KWLS (107.9 FM) is an American

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 ...

that broadcasts a classic country format serving

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College. ...

, and northern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

History

107.9 FM signed in 1980 as KWKS, an adult contemporary station licensed to and serving Winfield (as is stated in their call letters). It changed its call letters to KSOK-FM in 1995. The station was sold to Sherman Broadcasting, with hopes of bringing an urban-formatted station to Kansas and to compete against

KDGS KDGS (93.5 FM "Power 93.5") is an urban-leaning rhythmic contemporary radio station serving the Wichita, Kansas market. The station is licensed to Andover, Kansas, is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts with an ERP of 15 kW. The station' ...

Hot 107.9 Jamz

The "Hot 107.9 Jamz" format debuted on July 1, 2000, with the call letters KSJM and an

Urban AC 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 on ...

format. The station's first song was "

Got To Be Real "Got to Be Real" is a song by American singer Cheryl Lynn from her 1978 self-titled debut studio album. The song, which was released in August 1978 as Lynn's debut single, was written by Lynn, David Paich and David Foster. Composition Sheet mus ...

" by

Cheryl Lynn Cheryl Lynn (born Lynda Cheryl Smith; March 11, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is best known for her songs during the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, including the 1978 R&B/disco song " Got to Be Real" from her albu ...

. The station was the Wichita affiliate of the

Tom Joyner Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American radio personality, host, philanthropist and former musician. Joyner is the former host of the nationally syndicated '' The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the ...

Morning Show. In 2002, the station started adding

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

into its programming after the demise of

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

station KWSJ (now

News Talk 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, interviews w ...

KNSS-FM KNSS-FM (98.7 MHz, "98.7 and 1330") is a commercial radio station licensed to Clearwater, Kansas, and serving the Wichita metropolitan area. It simulcasts a news/talk radio format with sister station KNSS (1330 AM). It is owned by Audacy with ...

). The station's first studios were located in the Equity Bank building at Kellogg and Rock in East Wichita. A few years later, the station relocated its studios to the Carriage Parkway shopping center near Central and Edgemoor. In 2004, KSJM added hip hop to the playlist, shifting towards an

Urban Contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

format. The station also picked up

Doug Banks Calvin Douglas Banks Jr. (June 9, 1958 – April 11, 2016) was an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show. Career highlights The Philadelphia-born, Detroit-raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on his high sc ...

for morning drive. Banks' morning show was later replaced by a local morning show. In 2007, KSJM's local morning show was replaced by

Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, and producer. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', ''Celebrity Family Feud'', '' ...

. In April 2004, Sherman Broadcasting announced they would enter a joint partnership with Carter Broadcast Group (owners of

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 ...

urban station KPRS and gospel KPRT). The merger was approved by the FCC three months later. Though the station was noted for serving a niche audience to the market near Wichita, the station had moderate to low ratings due to the location of its transmitter being situated near Winfield, which is over 50 miles from Wichita.

US 107.9

On October 10, 2007, the two companies sold the station to Larry Steckline's AG Network Group due to declining financial revenues. On January 15, 2008, AG Network flipped KSJM to Country as KWLS "US-107.9."Carrie Rengers, "Steckline tunes in", ''The Wichita Eagle'', December 30, 2007. KWLS got its call letters from an AM station in

Pratt Pratt is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: A–F * Abner Pratt (1801–1863), American diplomat, jurist, politician, and lawyer * Al Pratt (baseball) (1847–1937), American baseball player * Andy Pratt (baseball) (bor ...

that was formerly owned by Steckline in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2017, the station was sold to Mike and Tina Andra of Giddyup Radio, LLC, owners of the Wichita Union Stockyards, for a reported $2.125 million. The station in no way is any longer associated with Steckline.

References

External links

KWLS Radio official website
* {{coord, 37.263, N, 96.895, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title WLS Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1980 1980 establishments in Kansas