KSMG (105.3 FM, "Magic 105.3") is 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 ...

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 ...

serving the

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

area, licensed to Seguin. The

Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...

outlet operates at 105.3

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 ...

with an ERP of 97.5 kW from a transmitter near Elmendorf in far northwestern

Wilson County Wilson County is the name of four counties in the United States: *Wilson County, Kansas *Wilson County, North Carolina *Wilson County, Tennessee *Wilson County, Texas Wilson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 202 ...

. Its studios are located in northwest San Antonio near the

South Texas Medical Center The South Texas Medical Center (STMC) or Bexar County Hospital District consists of of medical-related facilities on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. STMC, which directly serves 38 counties, consists of forty-five medica ...

complex.

History

Seguin Broadcasting Company, Inc., owners of

KWED KWED (1580 AM) is a radio station in Seguin, Texas broadcasting a full service country music format. It is currently owned by Guadalupe Media, Ltd. Programming is sourced from Premiere Radio Networks and Westwood One, along with news and weathe ...

(1580 AM), filed a construction permit for a new radio station to broadcast on 105.3 MHz on September 15, 1969, which was granted by the

FCC 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 ...

on December 31. The station began broadcasting September 9, 1970; like the AM station, it aired a middle of the road format, and it simulcast the AM station 40 percent of the time. FCC regulatory changes made in 1984 would have required KWED-FM to increase its power, which would have given the station a significant signal over San Antonio. Seguin Broadcasting Company, headed by Stan McKenzie, had no desire to run a major-market station. In late 1984, McKenzie reached a deal to sell KWED to American Media, Inc., which owned stations in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. The divestiture of the FM prompted programming changes at the AM, including the end of afternoon Spanish-language shows that had aired since 1948. In March 1985, after the signal upgrade was completed, American Media's programming debuted and the station relaunched as "Magic 105", a gold-based adult contemporary format. In its first ratings book, KSMG cracked the top five in San Antonio. The station went full into the oldies format in 1988 upon its acquisition by The Rusk Corporation.

Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

filed to buy the station in 1989 in a deal that ultimately never closed; it was part of a package deal with

KTRH KTRH () is a commercial radio station licensed to Houston, Texas and owned by iHeartMedia that airs a talk radio format. Programming is also heard on co-owned KODA's HD 2 channel at , and the station uses the iHeartRadio platform to stream its ...

and

KLOL KLOL (101.1 FM "Mega 101") is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a Spanish-language Latin pop radio format. KLOL serves as the Spanish-language flagship station for the Houston Texans football t ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and the company was forced to take the San Antonio-market station in order to purchase the Houston outlets. Rusk consolidated its position in the classic hits format in San Antonio when it entered into a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

to take over the operations of a struggling

KISS-FM KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs an mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas Me ...

in November 1991; KISS simulcasted KSMG until it returned to its heritage rock format on December 31, 1991. At the end of 1995, KSMG shifted to

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 ...

. In 1997, Cox Radio acquired KSMG; KISS-FM, which Rusk had bought outright; and

KLUP KLUP (930 AM) – branded ''930AM The Answer'' – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to serve Terrell Hills, Texas. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station covers the San Antonio metropolitan area. The KLUP studios an ...

(930 AM) from Rusk in a $30 million transaction. The station later shifted to mainstream adult contemporary; in 2014, as the station shifted back toward hot AC,

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...

added KSMG to its Hot AC panel.

References

External links

* {{COXMG Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Cox Media Group SMG Radio stations established in 1970 1970 establishments in Texas