WZKX (107.9
FM, "Kicker 108") is a hot
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
formatted
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 ...
based in
Gulfport–
Biloxi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
-
Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi
Bay St. Louis is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Mississippi, in the United States. Located on the Gulf Coast on the west side of the Bay of St. Louis, it is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of ...
. The station is owned by Coast Radio Group, Inc., and it broadcasts with an ERP of 100,000 watts and is a
Class C station.
History
In the early 1980s WZKX was one of the only AOR radio stations on the Gulf Coast. With the station located in Orange Grove - just north of Gulfport Mississippi, many of the "redneck rockers" relied on "Rock 107" to play heavier album tracks from Boston to Rush. A "Power Rock Song" at the top of the hour was the only requirement for most of the FM Air personalities.
Just like the plot in the 1978 movie "FM", management brought in tapes and playlists and by 1982 free form AOR disappeared (along with some talent like late night's DJ Jeff Davis, though Mark "In the Middle" McGraw remained.)
In early 1987, WZKX started broadcasting at its tower in
McHenry, Mississippi
McHenry, is an unincorporated community in southern Stone County, Mississippi. It is situated approximately south of Wiggins and north of Saucier. The community is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area.
History
The town of McHenry ...
, and became 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 ...
hits outlet as Power 108 for South Mississippi until a 1994 switch to country as Kicker 108.
The original Power 108 airstaff was Brian Rhodes mornings, with the late Dave Melton, Sr. doing news, Mark McCraw doing middays (Mark in the Middle), P.D. The Real Rick James doing afternoons, and Mark ("The Top Gun") Gunn doing nights. Reverend Red (Collins Powell) did late nights.
Signal
WZKX's upgraded tower with a 100,000-watt signal can reach east to
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, west to
, and north to
Laurel, Mississippi
Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. It is located northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first coun ...
.
External links
Kicker 108 WZKX official website*
ZKX
Country radio stations in the United States
{{Mississippi-radio-station-stub