KQLZ (95.7 MHz) is an FM radio station in Dickinson, North Dakota, United States (licensed to New England). The station is owned by Andrew Sturlaugson's P&A Media. [2] [3]
The station was first licensed in 2008 as KCVD, eventually becoming KLTQ and then KQLZ. It operated at low power until 2019, when it fully launched as a classic rock station.
The station was first licensed in 2008, [4] and was originally operated at low power by the non-commercial Horizon Broadcast Network as KCVD. [5] Synergy Broadcast North Dakota bought KCVD and KHRY in Beulah for $65,000 in 2011; both stations were silent at the time. [6]
In December 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a move of the station, by then KLTQ, from New England to Beulah; its signal would reach the edge of Bismarck. KQLZ (the former KHRY) would in turn relocate from 97.9 in Beulah to 98.1 in New England and serve Dickinson. [7] By February 2016, the stations had swapped call signs and abandoned their relocation plans; Synergy Broadcast then sold KQLZ for $70,000 to Dickinson-Belfield Broadcasting, owner of KXDI in Belfield [8] and part of the group of companies owned by Stephen Marks. [9] KLTQ was separately sold to DSN Radio, owners of KDKT in Beulah. [8]
After temporarily simulcasting KXDI and upgrading the station's signal, the Marks Radio Group fully launched KQLZ in May 2019 with a classic rock format. [4] Stephen Marks died on May 11, 2022. [10] Andrew Sturlaugson's P&A Media acquired Marks' Montana and North Dakota radio stations, including KQLZ and KXDI, for $850,000 in 2024. [9]