KMXV

The station signed on the air on March 5, 1958 (1958-03-05). Its original call sign was KCMK-FM (Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas). It was powered at 35,000 watts, a third of its current output. The station primarily aired classical music with some jazz and other genres also heard.[3]

In 1963, the station began airing a country music format. DJ Jack Wesley "Cactus Jack" Call was at the station from KCKN. He was killed on January 25, 1963, in a car crash, after only one week on the job. Singer Patsy Cline sang at a benefit for him at Memorial Hall (Kansas City, Kansas) on March 3, 1963. She was unable to leave Kansas City the next day because the airport was fogged in. She was killed in a plane crash on March 5, 1963, en route from Fairfax Airport to Nashville.[4]

For a brief period in mid-1965, KCMK called itself the "oasis in a musical desert." It played easy listening music but later returned to playing country.[5]

Starting in September 1969, the station aired an R&B and soul music format, competing against locally owned KPRS.

In 1971, the station changed its call letters to KWKI and returned to a country music format.[6]

For a short time, KWKI had a Top 40 format. It only lasted a year.

In 1974, KWKI became "The Rock of Kansas City." It aired a progressive rock sound. With this format, it became the first full-time FM rock station in Kansas City. The station was initially popular with its free form radio programming. But when KYYS began playing album rock with a more mass appeal playlist, KWKI lost many of its listeners.[7]

In 1978, the station was sold to Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. Christian radio programming began airing on December 11, 1978. In 1980, KWKI upgraded to 100,000 watts.[8]

In 1982, Great Plains Radio bought KWKI and changed formats to soft adult contemporary on July 4, Independence Day. It began calling itself "Classy." The first song on Classy was "Kansas City Lights" by Steve Wariner.[9][10] The station was initially referred to on air as "The New 93," but soon adopted the "Classy 93" moniker. The FCC approved the call letters KLSI on July 4, 1982, to match its moniker.

By the late 1980s, KLSI dropped the "Classy" name, referring to itself by call letters. Apollo Broadcasting bought the station in 1990.[11]

Following the purchase of the station by Apollo Broadcasting in April 1990, the station rebranded as "Mix 93".[12][13] In addition, the call letters were changed to KMXV which were adopted on November 15, 1991. The station shifted towards the growing Hot AC format.[14][15]

A full-signaled Top 40 outlet was lacking in the Kansas City market. (KISF's signal was mostly east of the city.) So KMXV began a slow transition to becoming a Contemporary Hits station in late 1993 and early 1994. Its management shifted the AC format and personalities over to then-sister station 98.1 KUDL.[16] On March 28, 1994, the change to "Mix 93.3" was complete.[17][18]

In the beginning, KMXV offered a dance-leaning Rhythmic Top 40 sound. But by 1996, under the direction of new program director Jon Zellner, KMXV evolved to a more broad-based mainstream Top 40 approach. At times, it leaned towards adult/modern product. By the Spring of 1997, Zellner led KMXV from 14th (a year earlier) to the #1 ranked radio station in Kansas City, a position it held three other times throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.[19][20][21][22]

During the 1990s, KMXV underwent several ownership changes. Regent Broadcasting bought the station in June 1995, with Jacor purchasing it in October 1996.[23][24] Jacor then sold the station off to American Radio Systems in July 1997.[25] Westinghouse/CBS bought American Radio Systems' stations (including KMXV) on September 19, 1997.[26] In June 1998, CBS split off the radio division under the Infinity Broadcasting name, which became CBS Radio in December 2005. KMXV was sold off by CBS to Wilks Broadcasting in November 2006 as part of a nationwide reduction of radio stations by CBS. On June 12, 2014, Wilks announced that it was selling its Kansas City cluster (of which KMXV is part) to Pittsburgh-based Steel City Media.[27] The sale was approved on September 26, 2014, and was consummated on September 30.

Despite being in competition with rival 95.7 KCHZ, KMXV has maintained high ratings for years. However, this changed in late 2010, when KCHZ began overtaking KMXV in the ratings. To combat this, KMXV began leaning more towards rhythmic content. In October 2023, Cumulus Media switched 95.7 KCHZ to a simulcast of talk radio KCMO 710 AM. At the same time, it launched a new Top 40 station on KMJK, calling it "107.3 The Vibe."[28]