KSPW (96.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format. It is licensed to

Sparta, Missouri Sparta is a city in north central Christian County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,756 at the 2010 census. Sparta is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office called Sparta has been ...

, United States, and serves

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. The station is owned by

SummitMedia SummitMedia, LLC is an American radio broadcasting company based in Birmingham, Alabama. The company formed to purchase mid-market radio stations being divested by Cox Radio in 2013. On November 1, 2018, SummitMedia acquired 19 stations in ...

Station history

KSPW debuted on the air on February 21, 1988, as KJLR. By July 1988, it adopted an adult contemporary format as KLTQ under the branding "Q96". KLTQ changed to a hot

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 on January 18, 1992. KLTQ subsequently switched to a soft rock format and then changed to a format referred to as "maximum country" in March 1996. The station changed its call sign to KMXH in 1999. On March 23, 2001, KMXH switched to a rhythmic contemporary hits format. The station subsequently adopted the KSPW calls. The station patterned its rhythmic contemporary format after sister station

KQCH KQCH (94.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a contemporary hit radio station serving the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area. It is owned by SummitMedia. KQCH's studios are located on Mercy Road in Omaha's Aksarben Village, while its transmitter is locate ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. On August 29, 2012, Midwest Family Broadcasting classic hits "Star 92.9" KOSP dropped to a rhythmic CHR "92.9 The Beat". This put KSPW in direct competition with KOSP.

Journal Communications Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...

and the

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

announced on July 30, 2014, that the two companies would merge to create a new broadcast company under the E.W. Scripps Company name that owned the two companies' broadcast properties, including KSPW. The transaction was completed in 2015, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. Scripps exited radio in 2018; the Springfield stations went to

in a four-market, $47 million deal completed on November 1, 2018.

DJs

* Mornings: Fotsch and Sarah * Middays & Afternoons: The Ginge

References

External links

* * Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1988 SPW {{Missouri-radio-station-stub