KBAZ
| City | Hamilton, Montana |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Missoula, Montana |
| Branding | The Blaze |
| Slogan | "Missoula's Rock Station" |
| Frequency | 96.3 (MHz) |
| First air date | 2000 |
| Format | Mainstream Rock |
| ERP | 53,000 watts |
| HAAT | 637 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 4700 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 46°48′8″N 113°28′51″W / 46.80222°N 113.48083°W |
| Owner |
Townsquare Media (Townsquare Media Missoula License, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KENR, KGVO, KAMM-FM, KLYQ, KMPT, KYSS-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 963theblaze.com |
KBAZ (96.3 FM, "The Blaze") is a commercial radio station in Hamilton, Montana, broadcasting to the Missoula, Montana, area. KBAZ airs a mainstream rock music format.
KBAZ started out as KBMG, a top 40/AOR hybrid originally licensed to Hamilton, Montana. The station increased its power to provide rimshot coverage of the Missoula area in the wake of its top 40 station XT93 flipping to Country. It provided some coverage although the station met some interference from a station with the same frequency in Kalispell. In 2000, the station moved briefly to its present frequency before a period of stunting. The blaze was first heard in Missoula on March 27, 2000. At that time, it was an alternative station playing a mix of today's rock with 90s grunge. Over the first half of the 2000s it added harder titles and took shots at KZOQ, Missoula's other rock station, for playing too much old music and proclaiming themselves as the future of Missoula radio. Over the next ten years, "The Blaze" would slowly segue from an alternative to an active rock station. For a long time the Blaze did not play any titles older than 1990. It all changed in the wake of their acquisition by Townsquare Media from Clear Channel. In the past year, Townsquare has changed their alternative stations into active rock, The Blaze being one of them. "The Blaze" is still a current's based rock station but occasionally plays classic AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica. Most of the older selection involves classic metal and hard rock. The blaze has been through a number of local morning shows and at one time aired Mancow. They now air Free Beer & Hot Wings and are part of Townsquare's Loudwire Network. More recently town square has been readding Alternative radio stations to its portfolio. As of February cluster mate 101.5 KAMM will pick up the Alternative format the Blaze started out with.
In October 2007, a deal was reached for KBAZ to be acquired by GAP Broadcasting II LLC ( from Clear Channel Communications as part of a 57 station deal with a total reported sale price of $74.78 million. What eventually became GapWest Broadcasting was folded into Townsquare Media on August 13, 2010.
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