KQJK
Encyclopedia
KQJK is a commercial adult hits
music radio station
in Roseville, California
, broadcasting to the Sacramento, California
, area on 93.7 FM
. It is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications
, which acquired it along with four stations in Seattle, Washington, Baltimore, Maryland
, and Portland, Oregon
, from CBS Radio
as part of a seven-station swap between the two companies.
. The station debuted as KPIP, and simulcasted KPOP’s middle of the road music during the day and aired soul
music at night.
In the mid-1970s, KPIP dropped the daytime MOR programming and replaced it with Spanish language
programming from 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM. At 5:00 PM, the station would flip over to R&B and disco
music, the latter of which was also heard on KPOP. As time progressed, KPIP acquired the nickname of “The Disco Express.”
In May 1980, the owners put the Spanish programming exclusively on 1110 AM, and changed the AM’s call letters to KPIP. The station went to an urban contemporary
format. The KPOP call letters went to 93.5 FM. In 1982, the station attempted to promote itself as broadcasting in Dolby Stereo
, which was about as successful as FM quadraphonic
sound was in the 1970s.
In August 1983, KPOP’s owners suddenly changed to a “Modern Rock” format, with the slogan “Rock of the Eighties.” Radio consultant Rick Carroll, who developed the format at KROQ-FM
in Los Angeles
, released it for national syndication in the early spring of 1983 and KPOP was one of his clients. The format was highly repetitious, but included a lot of new wave
music, synthesizer-based "Euro Pop" and some guitar-based light punk rock
(i.e., The Clash
and The Ramones). Some of the disc jockeys from the urban contemporary era stayed on for the change to modern rock.
In December 1983, the station was sold to Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting. Since there were already two other Rock stations in the market (KROY and KZAP), the new owners flipped the station to a CHR format the first Monday of January 1984. The owners kept the KPOP call letters and called themselves “Pop Hits”, aiming the station primarily towards teenage females. Unfortunately, there were two other players in the local CHR market, and they both had 50,000 watt signals (KSFM
and KWOD
). The 3,000 watt KPOP shifted to a Rock-based CHR format in the fall of 1985. It retained the KPOP call letters but now called itself “Rock Hits.” The station’s overall ratings remained around 2.1 among audiences 12 years of age or older.
In early 1986, the morning drive announcers staged a management-approved stunt to initiate a format change. They would lock themselves in the studio and refuse to leave until management allowed them to drop the call letters and switch the format to album oriented rock. By this time, Sacramento only had one other AOR station (KZAP), and its programming was beginning to skew toward 25-49 year old males.
The station changed its call letters to KDJQ, and became “93 Rock.” The new format was aimed at 18-34 year old males and featured music by mainstream hard rock artists. The KDJQ call letters were short-lived, because there was a similarly-formatted station in Modesto known as KDJK 95.1 FM. KDJK’s owners served a “cease and desist” order against Fuller-Jeffrey, and 93.5’s call letters were changed to KRXQ in very short order. KRXQ’s ratings began to increase, but the largest jumps began when the station’s owners made a shift in the station’s frequency.
In July 1988, the station shifted from 93.5 to 93.7 FM. In the process, the station went from 3,000 watts to 25,000 watts, ensuring coverage for most of the Sacramento area. The station maintained the “93 Rock” nickname, and billboards announced the frequency change by stating “Now at 93.7 FM”.
The Roseville-based frequency continued as “93 Rock” and became quite successful with its hard-edged mainstream Album Rock format. By 1989, the station began overtaking KZAP in the ratings, often receiving ratings between 6 and 7. While KZAP
(98.5) began leaning towards older adults with mid-tempo and Classic Rock, KRXQ clearly skewed towards younger adults with up-tempo and Hard Rock artists of the day. By the fall of 1991, “93 Rock” was the undisputed leader in Sacramento rock radio. KZAP dropped AOR for country
on January 20, 1992.
In August 1998, KRXQ (93.7) and classic country-formatted KRAK-FM (98.5) swapped frequencies. The Country-formatted KRAK-FM had poor ratings, so the format and call letters were shifted to 1470 AM in early 1999. The KXOA call sign went to 93.7 FM.
In April 1999, the station’s owners shifted the format to a classic hits format known as “Arrow 93.7.” The format had been in use at 107.9 FM between 1994 and 1998. Basically, the format was a mix of rock released as singles between the 1960s through the 1980s that received airplay on Top 40 stations. There were few, if any, album cuts. Initially, the station was fairly successful.
In June 2001, the owners (Infinity Broadcasting
) decided to flip the format to “Hot Talk.” The KXOA call letters remained in place, but the station’s slogan became “The Talk that Rocks.” The station featured Howard Stern
during morning drive and a mix of local and nationally-syndicated talk show hosts the rest of the day. On weekends and breaks, the station programmed classic hard rock, primarily released during the 1970s and 1980s. The music was very repetitive and highly familiar. The station went nowhere in the ratings, earning less than a percent rating in the 12+ demographic. The only national show with a substantial audience was Stern's. However, the KiddChris Show, airing locally in the evenings, was the station's highest-rated program consistently.
