KOSO (92.9 FM) 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 licensed to

Patterson, California Patterson is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States, located off Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5. It is southeast of Tracy, California, Tracy and is part of the Modesto, California, Modesto Modesto metropolitan area, ...

, and serving the Modesto metropolitan area. The station carries a

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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, Inc. Its studios and offices are in Modesto. On weekdays, KOSO, known as "The Big Dog," carries the nationally syndicated '' Bobby Bones Show'' in morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

and ''CMT Nights with Cody Alan'' overnight. KOSO 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 ...

(ERP) of 3,000 watts and is a Class A station. 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 off West Hatch Road in Riverdale Park, California, near the Tuolumne River. (The

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 ...

was originally near Mount Oso, from which it got its

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 ...

.) KOSO 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 ...

hybrid format. The HD2 subchannel carried a

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 ...

format known as "M Style Radio", (in partnership with American

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chain

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, and primarily competed with Cumulus' KHOP, as well as running under the

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

brand for a time) but that programming has since been discontinued with the HD2 subchannel being turned off.

History

On June 8, 1966, KOSO signed on the air. It originally broadcast on 93.1 MHz and was powered at 1,100 watts. It was owned by the Sierra-Pacific Radio Corporation, with studios and offices in Modesto. The station previously had 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 and was branded as "KO93". The mainstream AC format continued until the summer of 1995, when the station was rebranded as "B93". As a result, the station shifted to a hot AC format. In 1997, B93 began to transition towards a modern AC format, adding more

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

-leaning artists such as

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

, Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms, and

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock music, rock band formed in Limerick in 1989. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Dolores O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan (Noel's brother), and drummer Fergal Lawler. O'Riord ...

to its

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. In 2000,

Clear Channel Communications 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 ...

, the forerunner to today's iHeartMedia, acquired KOSO. Clear Channel needed the station to bring a "move-in station" to the

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

radio market. On June 1, 2009, at midnight, KOSO moved from 93.1 MHz to 92.9 MHz as a result of the start of 93.1 FM KHJQ Pollock Pines, near Sacramento, which began broadcasting in June 2009. That station today is KFBK-FM, co-owned with KOSO. On October 2, 2012, KOSO shifted its format to

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, ...

, branded as "Radio 92.9". On March 2, 2015, KOSO returned to its "B93" branding. On July 1, 2016, at 12 noon, KOSO changed its format from hot AC 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 ...

, branded as "92.9 The Big Dog".

References

External links

{{IHeartMedia OSO Country radio stations in the United States Modesto, California Mass media in Stanislaus County, California Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in California IHeartMedia radio stations