KBZN
Encyclopedia
KBZN is a Adult Contemporary music formatted radio station
broadcasting to the Salt Lake City
metropolitan area. The station is owned by Capital Broadcasting. KBZN was formerly a Smooth Jazz
formatted station until September 2008.
format station using the slogan "Great Utah Country."
The station then became known as KKGB, beginning on 1988-10-27. On 1989-02-20, the station changed its call sign to KKWY
. As KKGB and KKWY, the station aired a primarily top 40 format. In 1989, the station's owners placed it into bankruptcy court. The signal went off the air for several months before being purchased by Capital Broadcasting and becoming KBZN ("The Breeze") on 1990-04-04, returning to the air with a Smooth Jazz format. The smooth jazz format continued for 18 years with other genres mixed in, such as new age, chill and R&B vocals. The station featured long-time hosts Rob Riesen, Dan Jessop and Kelly Monson. In 2009, KBZN made the format switch to Hot AC and the "Now 97.9" moniker. The change began with the station changing to a hybrid smooth jazz/soft AC format, and running a holiday format in the 2008 Christmas season. After coming out of the holiday format, the station dropped the smooth jazz format and focused on soft-AC. It then started migrating to hot-AC. By June 2009 the station had settled on a hot-AC format using the name 'Now 97.9'. This was also when they started using 'song tagging', which is defined as using a prerecorded voice announcing song and artist after every song.
In November 2010, The Elko Translator District, then the licensee of translator K266AB, disposed of the translator pursuant to a Nevada Law which prohibited them from continuing to operate a translator serving an area served by a local full service station. The translator was transferred to Ruby Radio, who now uses the translator
to rebroadcast KBGZ.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
broadcasting to the Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
metropolitan area. The station is owned by Capital Broadcasting. KBZN was formerly a Smooth Jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
formatted station until September 2008.
History
During the early 1980s the call letters were KZAN. It was a countryCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format station using the slogan "Great Utah Country."
The station then became known as KKGB, beginning on 1988-10-27. On 1989-02-20, the station changed its call sign to KKWY
KKWY
KMRZ-FM is a radio station licensed to Superior, Wyoming. Carrying a Regional Mexican format, the station serves the Rock Springs area. The station is owned by Big Thicket Broadcasting Company of Wyoming...
. As KKGB and KKWY, the station aired a primarily top 40 format. In 1989, the station's owners placed it into bankruptcy court. The signal went off the air for several months before being purchased by Capital Broadcasting and becoming KBZN ("The Breeze") on 1990-04-04, returning to the air with a Smooth Jazz format. The smooth jazz format continued for 18 years with other genres mixed in, such as new age, chill and R&B vocals. The station featured long-time hosts Rob Riesen, Dan Jessop and Kelly Monson. In 2009, KBZN made the format switch to Hot AC and the "Now 97.9" moniker. The change began with the station changing to a hybrid smooth jazz/soft AC format, and running a holiday format in the 2008 Christmas season. After coming out of the holiday format, the station dropped the smooth jazz format and focused on soft-AC. It then started migrating to hot-AC. By June 2009 the station had settled on a hot-AC format using the name 'Now 97.9'. This was also when they started using 'song tagging', which is defined as using a prerecorded voice announcing song and artist after every song.
In November 2010, The Elko Translator District, then the licensee of translator K266AB, disposed of the translator pursuant to a Nevada Law which prohibited them from continuing to operate a translator serving an area served by a local full service station. The translator was transferred to Ruby Radio, who now uses the translator
to rebroadcast KBGZ.