105.9
 Featured Media





  • KLZR 1990s stickers
  • 6th St. building
    • Call Letters: KLZR
    City of License: Lawrence, KS
    Format: Hot Adult Contemporary "Lazer 105.9"

    Owner: Viking Media
    HAAT/ERP: 594ft/100kw
    Coverage: Good
    http://www.lazer.com
    1963-1975 - KLWN-FM - Full Service //KLWN partially
    105.9 signed on August 20, 1963, and it started out as mostly a nighttime option for KLWN (long before the station was 24/7). But it was the first option for KU sports, even if they were taped, because of the greater coverage. The combo has been the flagship for KU sports for decades (before it, games were heard on WREN and KANU). Actually, there were competing broadcasts, on both KLWN and KANU. KLWN-FM broadcasted at 17,000 watts. The music was middle of the road. Both stations shared the same studio for a while, with KLWN operating during the day and KLWN-FM at night. Separate rock/top 40 programming began in 1972 on a taped basis.

    1975-76 - KLWN-FM - Top 40
    The station briefly dabbled in Top 40 (not the first time!) in the mid-1970s.

    1976-1979 - KLWN-FM - Album Rock
    The station went back to more album rock-oriented programming, as far as I can tell.

    1979-1985 - KLZR - Album Rock - "106 KLZR, the Lazer Rocks"
    The station received the KLZR call letters on July 31, 1979. They also increased power to 100,000 watts in December. I keep complaining about KLZR because during this time, they could've done what no one else would do, and that's full-time modern/alternative rock. They could've been mentioned alongside KROQ, KJET, WOXY, WLIR, and other great stations like that. In fact, they did play some "modern" stuff, like Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Fixx, Talk Talk and Peter Gabriel. But it was alongside Bob Seger, Heart, Bad Company - pretty much what every AOR station had to go through at the time. What's not clear is when they made the full-time switch to a satellite-fed station, because they did it briefly with the AOR format.

    1985-1991 - KLZR - Sat. Hot AC - "All Hits 106"
    The satellite service began from the Satellite Music Network's Rockin' Hits format. I believe later KLZR programmed from ABC's Platinum Gold Hot AC service. It was during this time the tower was moved from southern Lawrence about 15 miles to the northwest, near Lecompton. KLZR moved to allow KXXR (106.5) to move closer to Kansas City. That eliminated a good portion of KLZR's Kansas City coverage, but improved its coverage in Topeka.

    1991-1993 - KLZR - Sat. CHR - "The Heat" / "Lazer 106"
    The Heat was also satellite-fed, though I don't know from which service. By 1992, KLZR went by the more familiar name "Lazer 106," with the motto "leading you into the '90s," even though we were already well into the decade.

    1993-1999 - KLZR - Modern Rock "105-9 the Lazer"
    KLZR finally gets around to the modern rock format. Hank Booth debuted the format after a KU basketball game in February of 1993, by pretending to go back to their satellite programming, screeching it to a stop, yelling his discontent for the old music, then playing the R.E.M. song "It's the End of the World As We Know It."

    The format actually started out more Adult Alternative, with great old stuff from David Bowie, Genesis, World Party, The Clash, Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, etc. But of course, the playlist shrunk after a while, and they also played what would eventually become Top 40 hits, like stuff from Green Day, Pearl Jam, Collective Soul, and so on. KLZR also started a long-running trance/groove show called "Nocturnal Transmission." Gradually, the playlist shifted to almost entirely new music, and all the modern rock classics were dropped. Rolling Stone magazine honored the station as one of ten radio stations that "didn't suck." In January 1998, KLZR and KLWN moved from 31st and Iowa to 6th and Gateway.

    In 1998, the Booth family sold the station to the Zimmer radio group, who then brought in one of their flunkies to oversee the station. He told the newspaper the format would not change. But they changed it, and he skipped town. That left KC and Topeka without a commercial modern rock outlet.

    1999-2003 - KLZR - CHR - "Lazer 105.9"
    In September 1999, KLZR made a slow transition from Modern Rock to CHR. It was not popular, and met by angry former fans of the station. Vandals also targeted the 6th St. studios. Considering at the time there were 4 other Top 40 outlets, it had the media baffled too. The goal was to make more money of course, and they probably are with agency ads. But the ratings have gone nowhere. In Topeka, they went from a top five finish to bottom of the barrel, getting beaten out format-wise by a Kansas City station. Admittedly, the production and personalities are much tighter.

    2003-current - KLZR - Hot AC - "Lazer 105.9"
    In October, KLZR dropped pretty much all of their hip-hop and r&b tunes, and adopted a Hot Adult Contemporary format. One of the Zimmer boys bought the station in 2005, under the name Viking Enterprises. By the way, Viking was the original telephone exchange for Lawrence (84 = VI).