KBER (101.1 FM) is a

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 ...

broadcasting a

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

format. Licensed to

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, United States, the station serves the

Salt Lake City metropolitan area The Salt Lake City metropolitan area is the metropolitan area centered on the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau currently define the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical ...

. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media. The station's studios are located in South Salt Lake (behind the I-15/ I-80 interchange).

History

Prior to March 1986, KBER was known as KDAB, and was licensed to Ogden (as KBER is to this day). It was known then as "B101". KBER began on 106.5, but moved to its current dial position in March 1990. It was purchased by

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

during that time. It also morphed into "101 The Bear". In 1998 the station reverted to the more familiar "KBER 101" slogan of its earlier years and is currently a top rated mainstream rock station in Salt Lake City Utah. By

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, the station's sister station KHTB became a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

station, carrying mostly newer rock. KBER gradually began to change its playlist to include more

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

songs, although it has since returned to a

format. Later on,

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 ...

& Nielsen BDS began reporting KBER on the

panel. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

Early programming

The station arrived as one of the leading FM radio stations in the market with on air personalities Street and Katherine, Tom Collins, Kevin Lewis, John Edwards, Mark Christiansen and Jay "J-bear" Stevens to name a few. The early to mid 1990s were the days of Mike Marble's wildly successful KBER-RAFTERS Showcase Concert Series. The Ron & Allen Morning Show was wildly popular and they even had their own television show called "Rock Utah" which aired on local channel 30. After Ron Harrison was summarily dismissed for an on-air stunt, Allen Handy and Michael Hayes took over as "Handy & Hayes" for several months carrying on the tradition of placing within the top 1-2 stations in the 18-34 demographic within Salt Lake City's market. Darby hosted the midday show prior to Kelly Hammer taking over in 2008. Prior to Darby, the midday shift was hosted by Helen Powers, who went on to work for a number of other radio stations. Mornings during the week on KBER previously featured the syndicated " Bob and Tom Show". The Mick and Allen Show returned to KBER in 2005. and remained until 2023.

Current programming

Along with regular shows including Helmut VonSchmidt who has been with the station for nearly 30 years, the station also does live broadcasts during business or station promotions at various events. Every year, KBER hosts an event known as "The North Pole Express" which is a take on the story '' The Polar Express'' and is an event co-hosted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It is held at Soldier Hollow, outside of Heber, Utah.

Signal

KBER broadcasts an HD signal along with analog on 101.1 MHz. Its transmitter is located southwest of Salt Lake City on

Farnsworth Peak Farnsworth Peak is a peak located on the northern end of the Oquirrh Mountains, Oquirrh Mountain range, approximately south east of Lake Point, Utah and south west of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The mountain is named for Philo Farnswo ...

. As with its sister FM stations, the station has an ERP of 25,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. This, along with the characteristics and elevation of Farnsworth Peak allow KBER to be received in most of northern Utah, specifically the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a major metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from Santaquin in the south to Pleasant View in the n ...

.KBER-FM Radio Station Information
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References

External links

KBER official website
{{Cumulus Media Mainstream rock radio stations in the United States BER Mass media in Salt Lake City Radio stations established in 1986 Cumulus Media radio stations 1986 establishments in Utah