KXRR

KXRR
Broadcast areaNortheast Louisiana, Southern Arkansas, Northwest Mississippi
Frequency106.1 MHz
BrandingRock 106
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatMainstream rock
AffiliationsUnited Stations Radio Networks
Ownership
Owner
KMYY, KNNW, KZRZ
History
First air date
January 28, 1966 (1966-01-28)
Former call signs
  • KREB (1965–1979)
  • KNAN (1979–1991)
  • KMGC (1991–1993)
  • KMYY (1993–2002)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID50405
ClassC0
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT310 meters
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websiterock106.net

KXRR (106.1 FM, "Rock 106") is a mainstream rock-formatted radio station in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by Stephens Media Group through licensee SMG-Monroe, LLC. Studios are located in Monroe, and its transmitter is located near Sterlington, Louisiana.

History

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Monroe Broadcasters, Inc., filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a new FM radio station in Monroe on November 24, 1964. The FCC granted approval for the station on June 29, 1965,[2] and KREB began broadcasting on January 28, 1966.[3] Two months later, the station set its format as country music.[4] The fledgling station was sold less than two years later to Twin City Broadcasters, which was owned by Jimmy L. and Lehlia H. Terry, in exchange for assumption of liabilities.[5]

In 1979, KREB was sold by the Terrys to Hope Communications, owned by Monroe auto parts dealer Roger D. Pinton.[6] The call sign was changed to KNAN on August 13 of that year;[2] the designation was intended to be pronounced "Canaan" as part of a new gospel music format.[7] However, the station switched to adult contemporary in the early 1980s and then adopted a satellite-fed AC format in 1983, a decision the program director credited for improving KNAN's sound because they had more control over the patter of the satellite DJs than they did of the station's previous "18- and 20-year-old jocks".[7]: 42  Hope owned KNAN through 1986, when it was sold to Live Oak Broadcasting, owned by the Love family of Biloxi, Mississippi, for $1.76 million.[8] By the time the sale had been made, KNAN was already putting in motion a shift from adult contemporary to contemporary hit radio.[9]

Love Broadcasting exited radio by selling its five stations—an AM and FM in Savannah, Georgia, an AM and FM in Jackson, Mississippi, and KNAN—to Opus Communications in late 1989.[10] Opus changed the call letters to KMGC in 1991, reflecting the "Magic 106" moniker the station used; in 1993, KMGC flipped to country as KMYY. In 1995, Radioactive Images, a company with ties to KCTO-FM 103.1 in nearby Columbia, Louisiana, purchased KMYY from Opus;[11] the deal faced some opposition from a rival station owner who alleged that the owner of Radioactive, who doubled as the general manager of local KYEA (98.3 FM), failed to file equal employment opportunity reports for that station and from a woman who alleged that her ex-husband, a KCTO-FM disc jockey, encouraged listeners to call her workplace and ask for sexual favors, leading to her termination.[12] Broadcasting Partners Holdings acquired KMYY, KCTO, and KYEA from their owners in 1997.[13] While Broadcasting Partners was purchased by Citadel Broadcasting in 1999 for $190 million,[14] it divested the Monroe cluster in December 2000 coinciding with its purchase of five radio stations in Tucson, Arizona, as the firm sought to trade smaller markets for larger ones.[15]

On September 9, 2002, a shuffle of formats was carried out by Monroe Radio Partners. Rock-formatted KXRR, which had already existed at 103.1, moved from 92.3 MHz to 106.1. KMYY was shifted from country to classic country and moved to 92.3, which had been KXRR. The move was read as pulling the 106.1 frequency out of regional competition with the entrenched KJLO, in the same format.[16] Opus Media Partners (of no relation to Opus Communications), owned by Richard Linhart, purchased the Monroe cluster from Monroe Radio Partners in 2004 for $6.5 million.[17]

Mapleton Communications purchased Opus's Louisiana stations in Monroe and Alexandria, including KXRR, in a $2.2 million transaction in 2014.[18] Nearly all of Mapleton was purchased by Stephens Media Group in 2019.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KXRR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b FCC History Cards for KXRR
  3. ^ "New Radio Station Set". The Monroe News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. January 27, 1966. p. 6-C. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "KREB-FM Goes Country Music March 26th". The Monroe News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. March 25, 1966. p. 6B. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 13, 1967. p. 89. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  6. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 2, 1979. p. 68. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Rodrigues, Ron (September 28, 1984). "KNAN Named Monroe's Favorite Son" (PDF). Radio & Records. pp. 40, 42. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 7, 1986. p. 86. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  9. ^ "Motion" (PDF). Radio & Records. August 30, 1985. p. 38. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  10. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. December 8, 1989. pp. 8, 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  11. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. June 23, 1995. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  12. ^ "Opus Deal Caught In FCC Crossfire" (PDF). Radio & Records. August 11, 1995. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. July 28, 1997. p. 57. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "Citadel Ropes In Broadcasting Partners Properties" (PDF). Radio & Records. November 5, 1999. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  15. ^ Randall, Laura (December 22, 2000). "Citadel ups profile in two deals". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 10. ProQuest 2467928138.
  16. ^ Faulkner, Leesha (September 5, 2002). "Musical chairs along the radio dial". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. p. 3A, 4A. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Hilburn, Greg (June 19, 2004). "New media group buys four FM stations". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. p. 6C. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Venta, Lance (January 6, 2014). "Mapleton Acquires Opus' Louisiana Stations". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  19. ^ Venta, Lance (July 5, 2019). "Stephens Media Group Acquires 37 Stations From Mapleton Communications". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
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32°39′36″N 92°05′17″W / 32.660°N 92.088°W / 32.660; -92.088