRVE (96.1 FM) is an commercial radio station licensed to Brusly, Louisiana, and serving the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. It broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. KRV ...

Tornado coverage

KRBB, along with other iHeartRadio stations, partner with

KSNW KSNW (channel 3) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with NBC and Telemundo. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on North Main Street in northwest Wichita (near downtown); its tran ...

, the local

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

, when

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

warnings are issued in the Wichita area. During an emergency, KRBB simulcasts the audio of KSNW's severe weather coverage.

References

External links

* {{IHeartMedia RBB Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Kansas IHeartMedia radio stations