KDRB

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KDRB
City of license	Des Moines, Iowa
Broadcast area	Des Moines, Iowa
Branding	100.3 The Bus
Slogan	We Play Everything
Frequency	100.3 (MHz)
First air date	1948 (as WHO-FM)
Format	Adult hits
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	547 meters
Class	C
Facility ID	51332
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.thebusfm.com

KDRB, "100.3 The Bus," is an adult hits radio station similar to Jack FM serving the Des Moines, Iowa, area. It is located at 100.3 on the FM dial. The station's studios are located at 2141 Grand Avenue in Des Moines along with Clear Channel Communications' other Des Moines stations (KPTL, KKDM, KXNO, and WHO).

[edit] History

[edit] The Palmer years

In 1948 WHO-FM signed on at 100.3 FM as the third FM station to serve the Des Moines market, after KRNT-FM and KSO-FM. In its early years it primarily simulcast its sister station, WHO-AM. Studios were located at 1100 Walnut Street in downtown Des Moines and the station's tower and transmitter were located on top of the Equitable Building at 6th and Locust in Des Moines. In 1950 the transmitter was moved to a new tower at WHO's transmitter site in Mitchellville, Iowa. The old transmitter and tower on top of the Equitable Building was sold to KCBC for their new FM station KCBC-FM. In 1968, WHO-FM ceased simulcasting its AM sister and started programing classical music.

In 1973 the station went under some dramatic changes. The call letters were changed to KLYF and the station was reprogrammed with a middle of the road format. Over the years this evolved into an Adult Contemporary format and by the mid 1990s it was an Adult Top 40 station competing head on with Star 102.5. It was also around this time that the station became know by its nickname "K-Life". The station's transmitter was eventually moved to the WOI-Tower near Alleman, Iowa.

[edit] Buyout by Jacor and Clear Channel

In October of 1997, Palmer Broadcasting sold its Des Moines radio stations to Jacor Broadcasting of Cincinnati, Ohio. Jacor immediately re-branded the station as "Mix 100.3", but leaving the format the same for the most part. On June 17, 1998, the call letters changed to KMXD. Over time the station continued to lose listeners at an alarming rate. Many things were done to try and counteract this, such as rebranding the station as "Mix 100" and trying an "80s and more" format. When this failed also, the format was changed again to a traditional Adult Contemporary format and the station was renamed "My 100". Under this moniker, 100.3 saw its worst ratings ever, sinking into the basement of the Arbitron ratings.

[edit] New life as "The Bus"

On May 25, 2006, KMXD was switched to "The Bus", simulcasting KDRB. This was a short lived, transitional arrangement to get listeners of 106.3 used to "100.3 The Bus". The Bus had performed much better than anyone had expected and the decision was made to pull the plug on the failing "Mix/My" formats and move "The Bus" to the much stronger signal at 100.3. On June 12, 2006, KMXD became KDRB and "The Bus" is now only heard on 100.3. The 106.3 frequency is now KPTL "Capital 106.3". KDRB is also the flagship station for Iowa State University sports, which was started with the 2006-2007 season, taking over from KXNO.

[edit] References

• DesMoinesBroadcasting.com. Des Moines Station Timeline. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
• Munson, Kyle. "Successful "Bus" Takes Over 100.3 Frequency", Des Moines Register, 2006-05-26. 
• Iowa State University Media Relations. "Cyclones Jump on "The Bus"", 2006-06-01. 

[edit] External links

• The Bus' website
• 100.3 the Bus at VarietyHits.com
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KDRB
• Radio Locator information on KDRB
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KDRB