This station originally broadcast on 1520 AM as KAMX in 1972. It had aired Spanish language programming throughout the 1970s.[2] Later, it mostly carried programming that was broadcast on the 107.9 FM frequency. However, the AM station could only be heard during daytime hours due to night time interference from KOMA (now KOKC) from Oklahoma City. In 1995, it ended the simulcast with 107.9 and began to run children's programming from Radio AAHS as KDZZ, but it would return to simulcasting 107.9 in late 1996 under the call sign KHTZ.
"Joy" logo
In 2000, the station was sold to Vanguard Media and moved to the 1550 frequency under the call letters KKJY. The new dial position allowed the station to increase its daytime power and initiate nighttime operation. It began broadcasting an adult standardsradio format to fill a void left after KIVA dropped standards for talk radio. It picked up the KKJY call sign that had once belonged locally to 100.3 FM, which aired a long running easy listening format from 1979 to 1994. The new station was branded as "Joy AM".
In 2006, the station's format shifted to Soft Adult Contemporary. On July 25, 2008, it once again changed its call sign to KQNM and called itself "Soft Favorites 1550". On May 18, 2009, it changed to KIVA[3] while moving the KQNM call sign to 1100kHz in Milan, New Mexico. The format was changed to talk radio on June 15, 2009. On August 28, 2012, the station swapped dial positions with KIVA, moving the talk format and KIVA call sign to 1600, with KRKE moving from 1600 to 1550.
On September 22, 2015, the call sign were changed back to KQNM, with KRKE moving to 1090 in Milan. Soon after, Vanguard took the station off the air and put the station up for sale. In 2014, Vanguard divested KIVA (AM) to Rock of Talk LLC. IHR Educational Broadcasting later purchased the station, and began to air its Catholic radio format beginning in late September 2016. KQNM flipped to the Relevant Radio branding when IHR Educational Broadcasting and Starboard Media Foundation consummated their merger on June 30, 2017.[4]
FM broadcast
107.5 (2011–2013)
In early May 2011, KRKE (then on 1600 AM) began airing on 99-watt FM translator K298BK (107.5 FM) in Sandia, and rebranded as "Cool 107.5". The station had previously been called "Real Oldies 1600". The station also changed its website to cool1075.com. The translator was owned by the Educational Media Foundation.
This change put the station in competition with KABG, which airs an Oldies/Classic Hits format, mainly playing music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. For the first year or so, the station continued to focus on the traditional 1960s based oldies format it had aired since 2005, when the station was only heard on AM. Since mid-2012, it began to shift more to classic hits like KABG and most other FM oldies stations.
94.5 (2013–2015)
A construction permit was granted to the station on April 18, 2012 to move to the 94.5 frequency and increase power to the class maximum of 250 watts. On February 14, 2013, the station moved to the new frequency as K233CG while re-branding as "The Greatest Hits KOOL 94.5", as well as completing a shift in the format to playing music from the 1970s and '80s, competing directly with KABG. "KOOL" was promoted as "Clutter-Free", featuring a music-intensive presentation without programming elements such as announcers, news, weather and traffic reports. KRKE, however, generated low ratings, and since July 2013, faced additional competition from KABQ-FM, which featured a 1970s-centric version of the format. In early 2014, the format had been shifting to focus more on music from the 1980s. On May 12 of that year, at 12:00p.m., 1550 and 94.5 re-branded as "94-5 The 80's Channel" with an all-80s hits format, making it the first time this format has aired in the Albuquerque market since KKOB-FM dropped the format in late 2002. The last song on "Kool" was Hold On by Wilson Phillips, while the first song on "The 80's Channel" was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. Originally, the new format had a large emphasis on music from the New Wave genre from artists like Duran Duran, The Police, and Blondie as well as early alternative rock acts such as The Cure, R.E.M., and The Psychedelic Furs. However, with ratings very low, the station adjusted its playlist to include more pop and hard rock acts from the 1980s in late July 2015. The station's website had also been taken down, along with its live stream and Facebook page.
