KBS Cool FM

"HLCD" redirects here. For the station that formerly owned the 89.1MHz frequency and the station that was forced merged to KBS, see Tongyang Broadcasting Corporation.

KBS Cool FM (Hangul : KBS 쿨FM)(also known as KBS 2FM Hangul : KBS 제2FM방송) is a 24-hour Hot AC music radio station of the Korean Broadcasting System. It plays mostly older K-pop Music from the 90s compared to KBS Happy FM which plays the latest K-pop tracks.^[1] Notable shows include Popular Plaza, Volume Up and Kiss the Radio.

HLKC-FM

Seoul
Broadcast area	Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, Chuncheon, Wonju, Hongcheon, Hoengseong, Cheorwon, Cheonan, Asan, Yesan, Hongseong, Dangjin, Seosan, Taean, South Korea (with nationwide popularization propagation broadcast.)
Frequency	89.1 FM MHz 90.9 FM MHz 97.7 FM MHz
Branding	KBS Cool FM
Programming
Language(s)	Korean
Format	Hot AC
Ownership
Owner	KBS
Sister stations	KBS Radio 1, KBS Radio 2, KBS Radio 3, KBS Classic FM
History
First air date	1965~1980 (as TBC) 1980~Present (as KBS 2FM)
Former call signs	HLCD-FM (FM Radio 1965~1966)
Former frequencies	AM 639 kHz (Repeater until 1980)
Call sign meaning	HL KBS Cool FM
Technical information
Class	A, B, C, D, E
Power	10,000 watts (Seoul)
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.kbs.co.kr/radio/coolfm

TBC Radio Era

• 1965-06-26 : Tongyang Broadcasting Corporation (Hangul: 동양 방송 공사) (Former body of JTBC.) was launched.
• 1965-06-27 : Radio Seoul Broadcasting (Hangul: 라디오 서울 방송) HLCD 89.1 MHz Started broadcasting.
• 1966 : Renamed as TBC-FM. 639 kHz AM Repeater launched.
• 1970 : TBC-FM Started South Korea's First Stereo FM Broadcast.
• 1980-12-01 : TBC-FM forced to be merged into KBS Radio by the special law of Chun Doo-hwan, president of military authorities.

KBS 2FM Era

• 1980-12-25 : Relaunched as KBS 2FM (Korean : KBS 제2FM) with a Trot and Popular Music format. Callsign changed to HLKC-FM and 639 kHz AM Repeater stopped broadcasting with the frequency used to form KBS Radio 3. Airing of advertisements where abolished and started airing selected shows nationwide through Cross-Broadcast with the KBS Local FM Network along with KBS 1FM.
• 1988-12-24 : KBS 2FM Started Partial 24-hour Broadcast (Monday~Friday 24-hours Saturday~Sunday 18-hours).
• 1990-05-30 : Transmission power increased (TPO:1 kW ERP:173.5 kW → TPO:10 kW ERP:350 kW)
• 1994-10-01 : 24-hour Broadcast started.

Cool FM Era

• 2002-01-01 : Commercial advertisements resume broadcast on 2FM and nationwide cross-broadcast with the Local FM network where abolished.
• 2003-10-10 : Relaunched as KBS Cool FM (Korean : KBS 쿨FM)
• 2005-03-03 : KBS Cool FM Opened its studio to the public along with KBS Radio 2.
• 2006 : Started visual radio (BORA) broadcasts on the internet.
• 2010-03-02 : KBS Moved Cool FM's radio transmitter from Mount Namsan to Mount Gwanaksan.
• 2016 : KBS 2FM Resumed national broadcasting of select programs through Cross-Broadcast with Local Radio 2 Stations with Park Myeong-su's Radio Show being the first show to be heard nationally.

FM Radio

Cool FM is available terrestrially in select cities including Seoul, Incheon, Chuncheon, Wonju, Hongcheon, Hoengseong, Cheorwon, Cheonan, Asan, Yesan, Hongseong, Dangjin, Seosan, Taean, Jincheon, Eumseong and Chungju.

DMB Radio(U-KBS Music)

In other areas not reachable terrestrially, Cool FM's programs can be heard via U-KBS' DMB channels.

• Seoul : CH 12B
• Chuncheon : CH 13B
• Daejeon/Cheongju : CH 11B
• Gwangju/Jeonju: CH 12B/CH 8B/CH 7B
• Daegu : CH 7B/CH 9B
• Busan/Ulsan : CH 12B/CH 9B
• Jeju : CH 13B/CH 8B

• Despite being South Korea's No.10 Radio Station 2FM Program Volume Up became the highest-rated radio program in its timeslot across both AM and FM bandwidths in Seoul.^[2][3]

• 대한민국 뉴스, 드라마, 대중음악 라디오 방송국 89.1 메가 사이클 TBC 동양방송 (South Korea's News, Drama, Popular Music Station 89.1 Megahertz TBC Tongyang Broadcasting TBC Era Slogan until 1980)
• 젊은 채널, 감성 채널 2FM (The Youth channel, The Emotional channel 2FM 2003~2014)
• 대중음악 89.1 (Popular Music 89.1 1980~1999 2010~2014)
• Today's Best Music 2FM (2014~Present)

2002 – KBS 2FM advertisement scandal

KBS 2FM From 1980 until 2002 was prohibited to air commercial advertisements but in 2002 commercial advertisements resumed airing on KBS 2FM. The result KBS Local FM (a radio station owned by KBS used to re-transmit KBS 1FM and KBS 2FM) instead carried KBS 1FM programs even though only one KBS 2FM program Good Morning Pops where aired due to that the said programm is prohibited to air advertisements excluding those of KOBACO (Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation). However Park Myeong-su's Radio Show is aired (including commercials) on local KBS Happy FM stations in Busan, Changwon, Cheongju, Daejeon and Jeju starting April 2016 (and in June 2019 the program is also aired in the Gangwon-do region) this was due to its popularity and despite Happy FM Does not air any commercials in all of its programs then Jung Eun-ji's Gayo Plaza is aired in all Happy FM stations starting September 2016 for the same reasons and Good Morning Pops which was aired on the Local FM stations moved to Local Happy FM stations in February 2017 with this development the show is no longer aired on Local FM stations.

• KBS Classic FM
• Gugak FM
• Gyeonggi Broadcasting Corporation

• KBS Cool FM Homepage