One of the first FM stations in Kansas City, KCMO-FM signed on as KCFM in February 1948.[3] It simulcast KCMO (AM), then at 810 AM. During the "Golden Age of Radio", the stations aired ABC Radio Network dramas, comedies, news, sports, game shows, soap operas and big band broadcasts. The KCMO-FM call sign was granted in 1950, the first of several times the station would go by that call sign.
On March 16, 1968, KCMO-FM separated its programming from 810 AM, and began airing a mostly instrumental beautiful music format as KCMU. In 1974, the station began adding a few vocals to the format and switched its call letters to KCEZ, "EZ 95".
In 1983, the Meredith Corporation sold KCMO-AM-FM to Richard Fairbanks, a one-time owner of what is now WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, and the head of Fairbanks Broadcasting.[4]
Country and Top 40
On October 10, 1983, the station adopted a country music format as "KC 95".[5] The KCMO-FM call sign returned in 1984. The station gained attention when one of its billboards appeared in a Psychedelic Fursmusic video. Fairbanks sold both stations in 1985 to the Summit Communications Group. Summit changed KCMO-FM to a dance-leaningTop 40 format as KBKC, "B95", on July 26, 1985. The first song as "B95" was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones.[6][7]
The Gannett Company bought the station in 1986, and shifted the station to a more adult-friendly mainstream Top 40 format as "Power 95” KCPW, on August 25 of that year.[8][9][10] During this period, Dick Wilson began as the morning host. Wilson would continue to host mornings on the frequency until 2017.[11]
Another oldies station serving Kansas City, WHB (then at 710 AM), saw most of its listeners switch over to KCMO-FM in a matter of months, prompting that station's conversion to farm radio.
KCMO-FM logo used under previous slogan and format
KCMO-FM enjoyed strong ratings throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, management became concerned that the name "oldies" appealed to older listeners, less attractive to advertisers. Ratings were not an issue, as the station was often in the top 10. The station dropped its "oldies" moniker in April 2005 and shifted to its current classic hits format, playing only music from the mid-1960s to the early-1980s.
In the mid-2010s, KCMO began playing hits from the early 1990s, and scaled back on music recorded before the 1970s. Today, the station's playlist focuses mainly on music from the 1980s.
KCMO-FM HD2
On February 14, 2011, the station turned on its HD2 sub-channel and launched an all-comedy format branded as "Funny 102.5". It is also heard on translator station K273BZ (102.5 FM), hence the 102.5 in the moniker.[16] On January 2, 2013, 102.5 FM flipped to sports talk, branded as "102.5 The Fan".[17]
On August 15, 2014, at 3 p.m., the station abruptly dropped the sports format in the middle of a sports update, and began a 7-minute countdown. After the countdown, 102.5/94.9-HD2 became one of the first network affiliates of the new Cumulus-owned "Nash Icon" format as 102.5 Nash Icon, playing country hits from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. "Nash Icon" began with "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker.[18]
On November 2, 2015, at midnight, after playing "You Ain't Much Fun" by Toby Keith, 102.5/94.9-HD2 changed its format to alternative rock, branded as "102.5 The Underground", beginning with "Kansas City" by The New Basement Tapes. With the change, 102.5/94.9-HD2 became the first Nash/Nash Icon station to drop the format.[19]
On June 15, 2016, at 7:30 a.m., after playing "Up&Up" by Coldplay, 102.5/94.9-HD2 swapped formats with co-owned KCJK, adopting that station's adult hits format, and rebranded as "102.5 Jack FM", while the alternative format moved to KCJK. The first song after the move was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones.[20]
