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KMBS (1310 kHz, "Redden Radio 1310") is an American radio station broadcasting a talk format. Licensed to West Monroe, Louisiana. The station serves the Greater Monroe, and is owned by Red Bear Broadcasting Corporation.

History

KUZN signed on the air on August 4, 1956. The 1,000-watt, daytime-only station was owned by Howard E. Griffith and broadcast primarily country and gospel music. KUZN moved to new quarters on Parkwood Drive in 1967, when Griffith launched a television station, KUZN-TV channel 39. An expansion into FM radio followed the next year with KUZN-FM 98.3. In the mid-1960s, Gary Burbank worked at KUZN as "Johnny Apollo, the blue-eyed soul brother in the front row".

Griffith, who also was an engineer who had developed a new type of television antenna and who had twice attempted to establish local TV stations, died of a heart attack in February 1976. The next year, KUZN and the FM station (by this point known as KYEA) were sold to Morgan Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Chuck and Kay Morgan, for $305,000. The buyer was intimately familiar with the Griffith stations, as he had worked for KUZN since its 1956 establishment as staff announcer and served as general manager since 1961. Under Charles Morgan, the station became KMBS in 1994, it changed formats several times, including contemporary hit radio, jazz and lastly oldies, which was the format at the time of Chuck Morgan's death and the transfer of KMBS to his widow Kay. The FM station was sold off in 1986.

Kay Morgan sold KMBS in 1993, to Red Bear Broadcasting Company, owned by Chuck Redden. Under Redden, the station has aired a variety of oldies and talk formats; it also aired Fox Sports Radio for a time.

References

1. ^ "History Cards for KMBS". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)
2. "Facility Technical Data for KMBS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
3. KMBS fcc.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2012
4. "Radio Station KUZN Will Go On Air Saturday". Monroe News-Star. August 1, 1956. p. 3. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
5. "West Monroe UHF Channel On Air Today". Monroe Morning World. August 19, 1967. p. 3-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
6. "KUZN-FM Back In Operation". Monroe News-Star. March 1, 1968. p. 6-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
7. O'Day, Dan (July 22, 1988). "WLW's Master Of Characters" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 39. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
8. "Howard Griffith". Monroe News-Star. February 10, 1976. p. 12-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
9. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 4, 1977. p. 90. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
10. "Morgan Buying Stations". Monroe News-Star. December 6, 1976. p. 5-A. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
11. "Motion" (PDF). Radio & Records. November 5, 1982. p. 22. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
12. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 11, 1991. p. 8. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
13. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 27, 1986. p. 118. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
14. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. June 28, 1993. p. 55. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
15. Letlow, Paul J. (May 17, 2002). "AM station starts sports talk radio". Monroe News-Star. p. 1C. Retrieved March 7, 2021.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID 55336 (KMBS) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KMBS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

• Talk radio stations in the United States
• Mass media in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana
• Radio stations in Louisiana
• Radio stations established in 1956
• 1956 establishments in Louisiana
• West Monroe, Louisiana