KXBS

KXBS

Bethalto, Illinois
Broadcast area	Greater St. Louis
Frequency	95.5 MHz FM (HD Radio)
Programming
Format	Stunting
Ownership
Owner	Urban One (sale to Gateway Creative Broadcasting pending; Gateway to begin operation via LMA on January 4, 2021) (Radio One Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WHHL
History
First air date	1987 (as WXJO)
Former call signs	WXJO (1987–1992) WFUN-FM (1992–2020)
Call sign meaning	KXBooSt (future station branding)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	4948
Class	C3
ERP	10,500 watts
HAAT	155 meters (509 ft)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen via iHeart
Website	Boost 95.5 (future branding)

KXBS transmitter location

KXBS (95.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Bethalto, Illinois, and serving the Greater St. Louis area. The station is owned by Radio One, and is in the process of being sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, with Gateway to take over operations via a local marketing agreement on December 15, 2020 and the sale finalizing on January 4, 2021. Its transmitter is located in St. Louis, Missouri, just north of Forest Park, and operates from studios in Olivette (with a St. Louis address).

History

KXBS, which debuted in 1987 as WXJO, was originally an Adult Standards outlet broadcasting with 6,000 watts. In 1989, Bob Cox negotiated a package to take over operation of the station, changing the format to a children's station called the Imagination Station - Radio Just for Kids. Inadequate advertisement revenues combined with a pending lawsuit from the original trademark holder of the name The Imagination Station forced Cox into a position where he could not maintain the lease on the transmitter. In the summer of 1991, the station moniker was changed to Fun Radio. Thinking the transmitter could be sold, the lease was terminated in late 1991. The station went dark for a couple of months, during which time the potential sale fell through. The owner, looking for revenues that would allow him to keep the transmitter out of foreclosure, worked with a former employee of the Imagination Station.

In 1992, it was brought back on the air as WFUN-FM by a non-profit group who would later refund the contributors after a decision was made to make the station a commercial outlet by signing up with Radio Aahs, a children's radio network (and the predecessor to Radio Disney, who would later run Radio Aahs out of business). After a several year run, using the station moniker Planet Fun, the owner (who was mostly mocked by many in the St. Louis radio market for being unseen and a mystery) decided to sell the station to Radio One in 1999. The station went dark again for several months.

On June 2, 2000, WFUN completed their upgrade to 24,500 watts and officially flipped to R&B/Hip-Hop as Q95-5, despite the fact they never changed the call letters to match the Q handle. At first, Q95-5 was a close competitor, but over time fell further and further behind to KATZ-FM in the ratings. They also had other problems in attracting African-Americans listeners, mostly due to its signal coverage.

On December 13, 2004, Radio One flipped WFUN to urban adult contemporary, branded as "Foxy 95.5". The move was made after Radio One purchased the syndicated rights to the Tom Joyner Morning Show. The format switch was made to match that of stations that air Tom Joyner's show. Tom Joyner previously aired on rival KMJM-FM, whom they now compete with. Eventually, WFUN added the Love, Lust and Lies with Michael Baisden afternoon show as well.

On October 1, 2005, Radio One added a sister station in the form of WHHL (Hot 104.1), which started out as Rhythmic, but is now Urban.

On November 7, 2012, at 7 p.m., WFUN flipped to urban oldies, branded as "Old School 95.5". The final song on "Foxy" was "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" by Boyz II Men, while the first song on "Old School" was "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside. The switch mirrors similar flips in Dallas (at KSOC), Charlotte (at WOSF), Philadelphia (at WRNB), and currently in Cincinnati (at WOSL).

Shortly after longtime rival KMJM-FM flipped to classic hip-hop in November 2014, WFUN dropped the "Old School" moniker in favor of simply branding themselves as "95.5", added more current music, and adopted the slogan "Old School & Today's R&B." By early 2015, the "Old School" branding had returned.

File:95.5 LOGO.png

logo as The Lou, 2016-2020

On November 17, 2016, WFUN rebranded again as "95.5: R&B and Old School for the Lou", and shifted back to Urban AC.

On November 5, 2020, Urban One announced that it would trade WHHL, the intellectual property of WFUN-FM, as well as two other stations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., to Entercom in exchange for WBT/WBT-FM, WFNZ and WLNK in Charlotte, North Carolina. The following day, it was announced that Urban One would divest WFUN-FM to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, owner of KLJY. The group will take over WFUN-FM under a local marketing agreement on January 4, 2021, and flip the station to Christian rhythmic CHR as Boost Radio (in simulcast with KPVR). The urban AC format and the "Lou" branding would be moved to Entercom's KNOU as 96.3 The Lou at midnight on November 23; the two stations are to simulcast until Gateway takes over operations on the date in question.

On November 23, 2020, WFUN-FM began stunting, directing "The Lou" listeners to KNOU. The next day, WFUN-FM changed call letters to KXBS, to match the forthcoming "Boost Radio" branding; the WFUN-FM call sign concurrently moved to 96.3.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID KXBS ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database