WFUN-FM (96.3 MHz) is a

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 radi ...

in St. Louis, Missouri. The station airs an

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...

radio format branded as "96.3 The Lou". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are located on Olive Street in St. Louis, while its

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 ...

is located off Watson Road 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 'S ...

. WFUN-FM has two

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 ...

channels: *96.3-HD2 airs a classical music format operated by the non-profit Radio Arts Foundation, branded as "Classic 107.3" (relayed on FM translator K297BI 107.3 FM) *96.3-HD3 airs a

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format as "WAR-FM Weber Automotive Rocks".

History

Early Years

The 96.5 frequency originally

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

the air on December 22, 1959 as KADI, the

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 ...

to AM 1460

KADY Kady is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Grodzisk Mazowiecki __NOTOC__ Gmina Grodzisk Mazowiecki is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Grodzisk Mazowiecki County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. I ...

in St. Charles. The stations were owned by William R. Cady (hence the KADI

call letters 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 assign ...

); KADI-FM, the first new commercial FM in St. Louis since 1955, mostly simulcasted the AM station's programming. In 1965, as KADY failed due to financial difficulties, KADI was sold to Vanguard Broadcasting and returned to the air in 1966. In 1969, Richard J. Miller, owner of AM station KXLW in Clayton (now KSIV), acquired KADI and relaunched it with a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

format. In 1972, KADI-FM was moved down one notch on the FM dial to 96.3 MHz to allow new station KSCF (now KFTK-FM) in Florissant to go on the air at 97.1 MHz.

1987-1993: Soft Rock

In May 1987, the station's call letters were changed to KRJY, and the station switched 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 s ...

format as "K-Joy 96" (later "J96"). In late 1991, the station switched to 1950s/1960s

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

as "Jukebox 96."

1993-2015: Classic Hits

In 1993, the station was sold by R.J. Miller to Heritage Media, who also owned WIL-FM and WRTH. On March 24, 1994, at noon, the station adopted the KIHT call letters and "K-HITS 96" identity, flipping to a "Greatest Hits of the '70s" format, which would evolve into

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

over the next few years. Heritage's St. Louis properties were sold to the

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...

in the mid-1990s, and Sinclair sold the station to

Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which ...

in 2000. In October of that year, KIHT became the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

for the #1 rated "Steve & DC" morning program. The fans of the much-talked about duo immediately followed them down the dial from WKKX (106.5 FM) to 96.3, and lifted KIHT from tenth place to first in persons 25 to 54 in only one ratings period upon the release of the Arbitron Fall 2000 book—a feat that continues to go unmatched in St. Louis radio history. In 2014, while keeping a Classic Hits direction, KIHT added more music from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, to compete against adult hits-formatted WARH.

2015-2020: Top 40

On January 30, 2015, at 5 a.m., after playing " Rock'n Me" by

The Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

, " Get The Party Started" by

P!nk Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...

, and " Mama Said Knock You Out" by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

, KIHT flipped to an adult-leaning Top 40/CHR as "Now 96-3". The first song on "Now" was " Blank Space" by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

. On February 5, 2015, KIHT changed call letters to KNOU to match the "Now" branding. In January 2018, KNOU and KFTK-FM were sold by Emmis to Entercom. In March 2018, after Entercom began managing the station under a

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

, KNOU shifted to a more mainstream CHR as its positioning was redundant to new sister station KYKY.

2020-Present: R&B

On November 5, 2020,

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American ...

agreed to a station swap with Entercom in which they would swap ownership of four stations, including the

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

of WFUN-FM (95.5), to Entercom in exchange for WBT/ WBT-FM, WFNZ and WLNK in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. As part of the terms of the deal, Entercom would take over operations via a

on November 23; however, as the station itself will remain with Urban One, it was announced that the Adult R&B format and WFUN-FM's intellectual property would move to KNOU on that date. The change took place at midnight on November 23; subsequently, Gateway Creative Broadcasting announced it would purchase WFUN-FM's former frequency and flip it to Christian Rhythmic CHR under the "Boost Radio" branding in January 2021.The Ending of NOW 96.3, the Beginning of 96.3 the LOU- YouTube
/ref> On November 24, 2020, the WFUN-FM call sign moved to 96.3; 95.5 then became KXBS. (The KNOU call letters were later adopted by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

sister station

KAMP-FM KNX-FM (97.1 MHz, "KNX News 97.1 FM") is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, United States. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an all-news radio format in a full-time simulcast with KNX (1070 AM). The station has s ...

, but was later replaced by the KNX call letters on December 21, 2021, after management rebranded the station into a simulcast of the market's AM radio station bearing the said letters.)

References

External links

* * * * * {{Entercom Radio stations established in 1959 FUN Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Audacy, Inc. radio stations 1959 establishments in Missouri