KDRB (100.3

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 ...

"100.3 The Bus") 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 ...

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. It airs an adult hits

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, ...

and is owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

. Its slogan is "We Play Everything." KDRB is the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...

for

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

sports. The station's studios are located at 2141 Grand Avenue in Des Moines along with iHeartMedia's other Des Moines stations, and 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 ...

is located on Northwest 2nd Street, near Ankeny Boulevard in Alleman. KDRB broadcasts in the

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

format. Its HD-2 subchannel airs a simulcast of sister station

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

History

WHO-FM

In 1948, 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 ...

as WHO-FM. It was owned by the Central Broadcasting Company and was the third FM station in Des Moines, after KRNT-FM and KSO-FM. In its early years, it primarily

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

its

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 ...

AM 1040 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1040 kHz: 1040 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WHO Des Moines is the dominant station on 1040 AM. In Argentina * LRG203 Antena in Santa Rosa In Canada In Mexico ...

. During the "

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

," WHO-AM-FM carried programming from the

NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

, including comedies, dramas, news, sports,

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

broadcasts. Studios were located at 1100 Walnut Street, and the station's tower and transmitter were located on top of the Equitable Building at 6th and Locust in Des Moines. In 1950, the transmitter was moved to a new tower at WHO's transmitter site in

Mitchellville, Iowa Mitchellville is a city located in Polk and Jasper counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 2,485 at the time of the 2020 census. Mitchellville is part of the Des Moines– West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

. The old transmitter and tower on top of the Equitable Building were sold to

KCBC KCBC (770 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a Christian talk and teaching radio format. It is Licensed to Manteca, California, with radio studios and offices in Oakdale. The station is owned by the Crawford Broadcasting Company ...

for a new FM station KCBC-FM. In the mid-1960s, WHO-FM ceased simulcasting its AM sister and started programming

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

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

Switch to KLYF

In 1973, the station underwent some dramatic changes. The call letters were changed to KLYF and the station was reprogrammed with a beautiful music format in FM

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

. This was the first time that the station broadcast in multiplex stereo and became known by its nickname "K-Life." As the 1980s approached, KLYF added more vocals to its format to attract younger listeners. In 1981, the format evolved into 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 ...

format. By the mid-1990s, KLYF was 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

station competing directly with KSTZ. The station's transmitter was eventually moved to the WOI Tower near

Alleman, Iowa Alleman is a city in Lincoln Township, Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 423 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines– West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Alleman was named for early settl ...

Ownership changes

In December 1996, Palmer Broadcasting sold its Des Moines radio stations to

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 ...

Broadcasting of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Jacor immediately re-branded KLYF as "Mix 100.3," but left the format unchanged for the most part. On August 18, 1998, the call letters changed to KMXD to represent Mix and Des Moines. Over time the station saw its ratings decline. Several steps were taken to try to counteract this, such as rebranding the station as "Mix 100" and trying an "80s and more" format in December 2000. When these steps failed, the format was changed again to mainstream adult contemporary and the station was renamed "My 100." In 1999, Clear Channel Communications (the forerunner to current owner

) bought Jacor, bringing KLYF under its ownership.

The Bus

At noon on May 25, 2006, the AC format came to an end, as KMXD was rebranded as "The Bus," simulcasting the adult hits format on 106.3, which at the time carried the KDRB call sign. This was a short lived, transitional arrangement to get listeners of 106.3 to move to 100.3. The adult hits format had performed better than expected, and the decision was made to move "The Bus" to the 100,000 watt signal at 100.3. On June 12, 2006, KMXD became KDRB "The Bus" on 100.3 FM. The 106.3 frequency switched to

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

as KPTL, "Capital 106.3". Since the switch to the new format, KDRB has constantly been at the top of the Nielsen Audio Ratings for the Central Iowa area.

Programming

100.3 The Bus primarily has no DJs, except Heather Burnside in middays and Maxwell in afternoon drive. However, most of the time, the "Bus Driver" is heard between most songs and commercial breaks, mainly to identify the station. The voice of the "Bus Driver" is national voiceover artist Mark Driscoll. KDRB has been the flagship station for the

Cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

sports teams since the 2006-2007 season, taking over from sister station AM 1460 KXNO. Its longtime AM sister, WHO, airs the games of the rival

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

Signal

KDRB 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 ha ...

of 100,000

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, the maximum output for non- grandfathered FM stations. It broadcasts from a

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT) of 547 meters (1795 feet). That gives it one of the best FM signals in Iowa, allowing it to be heard over much of the state. With a good radio, it can sometimes be heard in small sections of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Co-owned

also has the largest coverage area of any AM station in the state of Iowa. With a good radio at night, WHO AM can be heard as far away as northern Mexico.

References

* * *

External links

The Bus' website100.3 the Bus
at VarietyHits.com * * {{coord, 41.830, N, 93.615, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title DRB Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Iowa IHeartMedia radio stations Adult hits radio stations in the United States