WDAF-FM (106.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Liberty, Missouri, and serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station airs a country music radio format, branded as "106-5 The Wolf." Studios and offices are located on Squibb Road in Mission, Kansas.
WDAF-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. The transmitter is located on Wallace Avenue in east Kansas City, Missouri, near Interstate 435. WDAF-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio format; its HD2 subchannel carries co-owned sports radio station KCSP.
History
Early years
106.5 FM signed on the air on May 8, 1978, as KFIX-FM, the FM counterpart to KFIX (1140 AM, now KCXL), and was owned by Investments, Inc. KFIX-FM aired an Adult Top 40 format, with news updates from the NBC Radio Network. Prior to the official sign-on, test transmissions carried the call sign KSAB (standing for "Strauss-Abernathy Broadcasting").
SW Radio Enterprises took over in 1979, flipping the format on November 19, changing call letters to KSAS, branded as "SAS ". KSAS was a progressive rock station, in contrast to the more mainstream album rock format of top rock station KYYS (now KCKC). Golden East Broadcasting bought the station in March 1982.
In March 1983, the station decided to take KYYS head-on, flipping to album rock, and changing the call letters to KKCI. The station used the name "106 KCI," a reference to the Kansas City International Airport. Longtime Kansas City DJ Randy Miller made his first market appearance at KKCI. Transcolumbia bought the station in 1985.
On January 10, 1986, after failing to compete against KYYS, KKCI went off the air. Three weeks later, the station signed back on and flipped to a soft adult contemporary format, branded as "K-Lite," and changing the call letters to KLTY. KLTY tried to compete in a crowded AC field. In November 1987, Olympia Broadcasting bought the station.
KXXR
On July 29, 1988, at 2 p.m., after stunting for three days with a loop of "Kansas City" by The Beatles, KLTY flipped back to album rock, changing call letters to KXXR. Scout Broadcasting, subsidiary of Olympia, owned the station around the time of the flip. The first song under the new rock format (and also the song that ultimately ended the format nearly two years later) was "Roll With It" by Steve Winwood. The format, dubbed "Today's Rock and Roll", was a combination of rock-friendly CHR hits, hard rock and modern rock.
However, like the first time with the format, the second attempt as a rock station could not compete with KYYS. At 4 p.m. on June 15, 1990, KXXR flipped to a Rhythmic Contemporary format, branded as "X-106." The first song on "X" was "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew. Capitol Broadcasting bought the station on March 15, 1991, for $2.6 million. By June 1991, the station moved towards a more mainstream Top 40 direction and rebranded to using their call letters once again.
Due to low ratings, the station was about to change formats to country, but Capitol decided to change course: Country-formatted KCFM (107.3 FM), owned by Meyer Communications, offered to swap frequencies. On February 16, 1992, at Midnight, after playing "2 Legit 2 Quit" by MC Hammer, the frequency swap between the two stations took place, with KXXR moving to 107.3 FM, and KCFM’s country format moving to 106.5.
First country era
After the frequency swap, 106.5 FM stunted with all-Garth Brooks music for 16 days, then changed its call sign to KKCJ (instituted on March 9) and moniker to "CJ-106". ("CJ" stood for "Country Junction".) Capitol continued to own the station, while Sconnix, which owned country music rival KFKF, entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) to run KKCJ as well. KKCJ was meant to be a younger-audience complement to KFKF, which targeted a more middle-aged audience. At first, KKCJ aired programming from the Satellite Music Network's "Country Coast to Coast" format, based in Dallas; on March 29, 1993, KKCJ began airing local programming. However, the station could not compete against WDAF and KBEQ (which flipped from Top 40 in February 1993). In addition, Sconnix’s LMA with KKCJ would end as EZ Communications purchased both KFKF and KBEQ, with a stipulation that KKCJ would change formats to avoid competition.