107.9 FM signed in 1980 as
KWKS, an adult contemporary station licensed to and serving Winfield (as is stated in their call letters). It changed its call letters to
KSOK-FM in 1995. The station was sold to Sherman Broadcasting, with hopes of bringing an urban-formatted station to Kansas and to compete against
KDGS.
Hot 107.9 Jamz The "Hot 107.9 Jamz" format debuted on July 1, 2000, with the call letters
KSJM and an
Urban AC format. The station's first song was "
Got To Be Real" by
Cheryl Lynn. The station was the Wichita affiliate of the
Tom Joyner Morning Show. In 2002, the station started adding
Jazz into its programming after the demise of
Smooth Jazz station KWSJ (now
News Talk KNSS-FM). The station's first studios were located in the Equity Bank building at Kellogg and Rock in East Wichita. A few years later, the station relocated its studios to the Carriage Parkway shopping center near Central and Edgemoor. In 2004, KSJM added hip hop to the playlist, shifting towards an
Urban Contemporary format. The station also picked up
Doug Banks for morning drive. Banks' morning show was later replaced by a local morning show. In 2007, KSJM's local morning show was replaced by
Steve Harvey. In April 2004, Sherman Broadcasting announced they would enter a joint partnership with Carter Broadcast Group (owners of
Kansas City urban station
KPRS and gospel
KPRT). The merger was approved by the FCC three months later. Though the station was noted for serving a niche audience to the market near Wichita, the station had moderate to low ratings due to the location of its transmitter being situated near Winfield, which is over 50 miles from Wichita.
US 107.9 On October 10, 2007, the two companies sold the station to
Larry Steckline's AG Network Group due to declining financial revenues. On January 15, 2008, AG Network flipped KSJM to Country as KWLS "US-107.9." KWLS got its call letters from an AM station in
Pratt that was formerly owned by Steckline in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2017, the station was sold to Mike and Tina Andra of Giddyup Radio, LLC, owners of the Wichita Union Stockyards, for a reported $2.125 million. The station in no way is any longer associated with Steckline. ==References==