KMBZ is the oldest surviving station in Kansas City, beginning experimental broadcasts in 1921. The station officially signed on as a commercially licensed station on April 5, 1922, with the call signWPE. It was the second radio station in the state of Missouri, behind only St. Louis' WEW. In its history it has been owned by two rival branches of the Latter Day Saint movement, although it has no church affiliation now. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints bought the station in 1923 and renamed it KFIX and later KLDS. In 1928, Midland Broadcasting bought the station and renamed it KMBC for Midland Broadcasting Company. In 1953, Midland put Channel 9 KMBC-TV on the air as a shared time arrangement with another local radio station owner. Cook Paint and Varnish Company bought the Midland holdings in 1954. KMBC-AM-TV operated out of the Lyric Theatre. In 1961, Cook sold the radio and television stations to Metromedia. In 1962, Metromedia signed on 99.7 KMBC-FM. In 1967, Metromedia sold both radio stations to Bonneville International but kept the television station. Bonneville is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based in Salt Lake City. So for the second time, the station was owned by an LDS Church organization. Since Metromedia held the rights to the KMBC call letters, Bonneville changed the AM station's call letters to KMBZ. The choice was deliberate; "Z" rhymes with "C", allowing Bonneville to continue trading on the old call letters. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the station's nickname was "Z-98". During those years, the station aired a full servicemiddle of the road music format. In 1997, Bonneville sold its entire Kansas City cluster, which by then consisted of KMBZ, KLTH, and KCMO-AM-FM, to Entercom Communications. Paul Henning, who created The Beverly Hillbillies, was a writer, actor, disc jockey and newsreader at the station early in his career. After having worked as Director of Promotion for the Kansas City Royalsbaseball team, Rush Limbaugh got his start in political commentary on the station in 1983. He continues to be heard on KMBZ in his live 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. time slot. For many years KMBZ also repeated Limbaugh's show overnight. KMBZ was the Royals flagship station for some time. For a time in the 1980s, it ceded flagship status to WIBW in Topeka, Kansas. In 2008, Royals games switched to co-owned sports radio station 610 KCSP. Beginning in 2009, some Royals games returned to KMBZ, when KCSP is committed to another sporting event. KMBZ is also the Kansas City affiliate for the Missouri Tigers radio network, broadcasting football, men's and women's basketball and the "Tiger Talk" coach's show. In 2009, KMBZ began simulcasting its programming on the HD3 subchannel of sister station 98.1 KUDL. On March 24, 2011, Entercom announced that on March 30, KUDL's analog FM broadcasts would become a full-time simulcast of KMBZ as KMBZ-FM. On December 24, 2014, Entercom announced that the KMBZ simulcast would split on January 5, 2015. On that date, KMBZ became "Talk 980," carrying mostly syndicated shows, while KMBZ-FM began airing a mostly locally oriented programming schedule.
