Kansas City FM Radio in 1962

W9XBY pamphlet image

Despite a brief burst of activity after World War II, FM radio in Kansas City quickly became moribund, as in many other parts of the United States. After Everett Dillard's pioneering KOZY left the air in 1950, the only activity on the Kansas City FM dial for most of the 1950s came from KCMO-FM. Finally, in the late 1950s, interest in FM picked up in Kansas City.

By December 15, 1962, the Kansas City Times daily radio listing showed nine stations available to Kansas City-area listeners (with more from nearby communities). KCUR was owned by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, just as it is now. KCMO-FM is still KCMO-FM, although it has had different call letters in intervening years. KBEY is now KBEQ, call letters the station has had since 1973, when a new owner switched to a Top-40 format, the first on Kansas City FM radio, ending the dominance of WHB for hit-radio listening. The KXTR classical-music format was moved to the AM dial, taking over the former WREN, itself moved to Kansas City from Topeka, in 2000. The following year, KXTR was moved to the expanded AM band at 1660 kHz. Currently, it exists only as an online stream and an HD radio channel.

Originally posted on an earlier version of this website in 1996