KOMA (FM)
KOMA (92.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Locally owned by Tyler Media, the station's studios are located in Northeast Oklahoma City.
City | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Oklahoma City Metroplex |
Frequency | 92.5 MHz (HD Radio)
92.5 HD-2 for Alternative rock "92.9 The Edge" 92.5 HD-3 for Classic hip hop "V103" |
Branding | 92.5 KOMA |
Slogan | "Oklahoma's Greatest Hits" |
Programming | |
Format | Classic hits |
Ownership | |
Owner | Ty and Tony Tyler (Tyler Media, L.L.C.) |
Sister stations | KEBC, KJKE, KMGL, KOKC, KRXO-FM, KTUZ |
History | |
First air date | September 15, 1966 (as KXLS) June 22, 1992 (as KOMA) |
Former call signs | KXLS (1966-1973) KKNG (1973-1992) |
Call sign meaning | OKlahOMA (pronounced as "coma") |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 72469 |
Class | C |
ERP | 100,000 watts |
HAAT | 472 meters (1,549 ft) |
Translator(s) | 92.9 K225BN (Oklahoma City, relays HD2), 103.1 K276EX (Oklahoma City, relays HD3) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live Listen Live (HD2) Listen Live (HD3) |
Website | komaradio.com theedgeokc.com (HD2) v103okc.com (HD3) |
Format
KOMA broadcasts a classic hits music format featuring popular songs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
92.5 history
92.5 was first known as KXLS in 1966. The easy listening music formatted station was owned by Bob Williams, the owner of a high-end sound store. Williams' transmitter and studio combo were located near N. 50th and Santa Fe in Oklahoma City. In the late sixties, KXLS-FM was owned by Bill Dawson's, Dawson Communications, Inc. which also owned (at that time) KMOD-FM, Tulsa, Oklahoma; KXXK-FM, Dallas, Texas; and KMSC-FM, Houston, Texas.
The call letters were changed once again in 1973 to KKNG while owned by Swanson Broadcasting. The easy listening format remained in place until the early 1990s. The owners at the time, Wilks Schwartz Broadcasting, determined they wanted to take the station more toward an adult contemporary format to compete with KMGL.
AM to FM transition
The KOMA call letters made the transition to 92.5 FM on June 22, 1992, after Chicago-based Diamond Broadcasting (then owner) entered a local marketing agreement with Wilks Schwartz Broadcasting.
1520 KOMA continued its simulcast of its FM sister until February 2003, when it was decided that the 50,000-watt AM station would better serve the public as a News/Talk outlet, now known as KOKC.
HD radio
KOMA along with sister station KRXO-FM broadcast on HD Radio. KOMA airs an alternative rock format on its HD2 subchannel (as "92.9 The Edge" (simulcast on translator K225BN 92.9 FM Oklahoma City), a classic hip hop format on its HD3 subchannel (as V103, simulcast on translator K276EX 103.1 Oklahoma City).
Station ownership changes
In May 1998, it was announced that KOMA and sister station, KRXO, were to be purchased by Renda Broadcasting. New digital studios in NE Oklahoma City were constructed. At 3pm on November 9, 1998, KOMA began broadcasting from the new location. The studios, ironically, once housed KOMA's rival, WKY. Danny Williams, Ronnie Kaye and Fred Hendrickson all worked in the building during the 1970s when they were disc jockeys for WKY.
After 37 years of broadcasting in Moore, KOMA's studios became vacant and remained unoccupied until 2016 when the building was razed.
On July 15, 2012, Ty and Tony Tyler's Tyler Media entered into an agreement with Renda Broadcasting to purchase that company's Oklahoma City radio cluster (KMGL, KOMA, KRXO and KOKC) for $40 million. In accordance to limits imposed by the Federal Communications Commission on the number of radio stations a single broadcasting entity can own in a single market, Tyler sold KTLR and KKNG to WPA Radio for $1.6 million.[1][2] Tyler's purchase of KOMA and its sister stations was consummated on November 13, 2012.
Oklahoma City sister stations
- KEBC 1560 AM - Sports
- KJKE 93.3 FM - Country
- KMGL 104.1 FM - Adult Contemporary
- KOKC 1520 AM - News/Talk
- KRXO-FM 107.7 FM - Sports
- KTUZ 106.7 FM - Spanish
References
- Is Renda Cashing Out? Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, RadioInk, July 16, 2012.
- In Oklahoma City, Tyler spins two so it can buy four from Renda (for $40M) Archived 2012-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, RadioInfo, July 16, 2012.
External links
- KOMA in the FCC's FM station database
- KOMA on Radio-Locator
- KOMA in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- K225BN in the FCC's FM station database
- K225BN on Radio-Locator
- K276EX on Radio-Locator
- Danny Williams
- Kent Jones Productions
- Renda's OKC Studios
- Voices of Oklahoma interview with Danny Williams. First person interview conducted on June 18, 2009 with Oklahoma broadcaster Danny Williams. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.