KMOX (AM)
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General Information
KMOX, which proclaims itself as "The Voice of St. Louis," is an AM radio station broadcasting in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a 50 kW clear channel radio station assigned to frequency 1120kHz. With clear channel status, its nighttime signal can be heard in most of the continental US. KMOX operates as "Newstalk 1120" and refers to itself as "Mid-America's most trusted source for news."
KMOX is currently owned by Infinity Broadcasting. KMOX's transmitter is located in Pontoon Beach, Illinois.
History
KMOX began operating in 1925. The call letters KMOX are said to represent Missouri (MO) and the fact that the station began operating on Christmas Eve 1925 (X-mas). In the station's first broadcast, the mayor of Kirkwood, Missouri, where the station's transmitter was located, called the station "St. Louis' Xmas Gift to the World". In 1927, it was one of the sixteen original stations in the CBS network. CBS eventually bought KMOX.
Robert Hyland Jr. was CBS Regional Vice-President and General Manager of KMOX for forty years. It was Hyland who changed the KMOX format in 1960 to news and information, made KMOX the legendary and dominant station in the St. Louis market for decades, and arguably started talk radio on February 29, 1960 when Jack Buck hosted the first "At Your Service" program. Hyland was a civic leader and known for his imperious style.
For many years, KMOX broadcast using C-QUAM AM stereo, but stereo transmissions ended in the spring of 2000.
The former KMOX-FM 103.3MHz, now operates as KLOU
The former KMOX-TV channel 4, now operates as KMOV
Programming
KMOX generally offers a conservative view on topics and the station's programming reflects this. Most notably, the three hour show hosted by Rush Limbaugh airs during weekday afternoons on the station.
In addition, the station offers news, weather, and traffic updates constantly during the morning and evening rush hours. These shows are known as "Total Information AM" and "Total Information PM," respectively.
Despite not being a station decided to only sports such as KFNS, KMOX airs a variety of sports programming. KMOX is the flagship station of the radio network of the Saint Louis Cardinals and has broadcast Cardinals games for over 50 years. Previously, KMOX had also broadcast Saint Louis Blues games. In addition to airing games, the station also hosts such programming as "Sports on a Sunday Morning" and "Sports Open Line." Saint Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz hosts "Sports Open Line" which airs every weekday night except when pre-empted for Cardinals games.
Personalities
A list of notable broacasters who worked at KMOX:
- Jack Buck
- Harry Caray
- Jack Carney
- Bob Costas
- Rex Davis
- Dizzy Dean
- Art Fleming
- Bob Hardy
- Charles Jaco
- Anne Keefe
- John McCormick, "The man who walks and talks at midnight"
- Bernie Miklasz
- Jim White
External Link
Official website (http://www.kmox.com/)
www.stlradio.com An excellent site about the history of St. Louis commercial radio broadcasting by St. Louis' leading radio historian. It includes much info about KMOX.