KGBY

Infobox Radio Station
name = KGBY


city = Sacramento, California
area = Sacramento, California
branding = "My925"
slogan = "My Life, My Music"
sister_stations = KFBK, KHYL, KSTE
airdate = 1947
frequency = 92.5 (MHz) HD Radio
format = KGBY: Adult Top 40
KGBY-HD2: Pride Radio
erp = 50,000 watts
haat = 137 meters
class = B
owner = Clear Channel Communications
licensee = Milestone Radio II, LLC
webcast = [http://www.y92.com/cc-common/streaming_new/ Listen Live]
website = [http://www.my925radio.com/main.html www.my925radio.com]
callsign_meaning =

KGBY is a Adult Top 40 serving the Sacramento, California area and broadcasts at 92.5 FM. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications. My925 is one of two Adult Top 40 stations in the market, the other being KZZO. But unlike the latter, KGBY offers a more upbeat approach featuring currents and recurrents from the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the popular nighttime program "Delilah". They also aired the syndicated version of The Lost 45s with Barry Scott every Saturday Night from 7pm to 9pm, In the summer of 1997 The Lost 45s was dropped in their Saturday Night lineup and was replaced by Bud Kress during 7pm-12am Saturday night run (1997-2000).

History, 2000-Present

For many years, Y92.5 was branded simply as Y92. The station was owned by AM-FM broadcasting from 1994-2000, and became part of the Clear Channel family after AM-FM and Clear Channel merged in 2000. [ [] ] In 2000, the station briefly added a heavy number of country-based current hits, including songs by Billy Gillman, LeAnn Womack, Lonestar, and Faith Hill. [ [] ]

In 2001, the station re-branded itself as "Y92.5 - Today's Hits, Yesterday's Favorites." The station began using the "Best Mix in Denver" (KIMN) jingle package (created by PAMS productions, Dallas, TX), including the famous "Y92.5... K-G-B-Y Sacramento" top-of-the-hour jingle. [ [] ]

The 2002-03 weekday line-up included Paul Robbins & Phil Cowan (mornings 5:30-9 -- KGBY's morning show since the 1980s), Mary Ellen Murphy (middays, 9-2 -- voicetracked from a Clear Channel station in Grand Rapids, MI) and Dana Hess (afternoons, 2-7). Night programming varied, including a local love songs show in early 2003, and a brief stint using John Tesh's syndicated show in Fall 2003. [ [] ]

On Friday, November 14, 2003, Y92.5 surprised listeners by switching to an All-Christmas format. For the next six weeks, listeners listened to a catalog of over 300 Christmas tunes, including staples such as Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" and John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (both songs were literally played once every four hours, on the hour) to unusual tracks such as "Light In The Stable" by Emmylou Harris. [ [] ]

In 2004, the station began making some major changes. In January, voicetracked Mary Ellen Murphy was dumped in favor of local voice Lori Sacco. The station experimented with "92 minutes of commercial-free music" at 8:30 each weekday morning to start the workday (this was in response to KYMX's "96 minutes of music" -- neither experiment lasted more than a few months). [ [] ] The famous "Y92.5... K-G-B-Y Sacramento" top-of-the-hour jingle was dumped in favor of a quicker Legal ID.

By mid-2004, the station began evolving into a more "upbeat" mix of music. All but a few 70's tracks were cut from the playlist, and more upbeat 80's, 90's and current/recurrent tracks were added.** In late 2004, the station embraced Clear Channel's "Less is More" initiative, and began cutting commercial times from 1:00 to :30. Jingles were also shortened to "Y92.5" from the original "Today's Hits / Yesterday's Favorites... Y92.5". [ [] ]

In 2005, the station experimented with "Extra Wide Variety" weekends, adding 100's of unusual songs to its playlist between 3pm Friday and 5am Monday. This was in response to the Jack-FM variety rock phenomena. [ [] ]

2005 also saw the end of "Paul & Phil in the Morning" -- with Phil Cowan exiting and the show rebranded simply as "Paul Robbins in the Morning." Along with this change, a new jingle package was created for the station -- putting an end to "Today's Hits, Yesterday's Favorites" in favor of "Sacramento's Best Music." [ [] ]

The station continued running six weeks of all Christmas music in the 2004 & 2005 holiday seasons; the number of weeks devoted to Christmas music was reduced to four in 2006. [ [] ]

In early 2007 the station's afternoon host Dana Hess was fired. The station replaced him by placing an automated Lyman James in the time slot returning to its earlier practice of voicetracking. James currently hosts a live show on Wichita, Kansas' B98fm which airs between 10am and noon. He also holds the position of Operations Manager for Clear Channel. [ [http://www.b98fm.com/pages/station_info.html B98fm :: best VARIETY of yesterday and today ] ]

The station's playlist presently emphasizes many upbeat currents, including "Nothing Left To Lose" by Mat Kearney and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. Older titles are often rhythmic (akin to those played on the Movin' stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, OR), and include such songs as "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire, and "I Can't Wait" by Nu-Shooz. [ [] ]

On December 19, 2007 word leaked that KGBY would shift directions to Adult Top 40 and become "My 925," this time with a heavy emphasis on current-based Hot AC product. This news was confirmed on December 21, 2007 when long time morning host Paul Robbins [http://radiomatthew.com/blog/paul-robins-talks-to-radiomatthewcom/ announced] that the Y92 morning show would end after twenty years on the air. KGBY continued to play non-stop Christmas music (as was their yearly tradition) until December 26th at 6 am when the format change officially took place.

The new format puts the station in competition with rival KZZO, who offers the Sacramento area a Modern Hot AC format.

KGBY-HD2

KGBY's HD2 subcarrier offers the LGBT-targeted Pride Radio format, using music from Clear Channel's Format Lab [ [http://cbsr.itmftp.com/sacramento.html Sacramento HD radio guide] ] . It had originally featured music from the 1980s from 2006 to 2007 when it switched to Pride Radio.

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References

Radio & Records Magazine: http://www.radioandrecords.com/ (1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11)

Mediabase 24/7 Playlist, KGBY-FM: http://www.mmr247.com/mmrweb/allaccess/ (2, 5, 10, 12)

PAM's Jingles Demo Page: http://jingles.com/jam/radioids/demodl.html (3)

External links

* [http://my925radio.com/main.html My925 Website]
* [http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/cc-common/hdradio/player1.html?thestation=http://mfile.akamai.com/49413/live/reflector:54186.asx?bkup=52848&currPos=-1 KGBY Pride Radio]
*FMQ|KGBY
*FML|KGBY
*FMARB|KGBY