Carter Broadcast Group

Carter Broadcast Group is the Kansas City family radio company behind Hot 103 Jamz (KPRS-FM), Gospel 1590/106.1 (KPRT) and RNB 106.9 — founded in 1950 and described by the company and by local press as the oldest continuously Black-owned and family-operated radio broadcasting company in the United States.

Description

Carter Broadcast Group is a family-owned radio broadcasting company headquartered at 11131 Colorado Avenue in south Kansas City, Missouri.¹ It operates KPRS-FM 103.3 (“Hot 103 Jamz”), a hip-hop and R&B station; KPRT, a gospel station carried on 1590 AM and simulcast on 106.1 FM; and RNB 106.9 FM, an R&B station launched on May 15, 2023.²³ The company also runs LiftOff Interactive, a digital advertising agency it launched in 2017.²

The company was founded by Andrew “Skip” Carter, who signed on KPRS-AM in May 1950 — the first Black-owned radio station west of the Mississippi River.⁴⁵ The station has been owned by Carter’s family continuously since that founding.⁴ The company describes itself, and KMBC and the Kansas City Star describe it, as the longest-running Black-owned radio company in the United States.³⁵⁶

Carter Broadcast Group marked its 75th anniversary on May 15, 2025, an occasion covered by KMBC, KSHB and the Kansas City Star, and the subject of a PBS program, Diamond Jubilee: A 75-Year Celebration of Carter Broadcast.⁵⁶⁷ Company staff told KMBC that larger broadcasting companies have repeatedly tried to buy the group out and that the family does not intend to sell.⁵

The company reports a series of national industry honors, including Andrew “Skip” Carter’s 1995 induction into the Radio Hall of Fame and his 2014 induction into the Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame; three National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Radio Awards for community service (1995, 2003 and 2016); and two NAB Marconi Awards for Urban Station of the Year (2001 and 2014).² These are first-party claims published on the company’s own site.

Ownership and history

Andrew “Skip” Carter was born in 1919 and raised in Savannah, Georgia; by the company’s account he built his first radio in high school, studied physics at Georgia State, served in the U.S. Army from 1940 to 1945, trained at the RCA Institute for Electronics, and earned a first-class FCC engineering license through New York University in 1947 before working as an engineer at WTIP in Charleston, West Virginia.⁴ He signed KPRS on the air in Kansas City in May 1950.⁴

In 1987, Michael L. Carter — Andrew Carter’s grandson — was named president of the company as Andrew Carter’s health declined.² Andrew Carter died in 1989; his widow, Mildred Carter, served as chairperson of the board until her death in 2003.² In 2025, KMBC reported that Robinson Carter, Andrew Carter’s 24-year-old great-grandson and the company’s promotions director, is being prepared to take over the company.⁵¹

Current officer roster and ownership percentages beyond the company’s own published history; whether Michael L. Carter remains president as of 2026.

Links

• Website: https://cbgkc.com/
• KPRS Hot 103 Jamz: https://www.kprs.com/
• KPRT Gospel 1590/106.1: https://www.kprt.com/
• RNB 106.9: https://www.rnb1069.com/

Services

• KPRS-FM 103.3 “Hot 103 Jamz” — hip-hop and R&B; programming includes The Mid-Day Party with Julee Jonez and The Playmaker Show.⁸
• KPRT 1590 AM / 106.1 FM “Gospel 1590” — gospel music.³²
• RNB 106.9 FM (K295CH) / 103.3 HD2 — R&B, launched May 15, 2023.²³
• LiftOff Interactive — digital advertising and marketing agency, launched 2017.²
• Advertising sales, community programming and station events.⁸

Sources

Footnotes

1. “Contact Us,” KPRS Hot 103 Jamz. URL ↩ ↩²

2. “Our Story,” Carter Broadcast Group. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. “Carter Broadcast Group” (home page), Carter Broadcast Group. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. “CBG History,” KPRS / Carter Broadcast Group. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Dorissa White, “Carter Broadcast Group in Kansas City celebrates historic 75 years,” KMBC 9, May 9, 2025. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. “75 years of KPRS in KC, oldest Black-owned station in U.S.,” The Kansas City Star, 2025. URL ↩ ↩²

7. “Diamond Jubilee: A 75-Year Celebration of Carter Broadcast,” PBS. URL ↩

8. KPRS Hot 103 Jamz (station home page). URL ↩ ↩²