KQDJ-AM

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KQDJ-AM
Broadcast area	Jamestown, North Dakota
Branding	1400 ESPN
First air date	1953
Frequency	1400 (kHz)
Format	Commercial Sports (ESPN Radio)
ERP	1,000 watts (day) 250 watts (night)
Owner	Two Rivers Broadcasting
Website	none

KQDJ is an AM radio station located in Jamestown, North Dakota. A 1000-watt station (which reduces power to 250 watts between sunset and sunrise) with a range of about 40 miles under average conditions, KQDJ has served the Stutsman County area under various identities since 1953. KQDJ currently carries ESPN Radio, but formerly recently had an nostalgia format, playing music from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

[edit] History

In 1953, radio station KEYJ went on the air. The station's express mission was to serve the Jamestown community (the other local station, KSJB, had developed into a regional station that didn't adequately serve its home city), providing news, sports and market coverage to the city of Jamestown and its immediate environs.

KEYJ Incorporated (and its president, Robert L. Richardson) owned and ran the station until 1979, when Richardson sold the operation to Great West Broadcasting. On August 1, 1979 , station changed its call letters to KQDJ. Great West was a short-lived operation that lasted only two years. Afterwards, the station went through several owners.

[edit] Alumni

Richardson considered part of his original mission to be helping teach young people from the community how to work in broadcasting. To that end, he made a point of hiring students from the local high school and Jamestown College to work at the station.

Among the many broadcasters who started at KEYJ/KQDJ were: