WKIM (98.9 FM broadcasting) is a commercial radio radio station licensed to Munford, Tennessee, and serving the Memphis metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a Talk radio radio format.
The radio studio are located on Murray Road at the Memphis Radio Group building in East Memphis. The transmitter site is in Cordova, Tennessee, off Raleigh-Lagrange Road.[ Radio-Locator.com/WKIM] WKIM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 , the current maximum for American FM stations.
Programming
Weekdays on WKIM have local shows in morning and afternoon
drive time,
Memphis Morning News and
Nation of Jake. The rest of the schedule is nationally syndicated talk shows, including
The Dan Bongino Show,
The Ben Shapiro Show, and
Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis. Weekends have programs from CBS News Radio, in addition to
and talk show replays.
WKIM carries Tennessee Titans NFL along with University of Memphis Tigers football, men's basketball, and women's basketball, and the Memphis Showboats of the UFL in addition to seasonal talk shows with the Memphis football and men's basketball coaches.
History
Early years (1948–2001)
The station
sign-on the air in 1948. It was in Kennett, Missouri, and used the
call sign KTMO. In 2001, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave it permission to move into the more lucrative Memphis
media market.
Smooth jazz (2001–2004)
After its relocation, it began playing
smooth jazz as "Smooth Jazz 98.9"
WJZN. That lasted three years.
Rhythmic (2004–2006)
In November 2004, the station changed to a rhythmic contemporary format as
WMPW, "Power 99", putting it in competition with urban contemporary
WHRK, rhythmic
KXHT and mainstream top 40
WHBQ-FM.
Adult hits (2006–2010)
On September 15, 2006, at 2 p.m., WMPW flipped to a female-leaning
adult hits format as "98-9 Kim FM" under new call letters
WKIM. The first song on "Kim FM" was
Like a Prayer by Madonna. After several books of substandard ratings, about a year later, the station flipped formats to
Hot AC. The change still did not draw enough listeners.
'90s hits (2010–2011)
On March 31, 2010, at 5 p.m., the format was flipped to 1990s hits as
Gen X 98-9. The first song on "Gen X 98.9" was
Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
[ Kim 98.9 Flips to 'Music for Generation X'] By that autumn, the station added some current hits, making it a 1990s/Hot AC hybrid format.
News/talk (2011–2015)
On April 25, 2011, the station switched to a
talk radio format, branded as "News/Talk 98.9".
[ FM Talking in Memphis] Because the station is owned by
Cumulus Media, many of the shows heard on News/Talk 98.9 were from the co-owned Westwood One Network.
Classic hip hop (2015–2017)
On February 27, 2015, at Noon, WKIM flipped to
classic hip-hop, branded as "98.9 The Vibe." The first song on "The Vibe" was "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty by Nature. WKIM was one of two stations in the market airing the format;
WIVG was the other. (That station has since flipped back to
alternative rock).
[ More Classic Hip Hop for Memphis]
Adult contemporary (2017–2021)
On October 31, 2017, at Noon, WKIM began stunting with
Christmas music as "Christmas 98.9." On December 26, at 6 a.m., WKIM flipped to adult contemporary as "98.9 The Bridge." The switch puts WKIM in competition with
Entercom-owned
WRVR, one of Memphis' leading radio stations.
[ Cumulus' Vibe Begins Christmas Stunt in Memphis] From early November until the
Christmas holidays, WKIM switched to all-
Christmas music. Weekday mornings, WKIM carried the syndicated
Bob & Sheri Show from
WLNK in Charlotte.
Talk (2021–present)
On May 25, 2021, Cumulus Media announced a five-year agreement to carry University of Memphis
Memphis Tigers athletics on WKIM. The Tigers had previously been heard on
iHeartMedia's
WREC 600 AM and
WEGR 102.7 FM. Concurrently, it was also announced WKIM would flip back to a talk radio format as "News/Talk 98.9, The Roar of Memphis".
[ Cumulus To Flip 98.9 The Bridge Memphis To Conservative Talk; Adds University Of Memphis Sports]
WKIM also became the Memphis affiliate for the Tennessee Titans Radio Network. In addition, WKIM affiliated with CBS Radio News for world and national news coverage.
External links
