KBZT

Infobox Radio Station


name = KBZT
airdate = 2002 with their current format
frequency = 94.9 (MHz)
city = San Diego, California
area = San Diego, California
format = Modern rock
owner = Lincoln Financial Media
erp = 26,500 watts
former_callsigns = KRMX from February 4, 1991
KBZS from January 10, 1992
KBZT since December 30, 1994
haat = 209 meters
branding = FM 94/9
slogan = It's About The Music
class = B
facility_id = 58816
webcast = [http://wmc1.liquidcompass.cc/KBZT Listen Live]
website = [http://www.fm949sd.com/ www.fm949sd.com]

KBZT is a commercial modern rock music radio station in San Diego, California, broadcasting on 94.9 FM.

History

During the 1970s and '80s, KBZT was known as "KBest95" but in the 1980s morphed from oldies into soft rock, before being sold to Sandusky Radio and becoming "Y95" in 1987. At about the time, the station launched the local careers of morning show hosts Jeff Elliot and Jerry St. James ( [http://www.jeffandjer.com/ Jeff and Jer] ). In the early 1990s, Jeff and Jer moved to rival B100, and 94.9 changed its name to "Mix94.9" adding more gold based music, before reverting back to KBest95. Also in the early '90s, the call letters and "KBest" logo moved to Palm Springs, where it was briefy the number one station in that market. The call letters and logo reverted to San Diego after the Palm Springs station changed format to Spanish. During that period Sandusky sold the station to Anaheim Broadcasting, which in turn sold 94.9 to Jefferson-Pilot, making KBest95 a sister station to country-formatted KSON-FM 97.3. In 2001, after struggling with oldies, the station switched to an "All '80s" format, just a day before rival Mix95.7 dropped Hot AC and adopted the same format. However, this format would also be short lived, and in 2002, KBZT dropped the 80s hits for the Alternative Rock based format it has now as FM 94/9. In 2006, Lincoln Financial Media bought this station and all the others that were owned by J-P.

Music Direction

As of October 2007, FM 94/9 is one of at least 5 stations in the San Diego market that plays modern rock music. However, on its website, FM 94/9 purports to strive to be different from other radio stations by playing diverse music, broadcasting locally produced music and using real deejays. Shows on the station include:
* Big Sonic Chill - Hosted by Amanda Thorne - Sundays through Fridays 10pm-2am
* Brunch With Bob and Friends - Hosted by Tommy Hough - Sundays 9am-12noon
* FTP - Hosted by Mike Halloran - Sundays 7pm-8pm
* The Local 94/9 - Hosted by Tim Pyles - Sundays 8pm-10pm
* The Swami Soundsystem Saturdays 10pm-1am (The Swami is the alter-ego of John Reis, who is the guitarist of the band Sultans and formerly led Rocket From The Crypt and Drive Like Jehu, and owns Swami Records)
* Treehuggers International - Hosted by Tommy Hough - Sundays 5:30am-6am

In April 2006, the Lincoln Financial Group completed a merger between themselves and the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation.April 2006 [http://www.lfg.com/LincolnPageServer?KPage_PageID=LFG_Page&LFGPage=%2Flfg%2Fipc%2Fabt%2Fprr%2Findex.html&KURL=%2Flfg%2Ficc%2Fabt%2Fprr%2F2006%2F2006-04-03%2Fcontent.xml news release] of the completed merger between Lincoln Financial Group and Jefferson-Pilot Corporation] ] The media assets of the new merged company (including several San Diego area radio stations) are now called [http://www.lincolnfinancialmedia.com/index.php Lincoln Financial Media] . That same month midday host Tommy Hough returned to the Seattle, Washington area to work at alternative KNDD while continuing to host the popular Sunday morning program "Brunch With Bob and Friends." As of July 2007, Hough is back on the air at FM 94/9, also hosting an environmental affairs program.Fact|date=November 2007

During the October 2007 wildfires in the San Diego area, KBZT became the temporary home of local public radio station KPBS-FM (89.5) after power to the KPBS-FM/TV transmitter on Mount San Miguel was interrupted on the morning of October 23 [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20071024-9999-lz1c24surf.html SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features - KPBS-FM stays on air, with help ] ] . Within three hours KBZT had agreed to air KPBS' wildfire coverage until a backup transmitter could be established from the station's studio tower on the San Diego State University campus, which occurred the next day [ [http://www.kpbs.org/about_us/press_room;id=10023 KPBS > About Us > KPBS Pressroom ] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.fm949sd.com/ FM94/9]
* [http://www.lincolnfinancialmedia.com/index.php Lincoln Financial Media]
* [http://www.last.fm/group/FM+94.9+San+Diego FM 94.9 on www.last.fm]
*FMQ|KBZT
*FML|KBZT
*FMARB|KBZT