KMOD-FM

KMOD-FM

Tulsa, Oklahoma
Broadcast area	Tulsa metropolitan area
Frequency	97.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	97.5 KMOD
Programming
Languages	English
Format	Active rock
Affiliations	Compass Media Networks
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	KAKC, KIZS, KTBT, KTBZ, KTGX
History
First air date	October 10, 1959;65 years ago (1959-10-10)
Former call signs	KOCW (1959–1968) KMOD (1968–1980)
Call sign meaning	"Modern"
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	11957
Class	C
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	453 meters (1,486 ft)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website	kmod.iheart.com

KMOD-FM (97.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It airs an active rock radio format. The station's studios and offices are at the Tulsa Events Center on South Yale Avenue in Southeast Tulsa.

KMOD-FM is a Class C station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations. The transmitter tower is along Oklahoma State Highway 97 on the Osage Reservation in Sand Springs. ^[2] KMOD-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio digital format. ^[3] Its HD2 subchannel formerly played alternative rock. The HD2 subchannel has since been turned off.

History

The station signed on the air on October 10, 1959. ^[4] Its original call sign was KOCW and it was owned by Grayhill, Inc. It was a rare stand-alone FM station in an era when few people owned FM receivers. Most FM stations at that time were co-owned with an AM or TV station. In 1960, Claude Hill bought out partner Meredith Gray. The station had an easy listening format, known as "Good Music."

KOCW was sold to Dawson Communications/Turnpike Broadcasting Corporation in 1968 and became KMOD on April 15 of that year. It had a progressive rock format. The call letters represented the word "modern." Clear Channel Communications, the forerunner to today's iHeartMedia, acquired the station in 1973 out of bankruptcy. It became the sister station to 1300 KXXO (now KAKC).

KMOD is known as the nearly 30-year home of disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone, who hosted morning drive time. The pair originated the character Roy D. Mercer, the notorious and popular prank caller who regularly threatened to "open a can of whup-ass" on the person he called for some fabricated wrong the person supposedly had done. Eventually the person might find out the call was a prank. Stone and Douglas' show was ended due to the latter's refusal to sign a new contract. ^[5] Stone died in 2012.

Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn was also a DJ at KMOD in the 1980s. She used the air name Jeanne Summers. ^[6]

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 11957 (KMOD-FM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KMOD-FM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• "History Cards for KMOD-FM". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for KMOD-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Radio-Locator.com/KMOD
3. http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=64 Archived October 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine HD Radio Guide for Tulsa
4. Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-62 B-135. Retrieved Sept. 17, 2024.
5. "KMOD Tulsa's 27-Year Morning Hosts 'Fading Into The Sunset'". Newson6.com. September 12, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
6. Phelps, Brad (March 8, 1991). "The Prime of Miss Jeanne Tripplehorn". Tulsa World . Retrieved October 18, 2019.

36°11′46″N96°05′53″W / 36.196°N 96.098°W / 36.196; -96.098