| City of license | Round Rock, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area |
| Branding | Spirit 105.9 |
| Slogan | Positive Music, Safe for Your Family |
| Frequency | 105.9 (MHz) (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | July 7, 1998 |
| Format | Contemporary Christian |
| ERP | 4,500 watts |
| HAAT | 397 meters |
| Class | C2 |
| Facility ID | 3222 |
| Callsign meaning | K Frequency Modulation K |
| Owner | Crista Broadcasting |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | spirit1059.com |
KFMK (Spirit 105.9) is an Austin, Texas radio station operating a Contemporary Christian format. It is licensed to Round Rock, Texas with an ERP of 4,500 watts from a transmitter site near West Lake Hills, TX, and is currently owned by CRISTA Broadcasting after being owned by Clear Channel Communications and the Aloha Station Trust. [1][2].
KFMK was launched in 1998 as a Rhythmic Oldies formatted station, after initial stunting as alternative rocker "The Planet 105.9". From the inception it played mostly R&B, Classic Soul, Motown, and Disco from the 1960s and 1970s only. In 2003, the station gradually added more songs from the 1980s and 1990s to the playlist, while at the same time having the 60s and 70s R&B in heavy rotation. Even then it occasionally debuted new music, though this was rare.
Finally in 2006, KFMK revamped the playlist and dropped the 60s and 70s music altogether and instead played more music from the 1980s to present, more along the lines of a Rhythmic Adult Contemporary direction. This was done to accommodate the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning Show that aired on KFMK. On October 13, 2006, the station rebranded as "The New Jammin' 105-9" and dropped all on-air personalities, except for Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. Part of the rebranding included former tweaking of the format to one inspired by the "MOViN' format created by Alan Burns & Associates.
In the Fall of 2008, KFMK began playing current Rhythmic fare on weeknights and on weekend afternoons/nights, including current Hip-Hop product, trying to improve ratings. This failed, as the station was ranked #16th overall. On September 15, 2009, at 5 AM, after playing Jammin's last song "Dance and Shout" by Shaggy, the station stunted for four hours playing rock using "The Planet" moniker (formerly used during its sign on in 1998), but also aired music of other genres, as well as airing "change" soundbites. At 9 AM, the station officially flipped formats to a hip hop-leaning Rhythmic Contemporary station branded as "105-9 The Beat". The station dropped Kidd Kraddick's morning show, but kept airing Ryan Seacrest, most likely due to a contract issue (this ended on May 19, 2010).
On May 21, 2010 Clear Channel announced that it planned to move KFMK's Hip Hop format to the 102.3 frequency, where it has better coverage and a more powerful signal, starting May 31. Sister station KPEZ, known as "The River", which resided at the 102.3 frequency, moved its format over to the 105.9 signal[3].
On June 9, 2010 it was announced that Crista Broadcasting, a division of Crista Ministries has reached an agreement to purchase KFMK[4][5].
On July 26th, 2010, the station changed ownership from Clear Channel Communications to Aloha Trust LLC [6].
On September 20, 2010, at 4:20 PM, KFMK fully shifted to a contemporary Christian format and rebranded as "Spirit 105.9". Currently, Spirit is low in the Arbitron ratings.
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