KSMA-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 ...

airing a

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 ...

format licensed to Osage, Iowa, broadcasting on 98.7 MHz FM. The station serves the areas of Mason City, Iowa, and

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Minnesota, and is owned by North Iowa Broadcasting. KSMA-FM's studios are located on North Federal Avenue in downtown Mason City, while its transmitter is located near Grafton.

History

A construction permit was issued for a radio station serving Osage in 1979. On July 9, 1980, the station went on the air on 92.7 FM with an

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 ...

format under the KOSG call letters. On July 1, 1989, KOSG changed call letters to KCZY. During this time, KCZY was part of a four station simulcast that included KCZQ in Cresco, KCZE in New Hampton, and KCHA-FM in Charles City. In the fall of 1993, KCZY moved to 103.7 FM. On January 1, 1998, KCZY changed calls to KWMM, and flipped to a nostalgia format as "Memories 103.7." In May 1999, the station changed frequencies to 98.7 FM. Also in 1999, James Ingstad Broadcasting sold the station to

Cumulus Broadcasting 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. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership ...

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 ...

then bought the station the following year. For many years, the station exclusively targeted Osage and Mitchell County. On August 13, 2001, at 7:30 p.m., KWMM flipped 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 ...

CHR CHR or chr may refer to: Organisations * Canadians for Health Research, a national not-for-profit organisation * Centre for Human Rights, an organisation promoting human rights in Africa * Christ Church Secondary School, a government-aided school ...

as "98.7 Kiss FM". The new format competed against

hot 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 ...

-formatted KLSS, which served as the ''default'' contemporary hit music station for North Iowa, and

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

-based

KROC-FM KROC-FM (106.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station serving Rochester, Minnesota. The station's transmitter is located near the Minnesota-Iowa border. The station is owned by Townsquare Media. It airs a top 40 (CHR) music format. History The ...

, whose signal covers much of the area. The current KSMA-FM call letters were adopted on October 2, 2001. In February 2002, the station's transmitter was relocated to its current site near Grafton in rural Worth County, and power was increased to 25,000 watts, in order to improve its coverage into Mason City and Clear Lake. “Kiss FM” was the North Iowa affiliate for

Rick Dees Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...

in the Morning, which was followed by "Valentine in the Morning"; both shows were based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In addition, the station also carried

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...

Open House Party ''Open House Party'' (often referred to as "OHP") is an American radio show hosted by Kannon (Saturday) and Joe Breezy (Sunday), branded as "The Biggest Party on the Planet!", playing contemporary hit radio, contemporary hit music. From its ince ...

, the

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 ''Rick Dees Weekly Top 40'' (sometimes known as ''The Weekly Top 40'') is an internationally syndicated radio program created and hosted by American radio personality Rick Dees. It is currently heard on over 200 radio stations worldwide. It is ...

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

, and the Pop Culture Countdown. Local hosts during this time include Eric Fleming (who later went to KLSS), Patrick Gwin and Fish & the Freakshow. In 2007, Clear Channel sold off many of their small market stations, including KSMA-FM and sister stations

KGLO KGLO (1300 AM) is a commercial radio station in Mason City, Iowa, owned by Alpha Media, through licensee Alpha 3E Licensee LLC. It airs a news/talk radio format. The station's studios and offices are on South Yorktown Pike in eastern Mason City. ...

KIAI In Japanese martial arts a is a short shout uttered when performing an assault. Traditional Japanese dojo generally uses single syllables beginning with a vowel. The practice has become a part of Asian martial arts in popular culture, esp ...

and KLKK, to Three Eagles Broadcasting. Due to market ownership limits, as Three Eagles already owned KLSS, KRIB, and KYTC, KSMA-FM and KLKK were immediately spun off to Coloff Media, which is based in nearby Forest City, along with their Charles City and New Hampton stations KCHA, KCHA-FM and KCZE. After a weekend of stunting, KSMA-FM flipped to Country as "98.7 Kiss Country" on October 2, 2007.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff includes ''J. Brooks and the Morning Rush'', Rob Getz and Chris Berg. Weekend programming includes syndicated shows ''Powered By Country'', ''The Road'', ''Thunder Road'', and ''American Country Countdown with

Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Cou ...

''.

References

External links

KSMA-FM's official website
* {{Country Radio Stations in Iowa Country radio stations in the United States SMA-FM