KEZK-FM (102.5 MHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 St. Louis, Missouri. It broadcasts an

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, quie ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

and is owned by Audacy, Inc. From mid-November through the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

holiday, KEZK switches to an all-

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 ...

format. The

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s and offices are on Olive Street in

Downtown St. Louis Downtown St. Louis is the central business district of St. Louis, Missouri, the hub of tourism and entertainment, and the anchor of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The downtown is bounded by Cole Street to the north, the river front to the eas ...

. KEZK has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, the maximum for non-

grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

FM stations, covering parts of

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is in Resurrection Cemetery 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 ...

. KEZK broadcasts using the

HD radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

hybrid format. The HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compres ...

simulcasts Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

News/Talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

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 ...

KMOX KMOX (1120 AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it is a 50,000 watt Class A clear-channel station with a non-directional signal. The KMOX studios and offices are on Olive Street at Tucker Bouleva ...

(1120 AM). The HD3 subchannel airs "

Channel Q Channel Q (stylized as CHANNEL Q) is an LGBT lifestyle talk and EDM top 40 radio network created, owned, and operated by Audacy, Inc. The network airs on the Audacy internet radio service, as well as on Audacy-owned terrestrial radio stations ...

," Audacy's Talk/

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

service for the

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

community.

History

KDNA and easy listening

The 102.5 frequency in St. Louis had originally been the home of listener-supported free form

KDNA KDNA (91.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish Variety format including music ( norteña, accordion, banda, and mariachi), children's programming, local and international news and a unique show each weekday morning highlighting employme ...

from 1969 to 1972. KDNA was a non-commercial station, supported by listener donations, yet it broadcast on a commercial frequency. In 1972, it relocated to the non-commercial part of the FM dial, and now is

KDHX KDHX (88.1 FM) is an independent, non-commercial, listener-supported community radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States offering a full spectrum of music along with cultural and public affairs programming since 1987. KDHX broadcas ...

at 88.1 MHz. Heftel Broadcasting paid for the frequency, and in June 1973, it put KEZK on the air. KEZK carried a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

format and its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

reflected that format with the EZ call letters, referring to

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

. It was among St. Louis' highest rated FM stations in the 1970s and 1980s. By the mid-1980s, however, listeners interested in the beautiful music format were beginning to age and most advertisers seek a younger audience. In response, KEZK began adding more vocals to its mostly instrumental

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sev ...

Soft AC

On January 1, 1991, KEZK completed the transition to a

soft 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 sto ...

format, playing music mostly from the 1970s and 1980s as well as some current soft hits. Through the early 2000s, KEZK moved to a mainstream

adult contemporary music 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, qu ...

format. Jeff Kapugi became KEZK's Program Director in November 2010, replacing Mark Edwards. The current program director is Cat Thomas.

Fresh 102.5

On December 27, 2010, the station rebranded from "Soft Rock 102.5 KEZK" to "Fresh 102.5"http://kezk.radio.com/2010/12/08/fresh-102-5/ adopting the brand used on sister

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

stations WWFS

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

WCFS-FM WCFS-FM (105.9 MHz) – branded ''Newsradio 105.9 WBBM'' – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to the Chicago suburb of Elmwood Park, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Chicago metropolitan area, operati ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and

WIAD WIAD (94.7 FM, "94.7 The Drive") is a commercial radio station licensed to Bethesda, Maryland, and serving the Washington metropolitan area.

Washington, D.C. However, while those three stations had playlists more closely resembling

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 ...

stations, KEZK continued to feature 1970s artists such as

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. The name "Fresh" was more of a rebranding than a format change, as sister station

KYKY KYKY (98.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the Greater St. Louis region of Missouri and Illinois. KYKY airs a Hot AC radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. KYKY operates from offices and studios located on ...

already features a Hot AC format.

Today's Hits & Yesterday's Favorites

On May 26, 2015, at 7:05 a.m., after stunting the prior weekend with 1980s music (ending with " Kokomo" by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

), KEZK dropped the "Fresh" handle, rebranding as "102.5 KEZK, Today's Hits and Yesterday's Favorites." The first song after the relaunch was " P.Y.T." by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

. While many AC stations have moved more contemporary, KEZK continues to play artists from the 1980s, such

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

and

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

. On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.

Christmas music

KEZK has been “St. Louis’ Official Christmas Station” since 2003. They switch to Christmas music during the second week of November, and air Christmas music until December 25, when the station usually plays 36 hours of commercial-free Christmas music from noon on Christmas Eve until midnight on December 26. KEZK also played Christmas music in late March until early April 2020 during the first few weeks of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

s, calling it “Christmas In March”.

Programming

Since 2003, KEZK has been the St. Louis affiliate for

John Tesh John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...

, which runs Sunday nights from 9 p.m. to Midnight (formerly Sundays 7 a.m.-10 a.m.). The station carried the Deliah show until 2012 and briefly during the 2020-21 season.

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets

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, quie ...

station of the year award by

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

magazine. Other nominees included

WMJX WMJX (106.7 FM) – branded Magic 106.7 – is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. The WMJX studios ...

in Boston,

KOST KOST (103.5 FM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an AC radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. Its studios are co-located with its sister stati ...

in Los Angeles;

WALK-FM WALK-FM (97.5 FM) is a hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Patchogue, New York, and serving Long Island. The station is owned by Connoisseur Media, with studios and offices located at Airport Plaza in Farmingdale, New York and its t ...

in Nassau, New York;

WLTW WLTW (106.7 FM) is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to New York City and serving the New York metropolitan area. WLTW is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood o ...

in New York City; and

WBEB WBEB (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station broadcasts an adult contemporary format, switching to Christmas music for part of November and December. The broadca ...

in Philadelphia.

References

External links

* * {{Entercom EZK-FM Radio stations established in 1972 Audacy, Inc. radio stations Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States 1972 establishments in Missouri