WKIM (98.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to Munford, Tennessee, and serving the Memphis metropolitan area. It is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

and airs a

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. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. The

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...

s are located on Murray Road at the Memphis Radio Group building in East Memphis. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

site is in

Cordova, Tennessee Cordova is a community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. Cordova lies east of Memphis, north of Germantown, south of Bartlett, and northwest of Collierville at an elevation of 361 feet (110 meters). The majority of Cordova has been a ...

, off Raleigh-Lagrange Road. WKIM 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 ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s, the current maximum for American FM stations.

Programming

Weekdays on WKIM begin with the "Memphis Morning News with Ditch and Bob." In afternoon

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cla ...

, another local show is heard, "Nation of Jake." The rest of the schedule is

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

talk shows:

Dan Bongino Daniel John Bongino (born December 4, 1974) is an American conservative political commentator, radio show host, and author. He served as a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer from 1995 to 1999 and as a Secret Service agent from 1999 ...

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States ...

Brian Kilmeade Brian Kilmeade (born May 7, 1964) is an American television and radio presenter and political commentator for Fox News. On weekdays he co-hosts the morning show, '' Fox & Friends'', and he hosts the Fox News Radio program ''The Brian Kilmeade Sh ...

, Michael Knowles, Rich Valdes, Jimmy Failla, "Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis" and " America in the Morning." Some local news and weather is supplied by

WREG-TV WREG-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Channel 3 Drive near the Mississippi River on the west side of Memphis ...

Channel 3. Most hours begin with an update 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, F ...

. WKIM carries

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

football along with

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

Tigers football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. That includes weekly coaches' shows with Tigers football coach

Ryan Silverfield Ryan Daniel Silverfield (born August 4, 1980) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Memphis. Silverfield has spent most of his coaching career, which began during his senior year of high school, as eithe ...

and men’s basketball coach

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

History

Early years (1948-2001)

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

the air in 1948. It was in

Kennett, Missouri Kennett is a city in and the county seat of Dunklin County, Missouri, United States. The city is located in the southeast corner (or " Bootheel") of Missouri, east of Arkansas and from the Mississippi River. It has a population of 10,932 accord ...

, and used the

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 assig ...

KTMO. In 2001, 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 ...

(FCC) gave it permission to move into the more lucrative Memphis

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 ...

Smooth jazz (2001-2004)

After its relocation, it began playing

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1 ...

as "Smooth Jazz 98.9" WJZN. That lasted three years.

Rhythmic (2004-2006)

In November 2004, the station changed to a

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

format as WMPW, "Power 99", putting it in competition with

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 ...

WHRK WHRK (97.1 MHz "K97") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Memphis, Tennessee. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and it airs an urban contemporary radio format. The station carries the nationally syndicated weekday morning show, ''Th ...

, rhythmic

KXHT KXHT (Hot 107.1) is a Hip-Hop-intense mainstream urban radio station licensed to Marion, Arkansas and serves the Memphis, Tennessee, area. The Flinn Broadcasting outlet operates at 107.1 MHz with an ERP of 2.75 kW. The station's studio ...

and

mainstream top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

WHBQ-FM WHBQ-FM (107.5 MHz) is a Germantown, Tennessee, United States-based radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. It serves Memphis along with its northern and eastern suburbs from an antenna located in Cordova, Tennessee. It is commonly ref ...

Adult hits (2006-2010)

On September 15, 2006, at 2 p.m., WMPW flipped to a female-leaning adult hits format as "98-9 Kim FM" under new call letters WKIM. The first song on "Kim FM" was '' Like a Prayer'' by Madonna. After several books of substandard ratings, about a year later, the station flipped formats to

Hot AC 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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, qui ...

. The change still did not draw enough listeners.

'90s hits (2010-2011)

On March 31,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, at 5 p.m., the format was flipped to 1990s hits as ''Gen X 98-9''. The first song on "Gen X 98.9" was ''

Losing My Religion "Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in February 1991 as the first single from the group's seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). Built on a mandolin riff, the song was an unlikely hit for the grou ...

'' by

R.E.M R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

. By that autumn, the station added some current hits, making it a 1990s/Hot AC hybrid format.

News/talk (2011-2015)

On April 25, 2011, the station switched to a

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

format, branded as "News/Talk 98.9". Because the station is owned by

, many of the shows heard on News/Talk 98.9 were from the co-owned Westwood One Network.

Classic hip hop (2015-2017)

On February 27, 2015, at Noon, WKIM flipped to

classic hip-hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

, branded as "98.9 The Vibe." The first song on "The Vibe" was "

Hip Hop Hooray "Hip Hop Hooray" is a song by American hip hop group, Naughty by Nature. The song spent one week at number one on the US R&B chart, and reached number eight on the US Pop chart. It contains samples from "Funky President" by James Brown, "Don't ...

" by Naughty by Nature. WKIM was one of two stations in the market airing the format;

WIVG WIVG (96.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Tunica, Mississippi, serving the Memphis, Tennessee area with EMF's Air 1 worship music format. Owned by Flinn Broadcasting, the station's studios are located in Southeast Memphis, and the transmitte ...

was the other. (That station has since flipped back to

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

Adult contemporary (2017-2021)

On October 31, 2017, at Noon, WKIM began stunting with

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...

as "Christmas 98.9." On December 26, at 6 a.m., WKIM flipped to

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

as "98.9 The Bridge." The switch puts WKIM in competition with

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

-owned

WRVR WRVR (104.5 FM, branded "The River 104.5") is an adult contemporary radio station broadcasting in Memphis, Tennessee. It has broadcast this format for at least 34 years as of 2021. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are located in Sout ...

, one of Memphis' leading radio stations. From early November until the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

holidays, WKIM switched to all-

. Weekday mornings, WKIM carried the

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

'' Bob & Sheri Show'' from

WLNK WLNK (107.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Charlotte, North Carolina. The station is owned by Urban One. WLNK broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format. Studios are located at One Julian Price Place on West Morehead S ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Talk (2021-present)

On May 25, 2021, Cumulus Media announced a five-year agreement to carry

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

athletics on WKIM. The Tigers had previously been heard on

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

WREC WREC (600 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Memphis, Tennessee. It broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Memphis. WREC is West Tennessee's primary en ...

600 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 600 kHz: 600 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency Argentina * LU5 in Neuquén, Neuquén. Bolivia * CP190 in Sucre Brazil * ZYH920 in São Luís, Maranhão * ZYH287 in São G ...

and

WEGR WEGR is a classic rock FM radio station in Memphis, Tennessee. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and serves the Memphis metropolitan area, including sections of Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi. WEGR broadcasts at 102.7 MHz and on t ...

102.7 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM broadcasting, FM frequency 102.7 MHz: Argentina * LT3 in Rosario, Santa Fe * Radio María in Rawson, Chubut Australia * Sky Sports Radio in Jindabyne, New South Wales * 3RRR in Melbourne, Victori ...

. Concurrently, it was also announced WKIM would flip back to a talk radio format as "News/Talk 98.9, The Roar of Memphis".Cumulus To Flip 98.9 The Bridge Memphis To Conservative Talk; Adds University Of Memphis Sports
/ref> WKIM also became the Memphis affiliate for the

Tennessee Titans Radio Network The Titans Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 42 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Tennessee Titans, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL). Nashville market station WGF ...

. In addition, WKIM affiliated with

CBS Radio News CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

for world and national news coverage.

References

External links

News Talk 98.9 official website
* {{Cumulus Media

KIM Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese ...

Cumulus Media radio stations News and talk radio stations in the United States Conservative talk radio