At 10:38p.m. on September 27, 2015, an announcement began playing on a repeating loop saying that the format was leaving the air and would return after the first of the year on a different frequency. It also identified the station as "KQNM Albuquerque", and suggested that listeners tune into KDSK, which airs an oldies format. The last song played was "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money. However the format did not reappear at the stated time. Meanwhile, on May 2, 2016, iHeartMedia shifted KABQ-FM to an 80s hits format which lasted until April 2021. The "Eighties Channel" would be relaunched seven years later in October 2022 on KRKE 1100 AM and K229CL 93.7.[5]
At around 2 p.m. on September 30, KQNM began airing long sets of mostly trance music, both instrumental and vocal, with no sweepers or commercials but only identifying itself once an hour as "EDM 94-5", followed by the legal identification around 10 minutes from the top of the hour. This went on for about six days.
As of October 6, 2015, the station was in a dead air status, with neither static nor audio broadcast. Since October 9, both KQNM and K233CG were off the air. On October 19, KQNM filed a silent notification with the Federal Communications Commission, stating programming had been discontinued in preparation for a sale of the station.[6]
Additionally, Educational Media Foundation filed a silent notification for K233CG on November 5, 2015, stating that the translator would be off the air until a new feed station could be found.[7] The request was granted on December 4; however, 94.5 returned to the air on December 1, rebroadcasting the Air 1 format from KQRI, while KQNM remained off the air. K233CG was sold to Martha Whitman, owner of KOAZ and K279BP, in late June 2016 for $61,431.66.[8] Whitman had then reached a deal to sale the translator to Cumulus Media for $425,000.[9] On September 1, 2016, K233CG began to rebroadcast KKOB.
98.9 (2016–present)
On February 5, 2016, a construction permit was granted by the FCC to upgrade translator K255AU (98.9 FM) from 10 watts to 70 watts, with KQNM as the feed station.[10] K255AU is owned by Immaculate Heart Radio, a Catholic radio ministry, which currently relays KXXQ in Milan. In early July 2016, Immaculate Heart Radio purchased KQNM for $250,000.[11] The sale was approved by the FCC on September 15, 2016, and the Catholic format began airing on KQNM in late September.
Related Research Articles
KKOB is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico and owned by Cumulus Media. Its news/talk format is branded as "96.3 Newsradio KKOB", reflecting a simulcast with co-owned KKOB-FM 96.3 MHz. Studios and offices are located in Downtown Albuquerque. KKOB is the oldest station in New Mexico and is the state's primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System.
KVCN is a radio station licensed to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and serving Northern New Mexico, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It broadcasts a Conservative Christian radio format featuring programming from its owner's network, VCY America.
KOBQ is a commercial radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a top 40 (CHR) radio format, branded as "93-3 The Q". Its radio studios and offices are in Downtown Albuquerque.
KDSK is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico, and serving the Albuquerque metropolitan area radio market. It broadcasts an oldies radio format with a playlist of approximately 10,000 songs from the 1950s through the 1980s. Hourly news updates from SRN News are featured at the bottom of the hour.
KXOT is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Los Lunas, New Mexico, and serving the Albuquerque metropolitan area. It airs a Regional Mexican radio format branded as "La Mexicana 106.3". It is owned by Vanguard Media with studios and offices on San Pedro Drive NE at Marble Avenue in Albuquerque.
KTSO is a commercial radio station licensed to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and serving the Tulsa metropolitan area. It is part of the Stephens Media Group and it airs a soft oldies radio format, switching to Christmas music for part of November and December. The studios are on the 57th floor in the CityPlex Towers on East 81st Street in South Tulsa.
