KMAJ (1440

kHz 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 uni ...

) 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 ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

. It is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

and it broadcasts a

talk radio 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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format, calling itself "The Big Talker". The

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are South Kansas Avenue. By day, KMAJ is powered at 5,000

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. It’s coverage pattern is slightly odd. One large signal lobe heads towards Manhattan and Wamego. Distant coverage extends into Holt County, Missouri. Tonganoxie Kansas pertains only to a fringe-grade signal despite being 27 miles from the transmitter. At night, to protect other stations on

1440 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1440 kHz: 1440 AM is a regional broadcast frequency. Because 1440 kHz is a multiple of both 9 and 10, the frequency is available for use by broadcast stations in all three ITU regions ...

from interference, it reduces power to 1,000 watts. It uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a four-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. The

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 on SE Ratner Road near SE 29th Street in

Tecumseh, Kansas Tecumseh is a census-designated place (CDP) in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States, and situated along the Kansas River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 696. The community and township are both named for the Shawnee chief. Hist ...

. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

K228FW at 93.5

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 ...

in Topeka

Programming

Most weekday programming is radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk shows. Mornings begin with ''

America in the Morning ''America in The Morning'' is a news program airing on numerous talk radio stations, syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. The one-hour live program airs weekdays at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is hosted by John Tro ...

'' followed by ''

Armstrong & Getty ''Armstrong & Getty'' are the hosts of ''The Armstrong & Getty Show,'' a nationally syndicated morning drive radio show hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. The talk show format is a mixture of libertarian and conservative political commentary, ...

, The Vince Coglianese Show, The Guy Benson Show,

The Mark Levin Show ''The Mark Levin Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Mark Levin. History Levin began his career as a radio host in 2002 in a Sunday afternoon timeslot on WABC. WABC assigned Levin to fill in starting on June 16, 2003, after the ...

, The Chris Plante Show, America Tonight with Rich Valdes'' and ''

Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...

''. Weekends feature specialty shows on money, health, real estate, movies and repeats of weekday shows. Most hours begin with an update from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

. Beginning with the 2014–15 season, KMAJ and KWIC became the home of the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and basketball (

men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

/ women's) teams.KWIC and KMAJ AM pick up rights to the KU football and basketball games
/ref> Previously, the games had been aired on WIBW. In addition, KMAJ also carries local

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games.

History

KJAY

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 in July 1947 as KJAY. It called itself "The Jayhawker Station", representing the

sports teams of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. KJAY was owned by S.H. Patterson with studios at 908 Kansas Avenue.''Broadcasting Yearbook 1950''
page 151,

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (''B&C'', or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') was a telecommunications industry monthly trade magazine and, later, news website published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as ''Broadcasting'', subsequent mergers, acquisitions and ...

As other stations in Topeka and Kansas City had taken the major network affiliations, KJAY was an independent station, coming up with its own programs. In the 1950s and early 1960s, KJAY featured a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: Entertainment Books * ''Full Service'' (book), a 2012 memoir by Scotty Bowers * '' Full Service No Waiting'', a 1998 album by Peter Case Music * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block fr ...

format of middle of the road (MOR) music, along with personalities, sports, farm information and news.

KEWI and KSKX

In March 1962, Fred Reynolds, dba Midland Broadcasters, Inc., acquired KJAY. He immediately changed the

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 ...

to KEWI and flipped the format to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits. Reynolds brought in some of consultant

Gordon McLendon Gordon Barton McLendon (June 8, 1921 – September 14, 1986Texas State Historical AssociationMcClendon, Gordon Barton/ref>) was an American radio broadcaster. Nicknamed "the Maverick of Radio", McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, during ...

's "Raiders" (high-energy DJs) to make a big splash on "Big KeeWee". By the late 1960s, these "KeeWee Good Guys" had made KEWI the city's top-rated station. The weekly Top 20+20 Tunedex survey evolved into a Fab 40 Tunedex to go with the British Invasion and then to a Top 14+40 Tunedex to match its dial position at 1440 kHz. By the 1980s, young people were tuning in FM stations to hear their favorite hits. In September 1980, KEWI changed its format to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. It used the slogan "Kix Country" with the call letters KSKX. Then, to capitalize on the popularity of the "Retro" craze, the KEWI call letters came back in November 1986.

KMAJ

By 1990, as most music formats had moved to the FM dial, KEWI changed call letters to KMAJ to

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 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 ...

, KMAJ-FM. Cumulus bought KMAJ-AM-FM from Midland Broadcasters in February 1999, and began simulcasting syndicated talk shows and programming with KMBZ in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

References

External links

* {{Cumulus Media News and talk radio stations in the United States MAJ (AM) Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Kansas Cumulus Media radio stations