KPTT

For the airport in Pratt, Kansas assigned the ICAO code KPTT, see Pratt Industrial Airport.
KPTT
City of license Parker, Colorado
Broadcast area Denver–Boulder
Branding 95-7 The Party
Slogan Mile High Hit Music
Frequency 95.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
95.7 HD2 for "Club Phusion"
First air date 1968 (as KMYR at 95.5)
Format Top 40/CHR
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 346 meters
Class C0
Facility ID 48967
Transmitter coordinates 39°43′59″N 105°14′10″W / 39.73306°N 105.23611°W
Callsign meaning ParTy (The second T substitutes for the Y)
Former callsigns KMYR (1968-1975)
KHOW-FM (1975-1976)
KXKX (1976-1980)
KHOW-FM (1980-1983)
KPKE (1983-1987)
KSYY (1987–1991)
KHOW-FM (1991–1993)
KHIH (1993–2000)
KFMD (2000–2005)
KMGG (2005–2006)
Former frequencies 95.5 MHz (1968-1970)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stations KBCO, KBPI, KHOW, KKZN, KOA, KRFX, KTCL
Webcast Listen Live
Website 957theparty.com

KPTT (95.7 FM) is a commercial radio station located in Denver, Colorado airing a Rhythmic-leaning Top 40/CHR music format branded as "95-7 The Party". Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station has studios in Southeast Denver, while the transmitter site is atop Lookout Mountain in Golden.

History

KPTT signed on in 1968 as MOR KMYR, which originally was at 95.5 before moving to its current frequency in 1970. They would go through a succession of adult contemporary music formats as KHOW-FM (1975–76, 1980–83, and 1991–93), KXKX (1977–80).

All Hit 96 KPKE/KSYY

In 1983, KXKX was flipped to KPKE a.k.a. "All Hit 96 FM, Denver's Brand New Peak". The format was Top 40. KPKE had some of the highest ratings in the market. In 1987, the station flipped back to adult contemporary, this time as KSYY.

Smooth Jazz 95.7

By 1993, they would pick up the smooth jazz format and calls as KHIH. KHIH previously was on 94.7 FM until Salem purchased the station in 1993 and dropped it for a religious format. (The smooth jazz format would later be picked up by KCKK 104.3 in September 2000). The station was owned by Jacor Communications at this time.

95.7 Kiss FM

In September 2000, Clear Channel would buy the station and flip the station to Mainstream Top 40 as KFMD, "95.7 KISS-FM" giving the market its first regular Top 40 outlet since 1997. But after four years, their attempts at taking out both rhythmic Top 40 KQKS and adult Top 40 KALC would work against them, resulting in KFMD flipping to KMGG, a Hispanic Urban format known as "Mega 95-7" in April 2005.

Mega 95-7

KMGG was also one of 4 FM stations targeting the Mile High City's Hispanic population, the other three being KJMN, KKCS and KXPK. But unlike the latter 3, KMGG was more focused on the bilingual-speaking second and third generation Hispanics. They managed to take advantage of KQKS' decision to hold off on certain Reggaeton and Hispanic hip-hop tracks. However, this didn't help the stations ratings, as it was continually ranked low in the Arbitron ratings.

The Party as Rhythmic AC

On September 18, 2006, at Midnight, after ending their "Sunday Night Sabor" show and playing "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, KMGG flipped to KPTT, a Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format targeting females ages 25–49 and billed themselves as "95-7 The Party." Their first song was P!nk's "Get The Party Started". When it was airing the format, it was more hip-hop friendly (and at times, even leaning towards a Rhythmic Top 40), playing old school and some disco and R&B, mostly trying to target the market's White, Hispanic, and small African-American audiences, as well as the older audience of KQKS, and to fill the adult-targeting Rhythmic void after KDJM (which aired a rhythmic oldies format (similar to Rhythmic AC)) flipped in December 2005. The station aired a Sunday-Thursday night slow jams program called "Between The Sheets". The station also served as the Denver outlet for Whoopi Goldberg's syndicated morning show,[1] which was produced by Premiere Radio Networks, whose parent company Clear Channel also owns KPTT. The show was discontinued in 2008 when Whoopi quit the show.

Back to Top 40

On May 15, 2009, due to low ratings,[2] the station flipped back to Top 40 (CHR). Morning show host Issa, who took over the morning drive slot after the cancellation of Whoopi's show, was moved to middays and was replaced by Johnjay & Rich, who are syndicated from KZZP in Phoenix, Arizona. There is also another top 40 station in Denver that arrived before KPTT's flip to top 40, which is KONN (now KFCO), owned by Max Media.

Former 95.7 The Party Logo from March 2010 to April 2015.

As a Rhythmic

By March 2010, KPTT shifted to Rhythmic Top 40 altogether, thus putting it in direct competition with KQKS. On November 1, 2010, Johnjay & Rich were dropped from morning drive and were replaced with a music-intensive morning show hosted by former night host Chino. At the same time, the station introduced a new logo, which is loosely based on KYLD in San Francisco. This shift to Rhythmic Top 40 has proven to be its most successful, giving KQKS a serious competitor.

Returning to Top 40

By the Fall of 2014, KPTT began making a transition back to a Top 40/CHR direction with the inclusion of more Pop tracks while maintaining a Rhythmic presentation, which in turn has helped the station overtake KQKS in terms of ratings and audience cumes. The transition became official by April 2015 when Billboard moved KPTT from the Rhythmic Panel to the Top 40/CHR panel. Mediabase continues to feature the station on the Rhythmic panel for the time being.

The current airstaff includes Chino (6AM-10AM), Issa (10AM-3PM), Deuce (3PM-7PM), and Dreena (7PM-Midnight).

KPTT-HD2

In July 2006, KPTT's HD2 subcarrier signed on with a format focusing on Spanish Oldies. In September 2006, they replaced the format with KPTT's previous Hispanic rhythmic format. This was later replaced with "Pride Radio", which targeted the LGBT community; in the Summer of 2012, this was replaced with "Club Phusion" which airs dance music.[3]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.whoopi.com/splash, Retrieved on 2007/04/21.
  2. ↑ Roberts, Michael (May 1, 2009). "George McFly of the Party on being laid off by Clear Channel Denver". Westword. Village Voice Media. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  3. ↑ http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=71

External links