KDGS, also known as "Power 93.5", is an Urban-leaning rhythmic contemporary hits outlet serving the Wichita, Kansas market. The station is licensed to Andover, Kansas, is owned by Entercom and broadcasts at 93.5 MHz with an ERP of 15 kW. The station's studios are located at North Woodlawn and East 21st in Northeast Wichita, while the transmitter is located at 1601 N. Rock Road in Wichita. KDGS was the only rhythmic-formatted station in Kansas until January 2015, when KKGQ debuted a Rhythmic Hot AC presentation. Although KDGS leans towards R&B/Hip-Hop product,, it also counters rival KZCH's rhythmic-leaning Top 40/CHR direction.
History
The station that is now KDGS was assigned a construction permit for 93.9 FM on July 23, 1993, and issued as KOAS. The station officially signed on the air as KDLE on October 28, 1993, and aired an Adult Contemporary format. On May 4, 1994, KDLE flipped the format to Urban Contemporary, filling the void that was left by the previous incarnations of KBUZ, which resided at 106.5 and 99.1 respectively. On December 8, 1995, they changed calls to KDGS and shifted to a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit direction with Rhythmic Pop/Dance product incorporated into its R&B/Hip-Hop fare, which they still continue with today. At some point in 1995, the station's moniker changed from "K-Dogs" to "Power 93.9." In 1999, the station was acquired by Entercom Communications. KDGS was one of the first stations for Christopher "Kidd Chris" Foley, who is now at WEBN in Cincinnati as a weekday morning rock jock. Past Music Director Richard "Ricardo Cherry" Brugada was awarded Music Director of The Year in 1999 by S.I.N for the work he did with KDGS. Ricardo Cherry was the Music Director for KDGS from 1996-1999. He could also be heard as On-Air Talent from 1995-1999. On May 21, 2014, the station applied to the FCC to change their transmitter location from South Wichita to East Wichita, downgrade their power to 15,000 watts, and shift frequencies to 93.5 FM. This was due to an FCC order to avoid adjacent channel interference with Bott Radio Network's KCVW, as they applied to relocate their transmitter from west of Cheney Reservoir in Reno County to the Wichita master antenna farm in western Sedgwick County near Colwich and upgrade their signal to 94,000 watts to effectively cover the entire Wichita market. On October 15, 2014, at Midnight, KDGS went dark on 93.9 FM; after 2 hours off air, the station officially completed its move to 93.5 FM. KOTE in Eureka, broadcasting on 93.5 FM and owned by Niemeyer Communications, moved to 93.9 FM at the same time to reduce co-channel interference, effectively swapping frequencies between the two stations. In early 2015, the station's studio will move to the Ruffin Building at 9111 East Douglas, formerly the Pizza Hut headquarters.
