KABX-FM (97.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, "K97.5") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on Apri ...

. It is owned by Stephens Media Group, through licensee SMG-Merced, LLC. KABX-FM airs 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

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 broadcasting, ...

, switching to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

for part of November and December. Its studios are on West 19th Street in Merced. KABX is a Class B FM station. Its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

and

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

are on Shultz Mountain, off

California State Route 140 State Route 140 (SR 140) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, 102 miles (164 km) in length. It begins in the San Joaquin Valley at Interstate 5 (California), Interstate 5 near Gustine, California, Gustine, and runs east into ...

in Catheys Valley. KABX-FM can be heard over a large part of California's Central Valley, from

Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

History

Beautiful Music and Adult Contemporary

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on . Its original

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 as ...

was KMYT, airing an

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

beautiful music format. It was the FM

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 ...

KYOS KYOS (1480 AM) is a commercial radio station in Merced, California. The station is owned by the Stephens Media Group, through a subsidiary, SMG-Merced, LLC. KYOS airs a talk radio format on weekdays and plays oldies music on weekends. The of ...

1480 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1480 kHz: 1480 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * Radio Centro Dolores in Dolores, Buenos Aires. * APP1480 in La Matanza, Buenos Aires. Mexico * XECARH-AM in Cardonal, ...

. The studios were at the KYOS transmitter site. The station broadcast in

FM stereo FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high-fidelity sound ...

and it used the slogan "K-Might, The Mighty Sounds of Stereo." At the end of 1999, the station's tower was relocated to Shultz Mountain in Catheys Valley to improve its signal coverage. Over the years, it added more vocals, eventually making the transition to

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

. On August 27, 2011, KABX-FM adjusted its format and became mainstream

as "The New K 97.5--Favorites of Yesterday and Today." Under the guidance of AC programming consultant Gary Berkowitz, the station used JAM

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s and voiceovers from Jim Merkel. It was owned by

Mapleton Communications Mapleton Communications (MC) was a media company. It was formed in May 2001 to acquire and operate radio stations in mid-sized markets in the western United States. Mapleton owned and operated 41 radio stations (11 AM and 30 FM) in California ...

, with stations in California,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

Acquisition by Stephens Media

On July 1, 2019, Mapleton Communications announced its intent to sell its remaining 37 stations to the Stephens Media Group. Stephens began operating the station that same day under a

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

(LMA). The sale was consummated on September 30, 2019. The price tag was $21 million.

References

Previous logo

(KABX's logo under previous "Oldies 97.5" branding)

External links

FCC History Cards for KABX-FM
ABX Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Mass media in Merced County, California Merced, California Radio stations established in 1979 1979 establishments in California {{California-radio-station-stub