KKJO-FM

KKJO-FM

St. Joseph, Missouri
Broadcast area	NortheastMissouri- NorthwestKansas
Frequency	105.5MHz
Branding	K-Jo 105-5
Programming
Format	Top 40
Ownership
Owner	Eagle Communications
History
First air date	September 1, 1962(1962-09-01)(as KUSN-FM at 105.1)
Former call signs	KUSN-FM (1960–1974) KSFT (1974–1989)
Former frequencies	105.1 MHz (1962–2000)
Call signmeaning	K KSt.JOseph
Technical information
Facility ID	8770
Class	C1
ERP	100,000watts
HAAT	299 meters (981 ft)
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	kjo1055.com

KKJO-FM(105.5MHz) is acommercialradio stationinSt. Joseph, Missouri.It airs aTop 40 - CHRradio formatknown asK-Jo 105-5.It is owned by Eagle Communications, with studios and offices on Country Lane in St. Joseph.

KKJO is aClass C1station. It has aneffective radiated power(ERP) of 100,000watts,the maximum for most FM stations. Thetransmitteris on Ottumwa Road at 140th Road, southwest ofWathena, Kansas.Thetoweris about 10 miles (16 km) west of theMississippi River.

History

KKJO-AM

AnAM radiostation in St. Joseph, with thecall signKRES,signed onthe air on June 7, 1946. It broadcast at 1230kilocyclesand was powered at 250 watts. The KRES call letters were derived from last names of the four original station owners: local attorney/financier Basil Kaufmann, sportscaster Paul Roscoe, liquor distributor Joseph Epsten and pharmacist Al Shanin. Roscoe was the first station manager. The studios were located on the 2nd floor of the Commerce Loan Company, also owned by Kaufmann, at 7th and Edmond Streets in downtown St. Joseph. The transmitter was located on the Belt Highway near Pear Street. Dward A. Moore was the station's first program director. One of the first regularly scheduled programs on the station was a daily performance by Minor Clites, a blind piano player who lived in Saint Joseph.

In November 1951, the FCC authorized the station move to 1550 kHz AM with increased power of 5,000 watts. The KKJO call letters were adopted in 1961, andKREStoday is used by a country station inMoberly, Missouri.The owner at the time was George Marti, a Texas broadcasting equipment manufacturer. While the KKJO call sign was a convenient reference to "St. Joe", in an interview published inBroadcastingmagazine, Marti revealed that the actual choice of the call letters was an acknowledgement to his wife, Jo. Themiddle of the road(MOR) format was dropped in 1965 forTop 40.Calling the station "Tiger Radio," KKJO was St. Joseph's version of Top 40 radio similar to the pioneering sound at nearbyWHBinKansas City.As the 1970s passed, KKJO switched to anoldiesformat. In the 80s it acquired moresportsandtalkprogramming.

1960-1989: KUSN-FM

The FM counterpart to KKJO, originally at 105.1 MHz, debuted on September 1, 1962(1962-09-01).KUSN-FMsimulcastTop 40 hits withKUSNat 1270 kHz. In the wake of KKJO's success, KUSN-AM-FM switched to aneasy listeningformat in 1966 and later to a moderncountry musicformat in 1967.

KUSN-FM's call letters were changed to KSFT (K-Soft) in 1974 to reflect a newautomatedbeautiful musicformat provided by Schulke, asydicationcompany. The FM station's power was increased from 3,000 watts to 27,500 watts. KSFT also began broadcasting inFM stereo.In 1977, KSFT ended its beautiful music sound. The station became "T-105" and began an automated Top 40 format. It moved toAlbum-Oriented Rock(AOR) in 1978, and, when it was acquired from KUSN in 1979, was switched to a successful country music sound.

1989-2000: KKJO "K-Jo 105"

KKJO swapped frequencies withKSFTon March 1, 1989, moving the country format to the AM, and KKJO (K-JO 105) shifted to Top 40/CHR. In 1992, in the wake of the growing presence of rhythmic tracks on Top-40, KKJO decided it didn't want to play some of the harder-edgedhip hop musicandrap music.It becameHot Adult Contemporarywhile KSFT 1270 AM started broadcasting satellite formats, firstadult standardsand later oldies. KKJO would switch to all-Christmas musicin the final weeks of the year, approaching December 25th.

2000-Present KKJO "K-Jo 105-5"

On April 24, 2000, at 6 a.m., KKJO moved up the dial to 105.5 FM. This was done to allow Susquehanna Broadcasting to start a station at 105.1 in the Kansas Cityradio market.That was '80s hits KFME and is todayurban contemporaryKCJK,owned byCumulus Media.

KKJO's last song played on 105.1 was also the first song the station played in 1989, "We Built This City"byStarship.The first song after the move to 105.5 was "Everything You Want"byVertical Horizon.

OnMay 21, 2011,KKJO played "It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"byR.E.M.on loop for several hours as astuntrelated to the end times prediction by evangelistHarold CampingofFamily Radio.

Today, KKJO has evolved back to a Top 40 (CHR) format. KKJO is currently programmed by Travis Dodge.

Air staff

Mornings:

• Rick Reynolds (1989)
• Doug Devereaux (1990)
• Rick and BJ (1991–2002)
• The Gregg and BJ Show (2003–2014)
• Gregg Lynn (2014–2020)
• Matt and Kate (2020-Now)

Middays:

• BJ Scott (1988–1991)
• Michael Roads (Sign on - 2002)
• Sandy Tyler (Sign on - 2002)
• Cyndee Cambell (2002–Present)

Late Afternoons:

• Rick Reynonlds (Sign on - 2011)
• Chuck Reed (? - 1993)
• Kathy Kennedy (1993 - 1996)
• Matt Stooks (2011–?)
• Samester

Nights:

• Lance Ingram (Sign on - 2003)
• Jeremy Night (2003 - July 2004)
• Kasey Huston (August 2004 - September 2005)
• Becca Reid (October 3, 2005 - April 2008)
• David Fudge (April 2008 – 2012)
• Jason Young (2012–?t)
• Karina (?-?)

Overnights:

• Allan Mansfield (Sign-on - 2001)
• Dan Michaels (2005–2011)
• Danielle Norwood (2011–Present)

Weekend/Swing:

• Jockless (Sign-on - Present)

External links

• eaglecom.net
• K-Jo 105.5 website

• Facility details for Facility ID 8770 (KKJO-FM)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
• KKJO-FMinNielsen Audio's FM station database