KSSZ (93.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) 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 ...

FM radio station licensed to Fayette, Missouri, and serving Columbia and

Mid-Missouri Mid-Missouri is a loosely-defined region comprising the central area of the U.S. state of Missouri. The region's largest city is Columbia, Missouri, Columbia (population 121,717); the Missouri state capital, Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson C ...

. The station is owned by the Zimmer Radio Group of Mid-Missouri with studios on Lemone Industrial Boulevard in Columbia, off U.S. Route 63. KSSZ is a Class C3 FM station. It 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 25,000 watts, and its

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 ...

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 ...

is off North Boone Lane near Wilhite Road in Rocheport. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

K242CT on 96.3 MHz in Columbia.

History

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on July 15, 1994. 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 ...

was originally KACJ and it was licensed to

Boonville, Missouri Boonville is a city and the county seat of Cooper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,964 at the 2020 census. The city was the site of a skirmish early in the American Civil War, Civil War, on July 17, 1861. Union forces defeat ...

. KACJ featured a

soft 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 as "Lite FM 93.9". It later used the monikers "Lite 93.9" and "93.9 K-Lite" while still airing the same soft AC format. Big Country of Missouri initially owned the station. Zimmer Radio bought KACJ in September 1996. Around 1996, the station changed its city of license to Fayette and upgraded from 6,000 watts to 25,000 watts. That gave it a signal that could be heard in the larger Columbia

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. That year, the station adopted a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

format with the call letters KLSC. Classic rock was initially successful, but a 1998 realignment of Zimmer Radio's Mid-Missouri stations sent much of the classic rock programming to co-owned KCMQ. The frequency returned to 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 in 1998. This time it called itself "Mix 93.9", still with the KLSC call letters. In December 1999, the station became "Kiss 93.9" and featured an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

-leaning soft AC format, adopting the KSSZ call letters. "Kiss 93.9" failed to gain traction in the market. It was mostly

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

, using personalities who voicetracked their shows from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In the weeks following the attacks on September 11, 2001, the station broadcast an

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...

format, largely featuring the audio from

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

. In October of that year, "Kiss 93.9" and its AC format briefly returned on 93.9 FM. In the fall of 2001, the station became "The Eagle 93-9", with a

talk radio 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, Interview (jo ...

format. After a local morning show, it carries syndicated

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

programs with updates from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

. This has become the longest-lasting format in the frequency's history.

References

External links

Zimmer Communications Radio Stations
* * {{News/Talk Radio Stations in Missouri 1994 establishments in Missouri Howard County, Missouri Radio stations established in 1994 SSZ Talk radio stations in the United States