KTHR (107.3 FM, "ALT 107.3") is a

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 ...

operating in

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 ...

. The station airs 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 ...

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 ...

. Its studios are located on East Douglas Avenue in Downtown Wichita, and the transmitter 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 ...

History

KTHR's format history includes

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

(or back then known as

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 KARD, which later evolved into 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 ...

format. On March 3, 1981, the station's call letters changed to KKRD-FM (which would then be modified to KKRD on April 14, 1982), but maintained its Adult Contemporary format. By 1983, KKRD changed its format to

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 ...

/ CHR to compete with

KEYN KEYN-FM (103.7 MHz) is a radio station operating in Wichita, Kansas, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station broadcasts a classic hits music format, featuring hits from the 1970s and 1980s. The station's studios are located on East Douglas Avenue in E ...

(now a

Classic Hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

station). Jack Oliver, the station's Program Director at the time, hired Wichita's number one morning show host, Tim Peters. Following the hiring of Peters, the station overtook KEYN in ratings, making KKRD the #1 station in Wichita, forcing KEYN out of the format in 1989. By around 2000,

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

station

KDGS KDGS (93.5 FM "Power 93.5") is an urban-leaning rhythmic contemporary radio station serving the Wichita, Kansas market. The station is licensed to Andover, Kansas, is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts with an ERP of 15 kW. The station' ...

, "Power 93.9", dethroned KKRD by becoming the highest rated Top 40 station in Wichita. In the hopes of attracting listeners, KKRD would tweak its programming and shake up its airstaff; longtime morning show host Don Hall, who had been teamed with Patti Masten since 1996, would move to sister station

KZSN KZSN (102.1 FM, "102.1 The Bull") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Hutchinson, Kansas, the station serves the Wichita area. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios are located on East D ...

in January 2003, and would be replaced by Brad Streeter and Kracker (with Masten remaining as a co-host), followed by Sid, Emily, and Kracker. In addition, KKRD rebranded as "The New 107.3" on May 9, 2003. Despite the changes, the station's ratings would not improve much; in the Winter 2004 ratings period for the Wichita market, KKRD held a 3.1 share of the market, far behind KDGS' 8.7 share. On June 15, 2004, at Midnight, KKRD dropped its Top 40/CHR format after 21 years and began stunting with a loop of reruns of the ''

Bob & Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premiere ...

''; at the same time, sister station

KRZZ KRZZ (93.3 FM) is a commercial radio station located in San Francisco, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KRZZ airs a regional Mexican music format branded as "La Raza". The station's studios are located in San Jose just n ...

would also begin stunting by directing listeners to 107.3, and would adopt KKRD's old format on June 17 as KZCH, "Channel 96.3". On June 18, at 10 a.m., KRZZ's

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 would move to 107.3 and rebrand as "107.3 The Road" with call letters KTHR adopted on June 28. On October 30, 2009, KTHR rebranded as "The Brew." "The Brew" differed from traditional classic rock stations in that it features a mix of music with a pop lean, that's appealing to both men and women. On August 29, 2014, at 9 a.m., after ''Bob & Tom'', KTHR began stunting with Wichita-centric songs and history clips from Wichita and area natives, which began with "

Wichita Lineman "Wichita Lineman" is a song written by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1968. It was first recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and was widely covered by other artists. ...

" by

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

. One hour later, KTHR flipped to

, branded as "ALT 107.3".Clear Channel Brews Alternative in Wichita
/ref> The first song on "ALT" was "

Seven Nation Army "Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, ''Elephant'' (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single f ...

" by

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

, which mentions Wichita in its lyrics. The flip marks the first alternative station in Wichita for the first time in 8 years, when

KANS Kamsa ( sa, कंस, Kaṃsa, translit-std=IAST) was the tyrant ruler of the Vrishni kingdom, with its capital at Mathura. He is variously described in Hindu literature as either a human or an asura; The Puranas describe him as an asura, whi ...

flipped to

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 ...

in 2006.

References

External links

KTHR official website
* {{coord, 37.778, N, 97.511, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title THR Modern rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1967 1967 establishments in Kansas IHeartMedia radio stations