KCHZ

KCHZ

City of license	Ottawa, Kansas
Broadcast area	Kansas City, MO-KS
Branding	"95.7 The Vibe"
Slogan	"All The Hits!"
Frequency	95.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	1997
Format	Contemporary Hit Radio
ERP	96,000 watts
Class	C
Callsign meaning	CHannel Z (former brand name)
Owner	Cumulus Broadcasting
Sister stations	KCFX, KCJK, KCMO-FM/AM, KMJK
Webcast	Listen Live!
Website	www.957thevibe.com

KCHZ (95.7 FM), known as "95.7 The Vibe", is a Contemporary Hit Radio radio station serving the Kansas City metropolitan area with its city of license being Ottawa, Kansas. The Cumulus Broadcasting outlet operates at 95.7 MHz with an ERP of 96 kW. Its transmitter is located near Linwood, Kansas.

History

KCHZ began targeting Kansas City as a Modern Adult Contemporary outlet on January 16, 1997. The station was initially owned by Radio 2000, Inc. (founded & owned by "Super" Frank Copsidas), and was called "Channel Z95.7". It had several sister stations, including KHTO (Channel Z104.1 in Springfield, MO). In 1998, it flipped formats to Top 40/CHR, then shifting to slightly to Top 40/Rhythmic by 1999.

The station was sold to Syncom Radio from Radio 2000 in 1999.Syncom continued to adjust the station's image, including updating its logo. It once again migrated in 2000 back to a Top 40/CHR format, followed by a return to Rhythmic in 2002, only to return to Mainstream by late 2003.

By November 2005 (and after years of confusing listeners over what direction the station was taking) the station was acquired by Cumulus Radio, and was given a complete update, with a new name, logo and format. The former Z95.7 would finally make Rhythmic Top 40 the official format by changing its moniker and slogan to 95-7 The Vibe, "The Beat Of Kansas City".

KCHZ began stunting with all-Christmas music and novelty music at Noon on November 1, 2005, and billed itself as "Jingle 95.7". The station jumped the gun a week before KUDL or KCKC would even start broadcasting Christmas music. At 5 PM on November 3, "95-7 The Vibe" debuted with The Black Eyed Peas' My Humps being the first song played.

The Vibe started their online streaming on October 18, 2007.

During its tenure as a Rhythmic station, The Vibe aired a few specialty shows they air during the 4th of July and New Year's. On the 4th starting at 6 am and all weekend long, they aired their entire song library from A-Z. On New Year's Eve & Day, the station airs the Top 95 songs of that year. However in 2008, they only played the top 30 songs of the year due to time issues.

On January 27, 2009, The Vibe shifted the format to include Pop hits and dropped a lot of old school and hip hop music, but is still maintained its Rhythmic format somewhat. This is gaining some criticism, as one of Kansas City's most listened to stations has almost completely lost its Rhythmic look and went back to Mainstream, just like before it transitioned to The Vibe in 2005. It is also being criticized for content limits, and for dropping Hollywood Hamilton's countdown and Sunday Night Slow Jams. Despite this, KCHZ continued to report to R&R/Nielsen BDS Rhythmic Airplay panel. This kind of direction has also sparked debate from radio message boards about stations that decided to add certain Pop and Dance tracks but stay within the Rhythmic realm.

On October 8, 2009, The Vibe fully shifted back to a Top 40 Mainstream station (with Kansas City already having KMXV as the existing top 40 station), including rock songs (which they originally left out), making the shift to a pop format complete. This is part of Cumulus' plan to launch Mainstream Top 40 stations in major markets across the country.

In the latest Arbitron ratings (February 2011), KCHZ is not only beating KMXV with a 6.8 share (compared to Mix's 6.5 share), but also ranking as the #1 ranked station in the market for the first time in the stations entire history. However, it has since moved towards the middle of the ratings, currently ranked at #10.

KCHZ currently competes with KMXV (Top 40), KPRS (Urban), KLZR (Lawrence-based Top 40), and, to a lesser extent, KZPT (Hot AC).

External links

• 95.7 The Vibe's Web site
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KCHZ
• Radio-Locator information on KCHZ
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KCHZ