Bob FM

Bob FM is the on-air brand of a number of FM radio stations in Canada and the United States. The Bob FM format features a mix of classic 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles.

BOB FM stations in Canada are (with the exception of London, Ontario's Bob FM station, CHST-FM) are all owned by Bell Media. Those in the United States are owned by a variety of companies. Bob FM stations are officially classified as variety hits or adult hits by radio research companies.

It was originally named for the "Best of the Best", and subsequently associated with an everyday character named Bob, and it proved extremely successful in its first implementation on Winnipeg, Manitoba's CFWM. It inspired Rogers Communications to license the Jack FM format at many of its stations, Corus Entertainment's subsequent Joe FM and Dave FM brands, and comparable moves at other stations. Currently a syndicated version of the format is offered by Waitt Radio Networks.

The format was largely conceived by Howard Kroeger, a former executive at CHUM, after attending a friend's 40th birthday party. He took the "Bob" moniker from a country music station (then WBOB, today KTLK-FM) that had broadcast in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market of Minnesota to the south several years earlier.

Many BOB FM stations market themselves with the slogan "Turn your knob to BOB"; this was parodied in a Mystery Science Theater 3000 skit in which TV's Frank creates his own radio station and exhorts viewers to "Turn your crank to Frank", satirizing commercials for BOB 100 FM that were playing in the Minneapolis area at the time.

So far, Honolulu, Hawaii, Omaha, Nebraska, Sacramento, California, Richland, Washington, and Houston, Texas are the only North American markets where Bob FM has failed. In the Honolulu case Salem Communications acquired the station and likely would have jettisoned the format, regardless of its success, due to that company's programming philosophy. In Sacramento, the owner of the station requested that listeners "vote" whether the variety hits format or an 80s format should remain, as the owners were selling the frequency which housed the 80's format. The 80s format won, and 92.1 Bob FM turned into Flash 92.1.

The newest Bob FM station in Canada, CHUM Limited's CKLY in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, adopted the format on August 21, 2005, while WLFF in Lafayette, Indiana, jettisoned its country format to introduce Bob to its listeners on December 6, 2007.

Many Bob-FM stations are imaged by Digital Sound & Video, Inc, located in Daytona Beach, Florida.

At least three non variety-hits Bob FM outlets exist, WBYB in Portville, New York, WRBT in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KLCI in Minneapolis-St. Paul, all of which run a country music format.

The newest Bob FM station, KVGS in Meadview, Arizona, replaced its alternative rock format, and currently has listeners protesting for its return.

Bob FM stations in Canada

Location Call sign Frequency Notes/websites
Brockville, Ontario CJPT 103.7 FM
Kawartha Lakes, Ontario CKLY 91.9 FM
London, Ontario CHST 102.3 FM Purchased by Rogers Communications Inc.
Ottawa, Ontario CKKL 93.9 FM
Winnipeg, Manitoba CFWM 99.9 FM

Bob FM stations in the United States

Location Call sign Frequency Notes/websites
Abilene, Texas KGXL 96.1 FM
Anchorage, Alaska KBBO-FM 92.1 FM [1]
Augusta, Georgia WDRR 93.9 FM
Augusta, Kansas KIBB 97.1 FM
Austin/San Marcos, Texas KBPA 103.5 FM
Bismarck, North Dakota KKBO 105.9 FM
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois WBBE 97.9 FM
Boise, Idaho KSRV-FM 96.1 FM
Chico, California KBQB 92.7 FM
Eau Claire, Wisconsin WDRK 99.9 FM
Edwards, California KGBB 103.9 FM
Elko, Nevada KLKO 93.7 FM Switched to Jack FM
Erie, Pennsylvania WXBB 94.7 FM
Eugene, Oregon KEUG 105.5 FM
Fargo, North Dakota KBVB 95.1 FM (country format)
Fayetteville, North Carolina WFLB 96.5 FM
Fort Myers, Florida WJGO 102.9 FM
Greenwood, Mississippi WYMX 99.1 FM
Gallipolis, Ohio WXBW 101.5 FM changed to Big Buck Country April 2011
Hampton Roads-Norfolk, Virginia WNOB 93.7 FM
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania WRBT 94.9 FM (country format)
Lafayette, Indiana WBPE 95.3 FM
Larned, Kansas KSOB 96.7 FM Switched to Jack FM
Meadview, Arizona KVGS 107.9 FM Switched over on October 20, 2011
Lindsborg, Kansas KVOB 95.5 FM Switched to Jack FM
Midland-Odessa, Texas KQRX 95.1 FM
Minneapolis, Minnesota KLCI 106.1 FM (country format)
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina WYNA 104.9 FM
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma KQOB 96.9 FM
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania WRRK 96.9 FM
Pierre, South Dakota KLXS-FM 95.3 FM
Reno, Nevada KZTQ 97.3 FM
Rockford, Illinois WRTB 95.3 FM
Roswell, New Mexico KEND 106.5 FM switched to Jack FM
San Angelo, Texas KELI 98.7 FM
Santa Rosa, California KNOB 96.7 FM
Sedalia, Missouri KSDL 92.3 FM
Spokane, Washington KBBD 103.9 FM
Traverse City, Michigan WZTC 104.5 FM
Texarkana, Texas KBYB 101.7 FM
Tucson, Arizona KSZR 97.5 FM
Tulsa, Oklahoma KBEZ 92.9 FM
Twin Falls, Idaho KIKX 104.7 FM
Washington-Greenville, North Carolina WERO 93.3 FM (contemporary hit radio format)
Wichita, Kansas KIBB 97.1 FM
Wichita Falls, Texas KWFB 100.9 FM
Williston, North Dakota KDSR 101.1 FM Switched to Jack FM
The Woodlands, Texas KTWL 105.3 FM {Now defunct}
Yakima, Washington KRSE 105.7 FM
Panama City Beach WASJ 105.1 FM

See also