KQCS (FM)

For the Bettendorf, Iowa radio station that held the call sign KQCS at 93.5 FM from 1990 to 1995 and from 2004 to 2014, see KJOC (FM).
KQCS
City of license DeWitt, Iowa
Broadcast area Quad Cities
Branding 104.9 The Hawk
Slogan New Country
Frequency 104.9 MHz
First air date January 1977 (in Geneseo, Illinois, as WGEN-FM)
Format Country
ERP 12,500 watts
HAAT 143 meters
Class C3
Facility ID 12234
Former callsigns WGEN-FM (1977-1998)
KQLI (1998-2000)
KBOB-FM (2000-2014)
Owner Townsquare Media
(Townsquare Media Quad Cities License, LLC)
Sister stations KBEA, KBOB, KJOC, WXLP
Webcast Listen Live
Website 1049thehawk.com

KQCS (104.9 FM), also known as 104.9 The Hawk, is a commercial radio station located in DeWitt, Iowa, broadcasting to the Quad Cities, Iowa area on 104.9 FM.

History

WGEN-FM

The Quad-Cities allocation for 104.9 MHz dates to 1977, when the city of license was Geneseo, Illinois. The station signed on as WGEN-FM, the FM sister station of WGEN-AM (1500 kHz). The station formatted country music, along with community and farm news, local sports and St. Louis Cardinals baseball.

In 1996, both WGEN-AM and WGEN-FM were sold to Connoisseur Communications, owner of KJOC, KORB, WXLP and KBOB. For a time, the FM station was a repeater of KJOC's AM signal, while the AM signal was a simulcast of KBOB (at the time, located at 99.7 FM). By 1997, ownership of the AM and FM frequencies were split, and Connoisseur moved the city of license to DeWitt, Iowa; a new transmitter tower was built near Long Grove (about 7 miles south of DeWitt), and the studios were moved to Davenport in anticipation of its first new format under the new ownership.

Lite 104.9 FM-KQLI (1998-2000)

KQLI employed a soft rock format at 104.9 for about two years, starting in March 1998. However, the station had minimal listenership, primarily due to its small coverage area and competition from the more powerful KMXG-FM.

The Country era (2000-2007)

In March 2000, when KQLI and sister stations KBOB, WXLP (aka 97X), KORB, and KJOC were sold to Cumulus Media, plans were already being formulated to revamp several of the company's radio stations, including 104.9 FM. The plan involved scrapping KQLI's soft rock format and moving KBOB's country format from 99.7 FM to 104.9 FM.

KBOB's modern country format, in use since it began in March 1994, remained the same until November 2001, when the station adopted a classic country format under the slogan "Great Country 105." Although "Great Country 105" had a loyal audience (as it played songs from artists such as George Jones and Merle Haggard), the ratings remained low.

In March 2005, the station switched back to a modern country format, dubbing itself "New Country: The River 104.9," but listenership remained near the bottom of the Quad-City market's ratings.

Rock 104-9 (2007-2014) and return to country (2014-present)

When things were moved around again in 2007, Cumulus' modern rock format, which had been at WXLP for several years, moved to 104.9 FM to create "Rock 104-9." Included with the switch was 97 Rock's "Dave and Darren in the Morning" radio show. Other on-air personalities include Bill Stage and Sean. The station also broadcasts syndicated shows Hard Drive and The House Of Hair. In addition to its music programming, KBOB broadcast Chicago Bears football games from 2007-2013.

On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would acquire 53 Cumulus stations, including KBOB-FM, for $238 million. The deal is part of Cumulus' acquisition of Dial Global; Townsquare and Dial Global are both controlled by Oaktree Capital Management.[1][2] The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.[3]

On July 8, 2014, 104.9 began formatting a modern country format, marking the frequency's return to country music for the first time in seven years. The station used the brand name "The Hawk," and launched with a 10,000-song marathon. The new country format now leaves the Quad Cities without a single modern rock station. Also on July 9, KBOB-FM changed their call letters to KQCS.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ "Official: Cumulus Buys Dial Global, Spins Some Stations To Townsquare; Peak Stations Sold To Townsquare, Fresno Spun To Cumulus". All Access. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Cumulus Makes Dial Global And Townsquare Deals Official". RadioInsight. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Cumulus-Townsquare-Peak Deal Closes". All Access. November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  4. ↑ Burke, David, "Rock 104-9 flips format to country," Quad City Times, July 9, 2014. Accessed 03-05-2015
  5. ↑ Burke, David, "Time Will tell whether 'The Hawk' will fly," Quad City Times, July 12, 2014. Accessed 03-05-2015.

External links

Coordinates: 41°43′12″N 90°34′12″W / 41.720°N 90.570°W / 41.720; -90.570

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