KRZR-FM

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KRZR

City of license	Hanford, California
Broadcast area	Fresno, California
Branding	The Wild Hare
Slogan	Fresno's Rock Station
First air date	1976
Frequency	103.7 (MHz)
Format	Rock
ERP	50,000 watts
Class	B
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Website	www.krzr.com

KRZR is a commercial radio station located in Hanford, California, broadcasting to the Fresno, California area on 103.7 FM. KRZR airs a rock music format branded as "The Wild Hare".

[edit] History

KRZR began as 104.1 FM and throughout much of the 1980s was top 40 KMGX, "X104." It moved to 103.7 in 1989 and adopted a rock music format almost immediately.

The station currently known as KRZR has always broadcast at 103.7 FM. Originally known as KIOY "K-104", the station broadcast an Adult Contemporary/MOR format until the early 1980's when the call letters were changed to KMGX, and the nickname "Magic 104" was adopted. For much of the 1980s, the top-40 format of Magic 104 was more urban leaning than the format at rival KBOS, known at the time by the on-air moniker of "K-Boss 95". Playlists from 1985 show Sheena Easton, Prince, and Teena Marie getting heavy airplay at Magic 104, while KBOS was big on Billy Squier, Bruce Springsteen and David Lee Roth.

In the late 1980s KMGX's nickname was changed to "X-104", which lasted until 1989, when the impending format change caused local news coverage even before it happened.

Early in the summer of 1989, 103.7 KRZR took to the airwaves with much fanfare. KRZR introduced the "Rock 40" format to Fresno radio with an on-air offering of what is now widely described as "hair metal" or "glam metal" and various "format homeless" (at the time) artists such as Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls. Plenty of promotional attention was gained with a weekly giveaway of $10,000 to randomly spotted owners of cars sporting the station's bumper/window stickers and who called into the studio within the alloted time.

The original KRZR air staff included Pete Hansen and newswoman Kelly Boom (mornings), Kevin Musso (using the air name "Nick NRG", afternoon drive), Chris Daniels (evenings) and Scott Stevens (overnights). After the relatively early departure of music director and deejay McFly, program director E. Curtis Johnson presided over the midday shift. In July 1989, former crosstown KCLQ deejay Clay Steiner (using the air name "Matt 'The Healer' Clayton") hired on for weekends and overnights.

KRZR has continued to enjoy success over the years under Johnson's guidance, and is one of the longest-lived rock stations in the Fresno radio market.

[edit] Trivia

The mascot is the KRZR "Wild Hare," a character created by station personality and comic book artist, Dale Berry.

[edit] External links

FM Radio Stations in the Fresno Market (Arbitron #66)

By Frequency:
88.1 | 88.5 | 89.3 | 90.3 | 90.7 | 91.1 | 91.5 | 92.1 | 93.7 | 94.3 | 94.9 | 95.3 | 95.7 | 96.7 | 97.1 | 97.9 | 98.9 | 99.3 | 100.3 | 100.5 | 101.1 | 101.9 | 102.7 | 103.1 | 103.7 | 104.5
105.1 | 105.5 | 105.9 | 106.3 | 107.1 | 107.5 | 107.9

California Radio Markets

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