One western Minnesota station has flipped to Classic Country and another has switched to News/Talk following their recent sale to Lakeland Media, which owns several stations in Willmar.
KSCR-FM/93.5 (Benson) and KBMO/1290 (Benson) stunted with patriotic music over the Fourth of July weekend before debuting their new formats on July 7.
The stations’ former website, BensonRadio.com, is now redirecting WillmarRadio.com. The page lists an airstaff of current Willmar Radio announcers for KSCR-FM’s new “Country Legends” format.
KSCR-FM previously carried a broad Classic Hits mix positioned as “Radio with Roots.” The format ended on July 3 with a message from former station co-owner John Jennings.
The change represents a quick upgrade to the format in the Benson area, where KBMO and K278CX/103.5 (Benson) had just debuted their own Classic Country format last year.
KBMO and K278CX are now relaying the News/Talk format of Lakeland’s KWLM/1340 (Willmar).
KSCR-FM was also recently granted a construction permit to increase power from 25kW to 50kW, maintaining its current transmitter site near Benson and antenna at 100 meters above average terrain. The upgrade will improve KSCR’s signal to Willmar, but it will still be outside of its city-grade coverage area.
Lakeland Media’s existing Willmar-market stations include Country, Hot Adult Contemporary, Classic Hits, and News/Talk formats. The recent purchase also included Classic Rocker “94.1 The Loon” (KKLN Atwater).
Here’s an audio sample of the Fourth of July weekend stunting:
This item was originally posted July 5 and was updated July 7.