The station continued with the “Hot Talk” format until August 2002. One of their nationally-syndicated programs, the New York-based “Opie and Anthony
Show” was cancelled from syndication (as well as their home station of WNEW in New York
), when an on-air stunt involving sex in a Catholic
church offended some listeners and station management. At that point, the station continued to air Howard Stern in morning drive, and dropped all remaining talk shows from their schedule. They continued to air their classic hard rock the rest of the day. KXOA now had the slogan “Sacramento’s Hard Rock.”
Intending to compete with both KSEG (96.9) and KRXQ (98.5), the station added more current material to its musical mix in the summer of 2003, but the ratings did not improve.
In March 2004, the station dropped the “Sacramento’s Hard Rock” slogan and format and the KXOA call letters. The station retained Howard Stern in morning drive, but changed the format to “Classic Alternative” and adopted the call letters of KHWD (Howard 93.7). Again, ratings did not improve. In the spring of 2005, the station began adding new harder alternative rock into its “Classic Alternative” mix. The move is seen by some as an attempt to pick up the audience KWOD (106.5) abandoned, when it shifted to an alternative
/Triple-A
hybrid format on March 18, 2005. Radio insiders believed that KHWD would either switch to a Spanish or “Jack FM
” format (Classic Hits/Hot Adult Contemporary hybrid after Howard Stern left for Sirius Satellite Radio
).
On October 25, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting announced sweeping changes for many of its owned and operated stations carrying Howard Stern. Several major-market Rock heritage stations (such as WXRK
in New York and WYSP in Philadelphia) would have their formats overhauled completely. In Sacramento, KHWD would switch to the “Jack” format. That same day, 93.7 adopted the format at 10:30 a.m. local time
and changed their call letters to KQJK. The station continued to carry Howard Stern until December 16, 2005, which was his last day on terrestrial radio.
On December 10, 2008, CBS Radio
swapped 5 of its stations (including KQJK) to its current owner Clear Channel in trade of 2 stations in Houston, Texas
. The deal was finalized on April 1, 2009.
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...
music radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in Roseville, California
Roseville, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Roseville had a population of 118,788. The population density was 3,279.4 people per square mile...
, broadcasting to the Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, area on 93.7 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
. It is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
, which acquired it along with four stations in Seattle, Washington, Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, and Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, from CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
as part of a seven-station swap between the two companies.
History
In 1971, the owners of KPOP (1110 AM) started a 3,000 watt FM station on the 93.5 FM frequency in Roseville, CaliforniaRoseville, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Roseville had a population of 118,788. The population density was 3,279.4 people per square mile...
. The station debuted as KPIP, and simulcasted KPOP’s middle of the road music during the day and aired soul
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
music at night.
In the mid-1970s, KPIP dropped the daytime MOR programming and replaced it with Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
programming from 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM. At 5:00 PM, the station would flip over to R&B and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
music, the latter of which was also heard on KPOP. As time progressed, KPIP acquired the nickname of “The Disco Express.”
In May 1980, the owners put the Spanish programming exclusively on 1110 AM, and changed the AM’s call letters to KPIP. The station went to an urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
format. The KPOP call letters went to 93.5 FM. In 1982, the station attempted to promote itself as broadcasting in Dolby Stereo
Dolby Stereo
Dolby Stereo, is the trade mark that Dolby Laboratories used for the various analogue stereo cinema sound formats that they produced.Two basic systems used this name. The first was the 'Dolby SVA' system used with optical soundtracks on 35mm film...
, which was about as successful as FM quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
sound was in the 1970s.
In August 1983, KPOP’s owners suddenly changed to a “Modern Rock” format, with the slogan “Rock of the Eighties.” Radio consultant Rick Carroll, who developed the format at KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, released it for national syndication in the early spring of 1983 and KPOP was one of his clients. The format was highly repetitious, but included a lot of new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
music, synthesizer-based "Euro Pop" and some guitar-based light punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
(i.e., The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
and The Ramones). Some of the disc jockeys from the urban contemporary era stayed on for the change to modern rock.
In December 1983, the station was sold to Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting. Since there were already two other Rock stations in the market (KROY and KZAP), the new owners flipped the station to a CHR format the first Monday of January 1984. The owners kept the KPOP call letters and called themselves “Pop Hits”, aiming the station primarily towards teenage females. Unfortunately, there were two other players in the local CHR market, and they both had 50,000 watt signals (KSFM
KSFM
KSFM is a Rhythmic Contemporary Hits formatted radio station serving the Sacramento, California, USA, area. Its city of license and transmitter are located in Woodland but their studios are based in Sacramento...
and KWOD
KWOD
KBZC is a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, broadcasting on 106.5 FM. The Entercom-owned outlet airs a Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format.-History:...
). The 3,000 watt KPOP shifted to a Rock-based CHR format in the fall of 1985. It retained the KPOP call letters but now called itself “Rock Hits.” The station’s overall ratings remained around 2.1 among audiences 12 years of age or older.
