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KWMZ-FM (104.5 FM, "Z-104.5, WMZ FM") 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 ...
licensed to serve
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
. The station is owned by Michael A. Costello through licensee M.A.C. Broadcasting, LLC.


History

This station received its original
construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...
from the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...
on May 15,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
. The new station, intended for Grand Isle,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
, was assigned the call letters KBIL by the FCC on July 17, 1998. The station signed on the air as a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit music formatted station branded as "U104.5" on June 5, 2001, using the call sign KNOU. KNOU had evolved to an
urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, 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 conte ...
/ hip hop music format by December 2001. JP Broadcasting, LLC agreed in July 2002 to sell KNOU to On Top Communications of Louisiana, LLC for a reported $8.5 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 6, 2002, and the transfer was completed on December 6, 2002. On January 6, 2003, the station changed its branding to "Hot 104.5" and brought in Russ Parr's syndicated morning show and veteran programmer Lamonda Williams.


Hurricane Katrina and silence

In September 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, KNOU applied to the FCC for permission to temporarily broadcast from another site and tower. They noted in their application that the current city of license and the broadcast tower were "destroyed" and that it would be "many months" before a new tower could be constructed. The FCC twice denied their request to continue operations at the temporary site. In January 2006, On Top Communications of Louisiana's filed for bankruptcy, and the license was transferred to the debtor in possession handling the bankruptcy proceedings. On February 6, 2006, the FCC granted KNOU a special temporary authority to broadcast from a facility near
Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
. On March 23, 2006, the station fell silent again. Although no longer broadcasting, Hot 104.5 maintained an internet radio stream in order to "keep New Orleans' hip-hop community united."


Hurricane Gustav and silence

On August 29, 2008, KNOU went off the air due to the approach of Hurricane Gustav. When Gustav made landfall on September 1, 2008, KNOU's temporary site at Buras,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
, was hit with storm surge and rain which damaged the facilities and flooded the studio facilities trailer with roughly five feet of water. The equipment and transmitter were deemed a total loss so on September 24, 2008, KNOU filed for a new "remain silent" authority from the FCC.


New ownership

On October 6, 2008, the Debtor-In-Possession reached an agreement to transfer the license and equipment leases for KNOU to Power Broadcasting, LLC. According to the Asset Purchase agreement filed with the FCC, Power Broadcasting had a secured loan for $8 million that it presented to the bankruptcy court and was awarded the station's assets, subject to FCC approval. The transfer was completed on December 1, 200


returned to the air

On June 30, 2011, KNOU returned to the air with a classic rock format.


Changed callsign to KWMZ-FM

Effective August 15, 2012, KNOU was sold to Michael A. Costello's M.A.C. Broadcasting, LLC for $350,000. Coincident with the consummation of the sale, the station's call sign was changed to the current KWMZ-FM. On September 10, 2012, KWMZ-FM went silent.


returned to the air again

On February 5, 2013, KWMZ-FM returned to the air with an 80's hits format as "Z104.5". The station uses the correct call letters in its legal ID, but otherwise drops the K in its calls, referring to itself as "WMZ-FM".


Former Logo


References


External links

* {{New Orleans Radio Radio stations in New Orleans, KWMZ-FM Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Radio stations established in 2001 2001 establishments in Louisiana