KLQL

KLQL
City of license Luverne, Minnesota
Broadcast area Luverne-Rock Rapids-Worthington-Marshall-Sioux Falls
Branding K101
Slogan Tri-States' Best Country
Frequency 101.1 MHz
First air date September 1, 1971
Format Country
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 162 meters
Class C1
Facility ID 39260
Transmitter coordinates 43°48′24.00″N 96°12′23.00″W / 43.8066667°N 96.2063889°W
Callsign meaning KlQl -- looks like K101
Former callsigns KQAD-FM (formerly on 100.9 MHz)
Owner Digity, LLC
(Digity 3E License, LLC)
Sister stations KITN, KLQL, KQAD, KWOA, KUSQ
Website www.k101fm.net/

KLQL (101.1 FM, "K101") is a radio station broadcasting a "Real" country music format, featuring Country music from the 70s, 80s, 90s and today, serving Luverne, Rock Rapids, and Worthington, with rimshot coverage in the Sioux Falls area. The station is currently owned by Digity, LLC, through licensee Digity 3E License, LLC.[1]

Founding and early history

KLQL was initially licensed to the six founders of Luverne's AM radio station, KQAD, as its FM sibling. KQAD-FM first broadcast at 100.9 MHz and with a power of 6000 watts.[2] In 1982 KQAD-FM's ownership group (Paul Hedberg, Al McIntosh, Mort Skewes, Warren Schoon, Rollie Swanson, and Dominic Lippi) learned that they could substantially increase the station's power and range with a slight move up the dial from 100.9 to 101.1 MHz. In his autobiography Paul Hedberg explains the reasoning behind this change: "since FM was surging in popularity we decided to go ahead with this upgrade. We submitted the application for a construction permit to effect the change, and it was granted in late 1982. A new 500-foot tower was built north of Luverne, just west of the community of Hardwick. A 12-bay antenna with a 20 kW Gates transmitter delivered our new 100,000-watt signal, and this more than doubled KQAD-FM’s coverage. With this new power and frequency we decided to separate the stations’ programming. We switched our FM to a Country and Western format, and changed the call letters to KLQL-FM. We wanted to emphasize our new format with a cowboy boot in the logo: KLQL was going to be K101."[3]

Shows and personalities

The Morning Show features Bruce Thalhuber & Ron Cote from 4 until 10 am. Ron Cote is the midday host from 10am until 1pm. Andy Gott is the afternoon host. Other featured programs include Classic Country Saturday, with "The Country Wax Museum" from 6am until noon, and Solid Gold Saturday,from noon until 7pm, The Big Time with Whitney Allen,and the Sunday Morning Gospel Show.

References

  1. ↑ "KLQL Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ Paul C. Hedberg, The Time of My Life (Spirit Lake, IA: University of Okoboji Press, 2014), 99.
  3. ↑ Hedberg, The Time of My LIfe, 101.

External links