KMBZ

Infobox Radio Station


name = KMBZ
airdate = 1922
frequency = 980 kHz
area = Kansas City, Missouri
format = Talk radio
owner = Entercom
power = 5,000 Watts (day)
5,000 Watts (night)
erp =
branding = "Newsradio 980 KMBZ"
slogan =
class = B
coordinates = coord|39|02|17|N|94|36|55|W
website = http://www.kmbz.com
callsign_meaning = K
Midland
Broadcasting
Z (to differentiate from KMBC-TV)
former_callsigns = WPE (1922-1923)
KLDS (1923-192?)
KFIX (192?-1928)
KMBC (1928-1967)|

KMBZ, known as "Newsradio 980", is a conservative news and talk AM radio station broadcasting from Kansas City, Missouri. Though KMBZ was the Kansas City Royals flagship station for some time, their format is currently mostly news and political talk.

Rush Limbaugh got his start in political commentary on the station in 1983.

The station now carries Limbaugh's nationally syndicated show along with those of Bill O'Reilly, Neal Boortz, and Mark Levin as well as local hosts Mike Shanin & Scott Parks and Darla Jaye [cite news | title = In Brief - June 15, 2005 | url = http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=93577 | work = FMQB | date = 2005-06-15 | accessdate = 2008-01-02 | quote = At KMBZ/Kansas City [...] Darla Jaye joins from WVNN/Huntsville for middays] .

KMBZ is the oldest surviving station in Kansas City, first going on the air on April 5, 1922, with the callsign WPE. The Reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints bought the station in 1923 and renamed the station KFIX and later KLDS. In 1928, Midland Broadcasting bought the station and renamed it KMBC. The AM radio and television station were separated in 1967, prompting the new owners Bonneville International to change the station name to KMBZ. Now owned by Entercom, KMBZ consistently ranks as the most listened talk radio station in the Kansas City market.

The station is one of the country's comparatively few stations to actually have local talk show hosts outside of "morning drive."

Former Hosts

Jack Cashill, Mary O'Halleran, Tom Becka, Russ Johnson, Marty Wall, Ray Dunaway.

Trivia

* In the 1970s and early 1980s, the station's nickname was "Z-98".
* The last song played by the host who held the midday position before the station replaced him with Rush Limbaugh's syndicated show was Frank Sinatra's version of "Mrs. Robinson."

References

External links

* [http://www.kmbz.com/ KMBZ official website]
* [http://kcradio.tripod.com/980.html KMBZ Frequency History]
* [http://www.cosmos-monitor.com/hist/kc/kmbz.html History of KMBZ]
*AMQ|KMBZ
*AML|KMBZ
*AMARB|KMBZ