KBEQ-FM
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| KBEQ-FM | |
| Broadcast area | Kansas City Metropolitan Area |
|---|---|
| Branding | Q-104 |
| Frequency | 104.3 MHz |
| First air date | 1973 |
| Format | Country |
| ERP | 99,000 watts |
| Class | C0 |
| Callsign meaning | KBE = KBEY and KBEA Q = used in Q-104 branding |
| Owner | Wilks |
| Website | http://www.q104kc.com/ |
KBEQ-FM is a country radio station that broadcasts in the Kansas City media market. Prior to adopting it's "young country" format in 1993, KBEQ was Kansas City's sole Top-40 station.
Like many FM stations in the 1960s, KBEQ served as a counterpart to an AM station. Starting in 1960, KBEY (as it was called) continued to play big band and easy listening music when KBEA (at 1480 kHz) powered down at night. In 1973, with the growing popularity of FM radio, KBEQ debuted and gradually chipped at AM powerhouse WHB's longtime popularity. Many deejays would take their turn playing hits at Q-104's Country Club Plaza studios, including Bobby Day and Randy Miller. Fending off other FM upstarts, KBEQ achieved Top-40 dominance in Kansas City when WHB turned to an oldies format in 1985. By the end of the decade, KBEQ was Kansas City's only Top-40 outlet.
However, country music's popularity increased in Kansas City and throughout the nation. In February 1993, KBEQ made the surprise decision to adopt a country format, leaving the area without a bona fide Top-40 station and entering a crowded country market. Today that market is still crowded, and KBEQ struggles to compete against fellow Wilks station KFKF, and Entercom's WOLF, which has beaten KBEQ like a rented mule.
KBEQ's studios were a fixture in the Plaza area until November 2007, when they and KFKF moved into new studios in the men's room at the downtown YMCA.
[edit] External links
- Young Country Q-104's Web site
- Frequency history of 104.3 MHz in Kansas City
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KBEQ
- Radio Locator information on KBEQ
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