Bulldog Football Kicks Off Friday

Bulldog Football begins on Friday, August 30, and Kearney begins the season travelling to Fort Osage High School.

The 2023 Class 4 State Champion Kearney Bulldogs

The 2023 Class 4 State Champion Kearney Bulldogs start defending their title Friday night with the first game against the Fort Osage Indians. Coach Minnick told KPGZ that the first game will be a well-fought match up.

“They have three receivers back and a much more athletic and throwing quarterback this year,” Minnick said about the Indians. “They’re going to be a physical football team. They’re going to spread it around.”

The game will be broadcast on 102.7FM and the KPGZ mobile app.

The game will be played at Fort Osage High School, 2101 N Twyman Rd. Independence, MO. Gates open at 5:30 and tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for K-12 students. Kids under age 5 are free. Only students from Fort Osage and Kearney will be admitted with current student ID.

The game will be broadcast on 102.7FM, KPGZ websites 1027KearneyMO.com and KearneyCountry.com, and the KPGZ mobile app. Pregame starts at 6:40 pm and play-by-play action begins at 7 pm.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Kearney Radio Announces Online Country Radio Station

On National Radio Day, August 20, Kearney Radio Station 102.7FM KPGZ announced a fitting addition to its classic hits format. Country music channel KearneyCountry.com is now broadcast through the KPGZ Mobile App.

local news and events as well as classic hits and country hits can be found on the kpgz mobile app

The idea for a second station came from a community survey KPGZ conducted in 2023, with Northland CAPS students.

“The survey found that 48% of people who responded listen to country music some or all of the time,” said General Manager Brian Watts. “Nearly 50% of our residents were listening to another genre of music, so we thought by adding an additional format we could capture another audience.”

Most of the on-air time may be spent playing 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s era country music, but like the 102.7FM side, the focus of the station is Kearney.

“This station, like 102.7FM, gives individuals, businesses, and religious and civic organizations a voice in the community,” said Watts. “We cultivate our own local news, announce local weather and events, and broadcast Kearney Bulldog Sports.”

The station plays country music 24 hours a day on a player on KearneyCountry.com as well as the KPGZ mobile app which listeners can download free to their Apple or Android mobile devices. To switch to the country stream in the app, users can tap the menu icon in the upper left corner, then tap on “Change Station”.

The mobile app also features sections for news, weather, sports and past Kearney sports broadcast replays.

KPGZ Features Sounds of Rural America

In coordination with the Smithsonian traveling exhibition “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” 102.7FM KPGZ is featuring music of rural America in a limited radio series.

The series begins on Saturday, May 10, and runs through Sunday, June 16, on 102.7FM, 1027KearneyMO.com and the KPGZ mobile app

The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street, in cooperation with Missouri Humanities Council, presents “Crossroads: Change in Rural America.” The exhibition examining the evolving landscape of rural America opens at the Mid-Continent Public Library Kearney Branch on Friday, May 10, 2024. “Crossroads” will be on view through Friday, June 21, 2024.

Mid-Continent Public Library Kearney Branch and the surrounding community has been expressly chosen by the Missouri Humanities Council to host “Crossroads” as part of the Museum on Main Street program—a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations.

KPGZ radio has produced a limited series radio program that features music that reflects attitudes and sounds of rural America. The program largely features country music, but also includes rock, blues, bluegrass, and music by singer/songwriters. Listeners will enjoy music by Dolly Parton, John Denver, Alabama, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and more.

“Crossroads: Change in Rural America” is hosted by Brian Watts, General Manager of 102.7FM, and will air on Saturdays at 8 am and Sundays at 7 pm. The series begins on Saturday, May 10, and runs through Sunday, June 16, on 102.7FM, 1027KearneyMO.com and the KPGZ mobile app.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.