KQKS

KQKS, also known as KS107.5, is a very successful Mainstream Urban radio station with a couple pop songs mixed into the playlist. It is owned by Lincoln Financial Group serving the Denver-Boulder metropolitan area. The station, which broadcasts at 107.5 megahertz (MHz) with an ERP of 91 kilowatts (kW), is licensed to Lakewood. KQKS' current slogan is #1 For Today's Hottest Music, which they use to reflect its current musical mix of R&B, hip hop and Rhythmic Pop hits.

KQKS History

KQKS origins began in 1986, when Western Cities Broadcasting purchased KLMO-FM Longmont, Colorado and moved the transmitter site closer to Denver to enter the Denver Top 40 wars. At the time, the station was at 104.3 and was known as KS104. By 1989, they evolved into a Dance-leaning rhythmic contemporary hit direction, but by 1993, they would start shifting back to a mainstream Top 40 direction again after they were left standing as the only Top 40 in the market.

However, by 1995, they would see new competition from two new stations, KHHT (K-HITS 107.5) and KALC (Alice 105.9), going after listeners with a mainstream Top 40 direction. As a result of this, KQKS returned to rhythmic contemporary hits that year.

But by 1996, KQKS would receive a major jolt when their air staffers defected to another new rhythmic contemporary hit radio station, KJMN (JAM'N 92.1) and began attacking them on-air and on the streets.

That would all change. In November 1996, Western Cities sold KS104 to Jefferson-Pilot, who kept the station jock-less for 4 months. Jefferson-Pilot was also the owner of KHHT at the time. But on February 23, 1997 history would be made in the market when Jefferson-Pilot moved KQKS to 107.5 and relaunched it as KS1075, replacing KHHT's ill-fated Top 40 format and turning KQKS' former home at 104.3 into a Classic Country outlet (they are now a Sports outlet). The move would also pay off in the ratings as well, resulting in KJMN throwing in the towel on March 30, 1997. Since then KQKS has faced several competitors, but no one has even come close to toppling them since, especially in the Arbitron PPMs, where they maintained a top 5 status in the Denver ratings. In 2009, Clear channel flipped KPTT (who had once competed against them as Top 40/CHR KFMD from 2000 to 2005) to Rhythmic Top 40, resulting in KQKS adding more rap to its playlist. While Rap and Hip-hop accounts for over 50% of KS1075's playlist, the station, like most of the other Rhythmics in the United States, has added some Rhythmic Pop/Dance tracks due to changing tastes among its listeners. As of 2011, KQKS competes against both rival KPTT and the market's only mainstream Top 40/CHR, KDHT, both of whom have yet to beat KQKS.

The current airstaff includes Larry, Kendall and Kathie J in the morning^[1], mid-days with Tony V, afternoons with Gina Lee Fuentez and DJ Chonz, nights with Ya Girl 'Cedes, and late nights with BuhrmGotti. A-Rich and Kingdom work weekends, and mixers DJ Chonz, DJ Dizzy D, DJ Tanastadi, DJ Baby Boy and DJ Above provide mixing duties.

In 2005 Lincoln Financial Group acquired Jefferson-Pilot, thus in turn resulted in LFG becoming KQKS' parent company due to LFG's decision to keep J-P's broadcasting properties in its portfolio despite turning down offers by other broadcasting groups to sell the stations. On April 3, 2006 KQKS and the other stations began replacing the ownership on-air liners "A Jefferson-Pilot Station" with "A Lincoln Financial Station" as LFG retired the JP name. In June 2007 Lincoln announced that would put its television and radio stations up for sale. KQKS, along with its sister stations in Denver was among the properties being shopped around by Lincoln, until the company suspended those plans in 2008 due to financial concerns.

107.5 History

In the mid-1980s, 107.5 was known as KRXY, "Y108". It was the top rated CHR station in Denver during the 1980s. The station would eventually been overtaken by KQKS (then at 104.3) in 1991. KRXY began to lean toward Adult Top 40/Hot AC and eventually dropped the Y108 moniker and became Mix 107.5. When Jefferson-Pilot brought the station the station's calls were changed to KWMX. KWMX would eventually would face competition from KALC in the mid-1990s, and changed its playlist to fit with the current Modern Pop/Rock direction that KALC, and eventually the Hot AC format, was embracing at the time. The attempt proved unsuccessful for KWMX and in 1996 changed its moniker and call letters to K-HITS 107.5 and KHHT respectively, adopting a Mainstream Top 40/CHR direction again. In 1997, after Jefferson-Pilot bought KQKS 104.3, they dropped the K-HITS format and moved the KQKS calls and its Rhythmic Format to 107.5, where it has been ever since.

The station was also once simulcast on 1600AM, later KCKK and now (since January 1, 2007) KEPN, "ESPN Radio 1600."

Music history

KQKS played a part in breaking an import track called "That's What Love Can Do" by the American girl group Boy Krazy. The song, which was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, was a failure when it was released in Europe in 1991 but by late 1992 it somehow wound up getting airplay on the station after one of the staffers heard a remix done by Hot Tracks. The single would go on to be a top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, Top 40 Mainstream, and Rhythmic Contemporary charts in 1993. The group mentions KQKS in their thank-you liners, which can found on their first (and only) 1993 self-titled album.

References

External links

• KS107.5 - #1 For Hip Hop and Today's Hottest Music!
• Audio clip of K-Hits 107.5 debut
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KQKS
• Radio-Locator information on KQKS
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KQKS