KURB is an adult contemporary radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is owned by Cumulus Media. The station's studios are located in Little Rock off Chenal Parkway, and the transmitter tower is located on Shinall Mountain, near the Chenal Valley neighborhood of Little Rock. KURB is the area's continual top performer for women listenership. The station's current lineup includes mornings with Kevin Idol and Robyn Cisar; mid-days with Randy Cain; and afternoon drive with Becky Rogers. The station features John Tesh with "Intelligence for your Life", Sunday through Friday nights at 7pm, and the Best of Tesh on Saturday mornings from 7am to 10am. The station also has a positive reputation in the community with its involvement with charitable organizations, most notably Arkansas Children's Hospital where more than $2.5 million has been raised through a very successful annual fundraising effort. The station won the "Ken Peterson Founder's Award for Station of the Year" in 2008 for its work with ACH. B98.5 was competing against stations in the US, UK and Canada. Personalities who have previously worked at KURB include Little Rock radio icon Craig O'Neill, who left the station in 2000 for a position in local television. He now anchors evening newscasts for Little Rock's CBS-TV affiliate, KTHV. Jeff Matthews, now with Conway Corp, and long-time local TV host and radio personality, Lisa Fischer.
History
The station signed on with call letters now on a CHR in Hot Springs, KLAZ. KLAZ 98 began like many FMs in the early 1970s, with a progressive "underground" format. It adopted the top-40 format in the late 1970s and benefited from the increasing popularity of FM radio and being one of the first FMs in the market doing the format. Although it changed calls to KZOU and became Zoo 98 in the mid-80's, it was wildly successful and ran original sister station KAAY out of the format. Zoo 98 was also the only station to beat KSSN in the first 10 years of its existence. It mopped the floor with top-40 competitor KKYK, though it would eventually fall to KKYK after a series of missteps, including letting popular morning man Craig O'Neill leave for KKYK, and an ownership change at KKYK that took the station and its format more seriously. Despite being overtaken by KKYK in '89, KZOU would continue to be a top-5 station. In 1991, KZOU's owners were trying to exit the radio business and sold the station to GHB Broadcasting. GHB flipped the station to Hot AC as KURB "B-98.5" following a continued decline in ratings and the overall decline of the top-40 format at the time. In a twist of irony, B-98.5 would assure KKYK would not be able to gloat over its apparent victory. It hired Craig O'Neill back from KKYK and once again beat its former rival, which continued to struggle with its fellow CHR's nationwide. Around 2000, B-98.5 shifted from Hot AC to AC, which it continues to run today.
