KXUS (97.3
FM) 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 ...
broadcasting a
mainstream rock
Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.
Format background
Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...
format. Licensed to
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
, United States, it serves the Springfield area. The station is currently 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 licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC.
History
KWFC
The
Baptist Bible College signed on 97.3 as KWFC on April 17, 1969.
The new commercial Christian station aired religious and gospel music, as well as programming from local Baptist churches.
KWFC held a commercial license, and by 1983, Baptist Bible College officials began to look at selling it and obtaining a new noncommercial license for their radio station. In May, Pat Demaree was announced as the buyer of the 97.3 facility for $925,000; the sale would not include any of KWFC's broadcasting equipment, programming, or call letters, while the new owner would get free rent on the tower for 10 years. Demaree's purchase would be complicated, as he had to avoid overlap with
KKUZ, his station in
Joplin, and the sale was contingent on Baptist Bible College obtaining a new noncommercial license. On September 15, 1983, the Baptist Bible College filed for 94.1 MHz. Two factors combined to make the KWFC sale process last nearly two years. Baptist Bible College's first application for the noncommercial frequency was returned because of a competing bid from
Southwest Missouri State University
Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...
, which ultimately abandoned its push. Then, Stewart Broadcasting—the owners of KWTO radio—filed a petition to deny, claiming that there was overlap between KKUZ and KWFC even though Demaree had moved KKUZ's tower in order to make the purchase of the Springfield station possible. By November 1984, some 18 months after Demaree had agreed to purchase KWFC, Demaree was still waiting for final approval from 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 ...
.
KXUS
It was not until January 31, 1985, the deadline after Demaree had extended the option on his agreement, that the FCC approved the Baptist Bible College application for 89.1 MHz and its sale of KWFC at 97.3. Studios were quickly fitted out, and on March 23, 1985, 97.3 relaunched as a
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 outlet KXUS.
Baptist Bible College resumed broadcasting on 89.1 FM on April 27.
Branding as ''"The Ozarks' Power Station, The New US 97!"'' KXUS was just the second 100,000-watt commercial station in Springfield, behind KWTO-FM. Its first ratings survey gave it a respectable 10.2 rating for third in the market behind KWTO-FM and KTTS-FM. The station's success was exemplified by the response to a 1986 contest giving away $9,700 and a trip to
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...
, which generated so many calls it jammed all of the telephone circuits for Springfield for an hour, halting the contest leading to delayed dial tone-impaired 911 service.
By 1990, KXUS had shifted from a Top 40/CHR station into a
AOR station, leading it to a number-one finish among young adults that year in the Arbitron ratings. Tragedy struck in 1991 when program director Kevin Allen Barton died in a one-vehicle car crash at the age of 45.
However, KXUS's ratings success did not translate to the entire Demaree group. When a bank loan in Cincinnati was called in, Demaree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 1992. Matters worsened when
ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
sued for $100,000 to force KXUS to stop playing songs it represented, saying that the ASCAP license for KXUS had been terminated in April 1991 for nonpayment. In May, Demaree filed to sell several stations, though not KXUS, to Hendren-McChristian Communications, owned by two Arkansas principals.
KXUS would not be sold until 1997, when Sunburst Media, owners of KGBX-FM and KGMY-AM-FM, bought it from Demaree and immediately took over programming. Sunburst in turn sold its entire Springfield cluster, along with its stations in
Bryan, Texas
Bryan is a city and the county seat of Brazos County, Texas, United States. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley (East and Central Texas). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 83,980. Bryan borders the city of College ...
, and
Abilene, Texas
Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...
, to Clear Channel (forerunner to iHeartMedia) in 2000 in a $57 million transaction.
References
External links
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{{coord, 37.186, N, 93.023, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
XUS
Mainstream rock radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1969
1969 establishments in Missouri
IHeartMedia radio stations