KEEZ-FM (99.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, "Mix 99.1") 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 to serve the community of

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 United States ...

and serving the Minnesota River Valley. The station broadcasts a

hot 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 ...

format. The station is owned by

Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...

, through licensee Digity 3E License, LLC, along with

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 ...

KYSM-FM KYSM-FM (103.5 FM, "Country 103.5") is an American radio station licensed to Mankato and serving the Minnesota River Valley. The station currently airs a country music format. Country 103.5 was purchased by Three Eagles Communications from its ...

KRBI-FM KRBI-FM (105.5 FM, "River 105") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of St. Peter, Minnesota and broadcasting to the Mankato area and the Minnesota River Valley. It currently airs a classic hits music format. The station i ...

and

KMKO-FM KMKO-FM (95.7 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Lake Crystal, Minnesota, broadcasting to the Mankato area and the Minnesota River Valley. The station airs an active rock format. The station is rebroadcast in Ma ...

History

The station was granted license on May 15, 1968, as KEYC-FM. The station was started by

Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...

, which also owned

KEYC-TV KEYC-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Mankato, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, dual NBC/ CW+ affiliate KMNF-LD (channel 7). Both stations share studi ...

. The station was sold in 1977 to Faribault County Broadcasting Co. for $200,000, principally owned by Paul C. Hedberg and his wife. Burke B. Bartell was General manager until 1980's. The station was 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 station by the mid-1980s and then shifted to a

Hot AC 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 s ...

format in the early 1990s. Hedberg Broadcasting sold the station in 1993 to Nolan Broadcast Group. From January 1993 to the fall of 2000, KEEZ was owned and operated by Nolan Broadcast Group. KEEZ was managed by Michael E. Nolan, who along with his father Philip E. Nolan owned KAUS-AM/

KAUS-FM KAUS-FM (99.9 MHz, "US 99.9") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Austin, Minnesota, United States, the station serves the areas of Austin-Albert Lea, Mason City, Iowa, and Rochester, Minnesota. The station is cu ...

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in, and the county seat of, Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Po ...

. In 2000, the station was sold to Three Eagles Communications. KEEZ's longtime competitor, 96.7 KDOG was a CHR station from 1984 until shifting towards Hot AC in 2000. KDOG returned to their CHR roots as "Hot 96.7" on September 4, 2009. While Z99 was a Hot AC format during the daytime (playing a mix of hit music from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and today), it took a Top 40/CHR format at night, as the station added hip-hop to their playlist, thus it could be considered an

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

. By 2012, Z99 was reborn as a full-fledged Top 40/CHR music station. On October 31, 2018, at Midnight, KEEZ began stunting with a continuous loop of Michael Jackson's “ Thriller” while branding as "Thriller 99.1". The next day, KEEZ relaunched with a

format as "Mix 99.1".

Programming

Mix Mornings with TJ 6am - 10am On Air w/ Ryan Seacrest 10am - 2pm Jordan In The Afternoon 2pm - 7pm

Former Logos

References

External links

Mix 99.1 website
Radio stations in Minnesota Mankato, Minnesota Radio stations established in 1968 1968 establishments in Minnesota Alpha Media radio stations Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States {{Minnesota-radio-station-stub