KSMA-FM

43°21′53″N 93°02′54″W / 43.36472°N 93.04833°W / 43.36472; -93.04833LinksWebcastListen LiveWebsitehttp://www.987kisscountry.com/

KSMA-FM is a radio station airing a country music format licensed to Osage, Iowa, broadcasting on 98.7 MHz FM. The station serves the areas of Mason City, Iowa, and Austin, Minnesota, and is owned by North Iowa Broadcasting.^[1]

KSMA-FM's studios are located on North Federal Avenue in downtown Mason City, while its transmitter is located near Grafton. In middays, Classic Country format weekdays called 'Lunch With The Legends', showcasing artists like Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, and many more. The station broadcasts Osage High School basketball and football games during the regular seasons.

History

A construction permit was issued for a radio station serving Osage in 1979. The next year, the station went on the air on 103.7 FM with an easy listening format under the KOSG call letters. On July 1, 1989, KOSG changed call letters to KCZY, and was part of a four station simulcast that included KCZQ in Cresco, KCZE in New Hampton, and KCHA-FM in Charles City. On January 1, 1998, KCZY changed calls to KWMM, and flipped to a nostalgia format as "Memories 103.7." Later that year, the station changed frequencies to 98.7 FM. In 1999, James Ingstad Broadcasting sold the station to Cumulus Broadcasting. Clear Channel Communications then bought the station the following year. For many years, the station exclusively targeted Osage and Mitchell County.

On August 13, 2001, KWMM flipped to Top 40/CHR as "98.7 Kiss FM". The new format competed against hot adult contemporary-formatted KLSS, which served as the default contemporary hit music station for North Iowa, and Rochester, Minnesota-based KROC-FM, whose signal covers much of the area. The current KSMA-FM call letters were adopted on October 2, 2001. In February 2002, the station's power was increased to 25,000 watts, in order to improve its coverage into Mason City and Clear Lake.

In 2007, Clear Channel sold off many of their small market stations, including KSMA-FM and sister stations KGLO, KIAI and KLKK, to Three Eagles Broadcasting. Due to market ownership limits, as Three Eagles already owned KLSS, KRIB, and KYTC, KSMA-FM and KLKK were immediately spun off to Coloff Media, LLC, which is based in nearby Forest City, along with their Charles City and New Hampton stations KCHA, KCHA-FM and KCZE. After a weekend of stunting, KSMA-FM flipped to Country as "98.7 Kiss Country" on October 2, 2007.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff includes J. Brooks and the Morning Rush, Rob Getz and Chris Berg.

Weekend programming includes syndicated shows Powered By Country, The Road, Thunder Road, and American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks.

References

External links

• KSMA-FM's official website
• KSMA in the FCC FM station database
• KSMA in Nielsen Audio's FM station database