W279AQ (103.7 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 ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, branded as "BIN 103.7". Owned by

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

, the station is operated by

iHeartMedia 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 ...

via a leasing agreement. Its transmitter is located in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

and operates from studios in St. Louis south of

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

. It broadcasts an all-news radio format under iHeartMedia's

Black Information Network Black Information Network (BIN) is a radio network and content brand owned by iHeartMedia. Launched on June 30, 2020, it is an all-news radio network of stations targeting the African American community, carrying mostly important national news hea ...

, targeting St. Louis's African American community.

History

2013-2015: Rock

In early June 2014, W279AQ began testing its signal on the Crestwood FM Tower in Shrewsbury and began simulcasting

KLOU KLOU (103.3 FM) is a radio station with a classic hits format in St. Louis, Missouri, specializing in hits from the 1980s and 1990s with some 1970s hits mixed in. Its transmitter is located in Gravois, and operates from studios in St. Louis s ...

's HD2 sub-channel, which dropped its 50s/60s hits format and began stunting with songs featuring the word "man" in the title. On June 16, the stunting shifted to a loop of

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

's "

Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is the debut single recorded by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. It is one of Astley's most famous songs. It was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and was released as ...

". Finally, on June 19, at 1:03 p.m., KLOU-HD2/W279AQ flipped to

Active Rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

as "Louie 103-7". The move was to attract younger male listeners away from

Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which hav ...

KSHE KSHE (styled as K-SHE) is a Classic rock radio station licensed to Crestwood, Missouri which serves the Greater St. Louis area. KSHE transmits on 94.7 MHz and currently uses the slogan "KSHE 95, Real Rock Radio". Owned by Hubbard Broadcasti ...

and

KPNT KPNT (105.7 FM, "105-7 The Point") is a commercial radio station licensed to Collinsville, Illinois, and broadcasting to Greater St. Louis. It mainly airs an alternative rock radio format, with some elements of active rock. It is owned by Hubbard ...

, but the attempt proved to be a failure.

2015-2017: Contemporary Christian

On November 19, 2015, W279AQ/KLOU-HD2 began stunting with

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 ...

. At Midnight on December 28, 2015, W279AQ/KLOU-HD2 flipped to contemporary Christian as "Up 103-7".

2017-2020: Urban AC

On May 24, 2017, at 6 a.m., after playing " No Man Is an Island" by

Tenth Avenue North Tenth Avenue North was an American contemporary Christian music (CCM) band from West Palm Beach, Florida that was active from 2000 to 2021. The group was formed while its founding members attended Palm Beach Atlantic University took its name f ...

, KLOU-HD2/W279AQ began stunting again, this time with songs featuring the word "magic" in the title. On May 26, 2017, at 10:37 a.m., W279AQ switched its primary feed to KMJM-FM's HD2 sub-channel, and flipped to

Urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

as "Majic 103.7", returning the heritage brand to the market for the first time since November 2014, when KMJM-FM flipped to

classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

and rebranded as "The Beat" (another heritage brand in the St. Louis market). The first song on the newly revived "Majic" was "

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempte ...

" by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. This is the fourth incarnation for the "Majic" branding in St. Louis, as it originated in 1979 on 107.7, then moved to 104.9 in 1997, and then to 100.3 in 2012 before the format was dropped two years later.

2020-present: All-News

On July 17, 2020, at 10 a.m., the Urban AC format and “Majic” branding was moved back to 104.9 FM, displacing the

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

-formatted “ALT 104.9.” On July 27, at Midnight, KATZ-FM-HD2/W279AQ flipped to the

all-news service.Black Information Network Debuts in St. Louis
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References

External links

* * {{St. Louis Radio µW279AQ Black Information Network stations All-news radio stations in the United States