KKLZ

Infobox Radio Station
name = KKLZ
airdate = September, 1983
frequency = 96.3 (MHz)
city = Las Vegas, Nevada
area = Las Vegas, Nevada
format = Classic Hits
owner = Beasley Broadcast Group
erp = 100,000 watts
haat = 358 meters
class = C
facility_id = 40757
branding = 96-3 KKLZ
slogan = Classic Hits
webcast = [http://bdcast-beasley-kklz-fm.wm.llnwd.net/bdcast_beasley_kklz-fm Listen Live]
website = [http://www.963kklz.com/ www.963kklz.com]

KKLZ is a commercial radio station located in Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting on 96.3 FM. KKLZ airs a classic hits music format branded as "96.3 KKLZ".

History

KKLZ signed on in September of 1983 under the original call letters of KITT. KITT aired a Top 40 music format that lasted three years. On January 1, 1986, KITT adopted a classic rock music format originally branded as "Z-96 FM". It became known on-air as "96-3 KKLZ" about a year and a half later.

KKLZ was Las Vegas' heritage Classic Rock station between 1987 and 2005. A station that prided itself on being cooler than the rest, KKLZ thrived through the 1990s by playing a wide variety of classic rock music and artists, featuring a lineup of personalities that included The O Brothers in the morning (who were replaced by Butz & Tucker, who lasted a year, then Johnson & Tofte in early 1990), Dan Lea, "Professor" Jeff Anderson, Dennis Mitchell, The Warrior, Kim Kelly, Bruno and The Big Kahuna, among others. It was listener-active with a big fat playlist, and home to locally-produced programs such as "The Poorman's Concert," "Night of the Living Dead," Cruisin' for a Bluesin'" and one of the original Breakfast with the Beatles programs, which is still hosted by Mitchell on another station.

From 1993 to 2002, KKLZ presented an annual concert festival known as "Junefest." It was held the first Saturday of every June on soccer fields just outside Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, and the ten concerts featured a long roster of some of the greatest artists in the history of the classic rock genre. Listeners besieged the station with suggestions for band lineups all year and requests for information about the show as it approached each year. Attendance ranged between 20,000 and 40,000.

KKLZ reached its creative zenith in the mid-to-late 1990s when its studios were located on Industrial Road in Las Vegas. The trail-blazing and innovative morning show, Johnson & Tofte, enjoyed unprecedented local popularity in Las Vegas during the 1990s until they were unceremoniously fired when their program content rubbed management the wrong way one time too many. Having survived several ownership changes over the years, the station enjoyed a resurgence and was the #1 rock music station in Las Vegas among males between the ages of 25 and 54 during the Spring 2005 ratings period. However, management failed to capitalize on the strong ratings, choosing instead to modify the music playlist, rely more on consultants, and put an end to request programming. The ratings began to decline almost immediately. On May 24, 2007, KKLZ changed its format to classic hits, a mix of contemporary and old hits, described by Las Vegas Weekly magazine as "generic whatever," however, Arbitron ratings have supported the change, with shares regularly 1 to 1.5 points above pre-format change 12+ market ratings.

In February 2008, Dennis Mitchell and Dan Lea founded an online tribute site and 24-hour internet station, "963 Classic Rock," featuring a solid classic rock format with over 1,600 songs in rotation and past bits by many of the peronalities featured in this article. The site includes bios on all the station's top personalities from the past and what they're doing now. The site and the stream can be accessed at www.963classicrock.com.

External links

* [http://www.963classicrock.com/ 963 Classic Rock]
* [http://www.963kklz.com/ Official Website]
*FMQ|KKLZ
*FML|KKLZ
*FMARB|KKLZ