KSAJ-FM
 |
| Broadcast area | Topeka, Kansas |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 98.5 MHz |
| Branding | Christmas 98.5 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Stunting (Christmas music) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | 1968 (as KABI-FM at 98.3) |
Former call signs | KABI-FM (1968-1985) |
Former frequencies | 98.3 MHz (1968-1985) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 18055 |
| Class | C2 |
| ERP | 17,500 watts |
| HAAT | 256 meters (840 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°47′50.00552″N 97°13′2.07749″W / 38.7972237556°N 97.2172437472°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | christmas985.com |
KSAJ-FM (98.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Burlingame, Kansas, United States. The station is currently owned by Alpha Media, LLC,.[1]
KSAJ-FM went on the air April 1, 1985, as a re-frequencied KABI-FM, and was licensed to Abilene, Kansas. The “SAJ” call letters stood for “Salina-Abilene-Junction City” – the primary cities of its coverage area.
KABI-FM was originally a 3,000-watt (ERP) Class A station at 98.3 MHz. The frequency change to 98.5 MHz would be accompanied by an increase in power to 100,000 watts (ERP), and a physical move of the transmitter site from northwest Abilene to about 10 miles south of Abilene, east of K-15 on 1400 Avenue in rural Dickinson County.
Also on April 1, 1985, KABI-AM would change call letters and become KSAJ-AM. The stations would then simulcast programming for about 2 years. In 1987, KSAJ-AM returned to being KABI-AM with separate programming, and KSAJ continued on as an FM-only radio station, carrying an oldies format. The station long carried ABC Radio Networks' "Good Time Oldies satellite feed before switching to The True Oldies Channel, then switched back to Good Time Oldies in 2014.
KSAJ and KABI would be sold by broadcaster Norton Warner of Lincoln, Nebraska, to J.K. Vanier and Jerry Hinrikus of Salina, Kansas, in late 1991, who would later sell them to MCC Radio (Morris Communications) in January 2004. Then on September 1, 2015, Alpha Media, LLC would acquire the stations.
In October 2016, Alpha would sell their Salina cluster (which KSAJ was a part of) to Manhattan-based Rocking M Media.[2] However, KSAJ would be retained by Alpha, and announced plans to move the station into the Topeka market (with the process beginning in the late 1990s), and would join WIBW-AM and FM, and KTPK. In February 2017, after the closing of the Salina cluster's sale to Rocking M, Alpha moved the KSAJ studios from Abilene to Topeka. Initially, the station planned to relocate their transmitter to the tower of WIBW-FM/TV, located west of Topeka in rural Wabaunsee County, and would reduce their power output 69,000 watts. However, due to co-channel interference concerns with KQKQ in Omaha, KSAJ would change transmitter sites, first to site of WIBW-AM (and reduce power to 25,000 watts), and then to the KTWU-TV/KWIC/KTOP-FM tower in northwest Topeka, and reduced power even further to 17,500 watts.
At 6 p.m. on November 10, 2017, KSAJ shut down its Dickinson County transmitter, signed on their new Topeka transmitter (with a new city of license of Burlingame), and began stunting with Christmas music as "Christmas 98.5." A new format is expected to debut after the holidays.[3][4][5]
References
- ^ "KSAJ-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
- ^ Alpha Sells Five in Kansas
- ^ Daily Domains 9/18: Country Acquisition & Revamp in Jacksonville?
- ^ Daily Domains 10/27: A New Vibe for Oklahoma City?
- ^ KSAJ-FM Completes Topeka Move-In; Begins Stunting
External links
- KSAJ in the FCC FM station database
- KSAJ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
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