KMEZ
 | |
| City | Port Sulphur, Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New Orleans metropolitan area |
| Branding | Old School 106.7 |
| Slogan | "Old School & Today's R&B" |
| Frequency | 106.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | July 4, 1988 (as KQLD) |
| Format | Urban AC |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 299 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 58395 |
| Former callsigns |
KQLD (09/27/89-09/10/93) KGTR (09/10/93-08/26/94) KLJZ (08/26/94-09/27/96) KKND (09/27/96-05/29/08) KXOS (05/29/08-06/10/08) |
| Owner |
Cumulus Media (Radio License Holding CBC, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KKND, WRKN, WZRH |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | oldschool1067.com |
KMEZ, is a radio station serving the New Orleans area. The Cumulus Media station is licensed to Port Sulphur, Louisiana and broadcasts at 106.7 MHz with an ERP of 100,000 watts. Its studios are located at the Place St. Charles building in Downtown New Orleans and the transmitter site is southeast of Chalmette, Louisiana.
History
The station, whose previous formats were Gospel, oldies, country and Smooth Jazz, was Modern rocker KKND ("106.7 The End") from November 1996 to August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck the area and took the station's transmitter off the air. Original jocks on The End were Laura Jones, Rod Ryan (now at KTBZ-FM/Houston) and Jason Ginty (now at WRKN/New Orleans). Some other notable air personalities to work on the station throughout the years were Denver Crabb, Darren Gauthier, Matt West and Wolfgang Velasco.
On January 8, 2006, KKND returned to the air with its new format, "Rockin' Country 106.7", a move that angered the loyal fans and listeners of The End.[1] During this time, Scot Spinnato was an on air personality during the day. He was a former member of the Rod Ryan morning show cast.
In early 2007, the station dropped the rock variant of the format and became all-country, with the new slogan "New Country First." The station personalities were Trapper John, Darlas Rai, Chris Clare, Jim Patrick, Jason Peavy, and Chase Adams.
On December 26, 2007, KKND rebranded as "Fresh Country Favorites, 106-7 The Wolf". The last song as "106-7 KKND" was Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems", while the first song as "The Wolf" was Shania Twain's "You're Still The One."
On May 20, 2008, at 2:50 PM, the station dropped its country format, with the last song being Sara Evans' "Suds in the Bucket" and began simulcasting sister station KMEZ at 102.9 FM with the song "(Olivia) Lost and Turned Out" by The Whispers being the first song under the simulcast. KMEZ moved full-time to the 106.7 signal from their former home at 102.9 on July 3, 2008 after nearly two months of simulcasting. 102.9 would become Rhythmic contemporary "Power 102.9." When the simulcast began, the station changed monikers to "Old School 106.7."
The station has had many callsigns in its 20-year history including KQLD under the oldies format (1988-1993; the first FM oldies station in New Orleans), KGTR (under its first run as a country station as "106.7 the Gator"), KLJZ as "Smooth Jazz 106.7", KKND under its complete Modern Rock and second runs as a country station, a short 13-day run as KXOS and its current KMEZ broadcasting a gold-based Urban AC format as "Old School 106.7".
In December 2013, KMEZ picked up the syndication rights to the Tom Joyner Morning Show from crosstown competitor WYLD-FM.
References
External links
- KMEZ website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KMEZ
- Radio-Locator information on KMEZ
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KMEZ
Coordinates: 29°48′32″N 89°45′43″W / 29.809°N 89.762°W