KKRZ
 |
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| City | Portland, Oregon |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Northwestern Oregon, Southwestern Washington |
| Branding | Z100 |
| Slogan | Portland's #1 Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 100.3 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| Translator(s) | 102.3 K272EL (Portland, relays HD2) |
| First air date | May 7, 1946 (as KGW-FM on 95.3) September 22, 1947 (as KGW-FM on 100.3) November 2, 1983 (as KKRZ) |
| Format |
Top 40 (CHR) HD2: Alternative Rock "Radio 102.3" |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 470 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 11280 |
| Callsign meaning | K K RoZe ("Rose" as in "Rose City") |
| Former callsigns | KGW-FM (1946-1950) KGW-FM (1952-1954) KQFM (1954-1983) |
| Former frequencies | 95.3 MHz (1946-1947) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KKCW, KFBW, KLTH, KXJM, KPOJ, KEX |
| Webcast |
Listen Live Listen Live (HD2) |
| Website |
z100portland.com radio1023.com (HD2) |
KKRZ is a commercial broadcast radio station in Portland, Oregon, also known as Z100, broadcasts Top 40 (CHR) music. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the transmitter is located in Portland's West Hills; their studios are in Tigard, Oregon.
What is now KKRZ first signed on May 7, 1946 as KGW-FM on 95.3 MHz and moved to 100.3 MHz on September 22, 1947. The call letters changed to KQFM on December 1, 1954 and broadcast a beautiful music format known as "Q-Music", and then in 1978, switched to a pop/AOR format under the name "Q-100". The format was changed to oldies on March 16, 1981 as "Solid Gold FM-100". The station changed to the KKRZ call letters and changed to what is considered a Hot AC format as "The Rose" (hence the KKRZ call letters) on November 2, 1983. KKRZ began its current heritage Top 40 format on March 16, 1984, widely mirroring sister station WHTZ/New York City (down to the name "Z100").
In 1986, the station adopted a more rhythmic-leaning format due to the lack of an existing urban-oriented station in Portland. That move would pay off and made KKRZ a dominant success in the ratings in its first 15 years. That was until 1999, when it picked up competition from Adult Contemporary rival KXL-FM, who took advantage of the market's rhythmic void and filled it by becoming KXJM, "Jammin 95.5". This competition between the two would last for nine years, as KXJM (whose playlist favored Hip-Hop/R&B and some Dance product) would overtake KKRZ (who shifted back to a more mainstream direction) in the Portland Arbitrons. After KXJM, who saw their ratings decline by 2007, announced their format flip to Sports Talk as KXTG in May 2008, KKRZ started to lean towards Rhythmic crossovers again, but would end up facing new competition from CBS Radio outlet KVMX, who ironically, dropped their Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format and picked up KXJM's Rhythmic format and intellectual property, including the KXJM calls and "Jammin'" slogan, from Rose City Radio Corporation, the owners of KXTG. KKRZ would later move towards the center again and became a more balanced Top 40/CHR, which helped regain their foothold in the ratings again as well.
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Wikipedia