KTBL is a commercial radio station licensed to the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico, and serves the Albuquerque metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and its studios are located in Downtown Albuquerque and the transmitter tower is located in South Valley, New Mexico. KTBL operates with 1,000 watts. The station airs an active rock format branded as "94.5 The Pit" with the use of FM translator K233CG broadcasting at 250 watts off Sandia Crest.
KKRG-FM is a radio station licensed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, covering the Albuquerque area and northern New Mexico. It is currently owned by American General Media. Its studios are located in Northeast Albuquerque and the transmitter tower is located west of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Syndicated programming includes Brooke & Jeffrey in the morning and Liveline with Mason at night.
KZRR is a commercial radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, broadcasting to the Albuquerque-Santa Fe, New Mexico, area. KZRR airs a mainstream rock radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studios and offices are in Northeast Albuquerque.
KABG is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and serving the Santa Fe and Albuquerque radio markets. It is owned by American General Media and airs a classic hits radio format, playing Top 40 hits mostly from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The radio studios and offices are located in Northeast Albuquerque.
KNFZ is a radio station licensed to the suburb of Bosque Farms, New Mexico, and serving the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The station is owned by Encouragement Media Group, through licensee Educational Radio Foundation of East Texas, Inc. KKTH broadcasts a 100,000-watt signal from a site close to Belen, nearly 35 miles south of Albuquerque sending a signal that is a bit weak with some static on many radios in much of the city.
KNML is a sports talk formatted radio station owned by Cumulus Media and licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its studios are located in Downtown Albuquerque and it utilizes daytime and nighttime transmitters that are located within yards of each other in the southwest quadrant of the city, between the Rio Grande and the Albuquerque International Sunport.
KIVA is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is owned by the Rock of Talk LLC and airs a talk radio format. Studios and offices are located at 2309 Renard Place Southeast, near the Albuquerque International Sunport.
KOAZ is a radio station licensed to Vanguard Media LLC. at Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico. It is operating at "Isleta" with 5,000 watts daytime and 25 watts nighttime, from 34°58′46.2″N106°44′15.1″W. The station serves the Albuquerque Metropolitan area. Its studios are located in Northeast Albuquerque.
WLOR is a radio station licensed to Huntsville, Alabama, United States, that serves the greater Tennessee Valley area. WLOR is part of the Black Crow Media Group and the broadcast license is held by BCA Radio, LLC, Debtor-in-Possession. Its studios are located off University Drive in Huntsville, and its transmitter is located north of the city.
KQRI is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Bosque Farms, New Mexico. It covers the Albuquerque metropolitan area and Valencia County. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation broadcasting its "Air1" Christian worship music service, a national radio format.
WAXB, is a radio station licensed to Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States, one of three area stations owned by The Berkshire Broadcasting Corporation. The others are News/Talk 800 AM WLAD and Hot Adult Contemporary 98Q/98.3 FM WDAQ. WAXB airs a Spanish adult hits radio format for the Greater Danbury region of Connecticut. The station uses the identification "Juan 850". Because 850 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for KOA in Denver, Colorado and KICY in Nome, Alaska, WAXB must sign-off at night to avoid interference with those stations.
KEMR is a radio station licensed to serve Moriarty, New Mexico, United States. It is owned by long-time Albuquerque broadcaster Don Davis. KEMR airs a format featuring classic hits on weekdays and oldies on weekends along with community information and local weather reports. KEMR is also broadcast on FM translator K271DC 102.1 MHz at 99 watts atop Sandia Crest with an eastward directional antenna.
KRKE is an AM radio station licensed to Peralta, New Mexico, serving the Albuquerque radio market. The station also feeds FM translator K229CL on 93.7 FM. The station airs a 1980s hits format. The new format launched at noon on Friday October 14, 2022.
K251AU is an FM translator radio station that serves the Albuquerque, New Mexico area. It broadcasts at 98.1 MHz with a 165 watt signal from atop Sandia Crest, sending a somewhat strong signal into much of the city. Its studios are located in Northeast Albuquerque.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