In early 1986, the morning drive announcers staged a management-approved stunt to initiate a format change. They would lock themselves in the studio and refuse to leave until management allowed them to drop the call letters and switch the format to album oriented rock. By this time, Sacramento only had one other AOR station (KZAP), and its programming was beginning to skew toward 25-49 year old males.
The station changed its call letters to KDJQ, and became “93 Rock.” The new format was aimed at 18-34 year old males and featured music by mainstream hard rock artists. The KDJQ call letters were short-lived, because there was a similarly-formatted station in Modesto known as KDJK 95.1 FM. KDJK’s owners served a “cease and desist” order against Fuller-Jeffrey, and 93.5’s call letters were changed to KRXQ in very short order. KRXQ’s ratings began to increase, but the largest jumps began when the station’s owners made a shift in the station’s frequency.
In July 1988, the station shifted from 93.5 to 93.7 FM. In the process, the station went from 3,000 watts to 25,000 watts, ensuring coverage for most of the Sacramento area. The station maintained the “93 Rock” nickname, and billboards announced the frequency change by stating “Now at 93.7 FM”.
The Roseville-based frequency continued as “93 Rock” and became quite successful with its hard-edged mainstream Album Rock format. By 1989, the station began overtaking KZAP in the ratings, often receiving ratings between 6 and 7. While KZAP
KRXQ
KRXQ is a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, broadcasting on 98.5 FM. The station airs an active rock music format branded as "98 Rock"...
(98.5) began leaning towards older adults with mid-tempo and Classic Rock, KRXQ clearly skewed towards younger adults with up-tempo and Hard Rock artists of the day. By the fall of 1991, “93 Rock” was the undisputed leader in Sacramento rock radio. KZAP dropped AOR for country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
on January 20, 1992.
In August 1998, KRXQ (93.7) and classic country-formatted KRAK-FM (98.5) swapped frequencies. The Country-formatted KRAK-FM had poor ratings, so the format and call letters were shifted to 1470 AM in early 1999. The KXOA call sign went to 93.7 FM.
In April 1999, the station’s owners shifted the format to a classic hits format known as “Arrow 93.7.” The format had been in use at 107.9 FM between 1994 and 1998. Basically, the format was a mix of rock released as singles between the 1960s through the 1980s that received airplay on Top 40 stations. There were few, if any, album cuts. Initially, the station was fairly successful.
In June 2001, the owners (Infinity Broadcasting
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
) decided to flip the format to “Hot Talk.” The KXOA call letters remained in place, but the station’s slogan became “The Talk that Rocks.” The station featured Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
during morning drive and a mix of local and nationally-syndicated talk show hosts the rest of the day. On weekends and breaks, the station programmed classic hard rock, primarily released during the 1970s and 1980s. The music was very repetitive and highly familiar. The station went nowhere in the ratings, earning less than a percent rating in the 12+ demographic. The only national show with a substantial audience was Stern's. However, the KiddChris Show, airing locally in the evenings, was the station's highest-rated program consistently.
The station continued with the “Hot Talk” format until August 2002. One of their nationally-syndicated programs, the New York-based “Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
Show” was cancelled from syndication (as well as their home station of WNEW in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
), when an on-air stunt involving sex in a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church offended some listeners and station management. At that point, the station continued to air Howard Stern in morning drive, and dropped all remaining talk shows from their schedule. They continued to air their classic hard rock the rest of the day. KXOA now had the slogan “Sacramento’s Hard Rock.”
Intending to compete with both KSEG (96.9) and KRXQ (98.5), the station added more current material to its musical mix in the summer of 2003, but the ratings did not improve.
In March 2004, the station dropped the “Sacramento’s Hard Rock” slogan and format and the KXOA call letters. The station retained Howard Stern in morning drive, but changed the format to “Classic Alternative” and adopted the call letters of KHWD (Howard 93.7). Again, ratings did not improve. In the spring of 2005, the station began adding new harder alternative rock into its “Classic Alternative” mix. The move is seen by some as an attempt to pick up the audience KWOD (106.5) abandoned, when it shifted to an alternative
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
/Triple-A
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
hybrid format on March 18, 2005. Radio insiders believed that KHWD would either switch to a Spanish or “Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
” format (Classic Hits/Hot Adult Contemporary hybrid after Howard Stern left for Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
).
On October 25, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting announced sweeping changes for many of its owned and operated stations carrying Howard Stern. Several major-market Rock heritage stations (such as WXRK
WFNY-FM
WXRK , known on-air as "92.3 Now", is a radio station in New York City. Owned by CBS Radio, WXRK broadcasts a Contemporary Hit Radio format with a rhythmic lean...
in New York and WYSP in Philadelphia) would have their formats overhauled completely. In Sacramento, KHWD would switch to the “Jack” format. That same day, 93.7 adopted the format at 10:30 a.m. local time
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
and changed their call letters to KQJK. The station continued to carry Howard Stern until December 16, 2005, which was his last day on terrestrial radio.
On December 10, 2008, CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
swapped 5 of its stations (including KQJK) to its current owner Clear Channel in trade of 2 stations in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. The deal was finalized on April 1, 2009.