Radio Dubuque

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The logos for the stations owned by Radio Dubuque.

Radio Dubuque, Inc is a Dubuque, Iowa based corporation that owns several area radio stations. The company was founded in 1994 by Paul Hemmer. The company currently owns KDTH AM 1370, and the following FM stations, KGRR 97.3, KATF "KAT-FM" 92.9, and WVRE "The River" 101.1.

KGRR offers classic rock, as does KAT-FM. WVRE "The River" plays country music. KDTH offers classic big band, news, sports, agricultural programming, and other special programming. The stations participate in the FOX News radio network.

[edit] History

By 1994 Paul Hemmer had been working at WDBQ AM 1490 for 34 years. As the morning host, Hemmer had a popular and loyal following, but he was ready for a change. Hemmer, with the assistance of his wife, Jan, and son, Steve, applied for a construction permit to build a new FM station licensed to nearby Epworth, Ia. In 1994 KGRR 97.3 went on the air with a Classic Rock format.

The station became an immediate success and within a year several offers were made by out of market groups to purchase it. Hemmer resisted and continued to build equity and loyal listenership. In late 1999 he was approached by two broadcasters with whom he was acquainted in a "think tank" called "The International Broadcasters Idea Bank." Don Rabbitt and Tom Parsley, then of Worthington, MN agreed to purchase KGRR provided Hemmer could use his friendship with the owners of KDTH and KATF-FM to sell those properties so they could create a 3 station group to compete effectively with the stations in Dubuque owned by Cumulus Broadcasting. (WDBQ AM, KLYV-FM, WJOD-FM, KXGE-FM).

Woodward Communications, publishers of The Dubuque Telegraph-Herald newspaper owned KDTH and KATF. They agreed in January of 2000 to sell their stations to the new Radio Dubuque group with Parsley as President, Hemmer as VP, and Don Rabbitt as CFO. KGRR relocated from studios on JFK Road to the KDTH/KAT-FM building at 8th & Bluff in downtown Dubuque. Several years later the company constructed an additional FM station, WVRE (101.1 FM) licensed to Dickeyville, WI. Hemmer had applied for a construction permit for this new facility in late 1995, but a competing application and changes in FCC rules on new stations delayed the debut of the new station until 2003. It also broadcasts from the 8th & Bluff location with a modern country format.

Under the general manager leadership of Parsley and community relations knowledge of Hemmer, the stations continue to be the radio stations residents depend on for local news, sports, dependable weather, including excellent emergency weather coverage, and local live personalities.

It's interesting that many of the current staff worked with Hemmer while he was Program Director at WDBQ. They include Tom Mack, Mike Kenneally, Michael Kaye, Tom Berryman and Steve Stevens (Hemmer).