| KMBS | |
| City: | West Monroe, Louisiana |
| Area: | Greater Monroe |
| Branding: | Redden Radio 1310 |
| Frequency: | 1310 kHz |
| Airdate: | (as KUZN) |
| Languages: | English |
| Format: | Talk |
| Power: | 5,000 watts day 49 watts night |
| Class: | D |
| Facility Id: | 55336 |
| Coordinates: | 32.484°N -92.153°W |
| Former Callsigns: | KUZN (1956–1984) |
| Affiliations: | Music of Your Life |
| Owner: | Red Bear Broadcasting Corporation |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
KMBS (1310 kHz, "Redden Radio 1310") is an American radio station broadcasting a talk format. Licensed to West Monroe, Louisiana. The station serves the Greater Monroe, and is owned by Red Bear Broadcasting Corporation.[1]
KUZN signed on the air August 4, 1956. The 1,000-watt, daytime-only station was owned by Howard E. Griffith and broadcast primarily country and gospel music.[2] KUZN moved to new quarters on Parkwood Drive in 1967, when Griffith launched a television station, KUZN-TV channel 39.[3] An expansion into FM radio followed the next year with KUZN-FM 98.3.[4] In the mid-1960s, Gary Burbank worked at KUZN as "Johnny Apollo, the blue-eyed soul brother in the front row".[5]
Griffith, who also was an engineer who had developed a new type of television antenna and who had twice attempted to establish local TV stations, died of a heart attack in February 1976.[6] The next year, KUZN and the FM station (by this point known as KYEA) were sold to Morgan Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Chuck and Kay Morgan, for $305,000.[7] The buyer was intimately familiar with the Griffith stations, as he had worked for KUZN since its 1956 establishment as staff announcer and served as general manager since 1961.[8] Under Charles Morgan, the station became KMBS in 1994; it changed formats several times, including contemporary hit radio, jazz[9] and lastly oldies, which was the format at the time of Chuck Morgan's death and the transfer of KMBS to his widow Kay.[10] The FM station was sold off in 1986.[11]
Kay Morgan sold KMBS in 1993 to Red Bear Broadcasting Company, owned by Chuck Redden.[12] Under Redden, the station has aired a variety of oldies and talk formats; it also aired Fox Sports Radio for a time.[13]