KRWK (101.9 FM, known as "101.9 Jack FM", is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

serving the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1983 under the call sign KRRZ. The station is currently owned by

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications is a Wausau, Wisconsin-based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Illinois and ...

. All the offices and studios are located at 1020 S. 25th Street in Fargo, while its transmitter is located near Amenia.

History

The station began life in 1983 with the KRRZ

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

, broadcasting at 6,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, with an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format as "Magic 102". Upon upgrading to 93,000 watts in 1986, the station changed to a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

format as "Country 102" with the

KFGO-FM KFGO-FM (104.7 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format, simulcasting KFGO (790 AM). Licensed to Hope, North Dakota, it serves the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 2002 under the call sign KDAM. ...

call sign. The KRRZ call sign was transferred to 1390 AM in

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

. As the country music scene heated up in the early 1990s, the station adopted the moniker of "Moose Country 102". The station was sold to Otter Tail Power Company in 1995 along with

KFGO KFGO may refer to: * KFGO (AM), a radio station (790 AM) licensed to Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. * KFGO-FM, a radio station (104.7 FM) licensed to Hope, North Dakota, U.S. * KRWK, a radio station (101.9 FM) licensed to Fargo, North Dakota, prev ...

, KDLM-FM, KVOX-FM, and KVOX. the stations were later sold to James Ingstad in 1999 (with the exception of KVOX-FM which was sold to Triad Broadcasting). In 2000, Clear Channel Communications bought Ingstad's stations, and changed the moniker to "K102", with a similar logo to co-owned "K102" (KEEY) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Box 101.9

In 2002, KFGO-FM flipped to a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

format, and renamed itself as "The Box 101.9" (the station also changed its

to KKBX to reflect "The Box" moniker.) Brought on during the flip was 107.9 The Fox's morning show duo, Robbie and Dave. In 2005, the syndicated

The Bob & Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premier ...

replaced Robbie and Dave in the morning and the format was adjusted to All 80s. On September 28, 2006, KKBX and the other Clear Channel stations in Fargo were sold to James Ingstad, who lives in Fargo. Ingstad once owned the stations and sold them in 2000, though

KDAM KDAM (94.3 FM) is a hot adult contemporary radio station serving Yankton and Vermillion, South Dakota area that is licensed to Hartington, Nebraska. KDAM is owned and operated by Riverfront Broadcasting LLC. History KDAM began broadcasting ...

didn't sign on until 2002. The sale was approved by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) on January 19, 2007.

Rock 102

On February 10, 2007, The Box tweaked to a

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

"on shuffle", as a stunt, and changed its call sign to KRWK. On February 16, 2007, KRWK became "Rock 102" with a

format, competing with both Triad Broadcasting's active rock station Q98 and

station 107.9 The Fox. On June 1, 2007, the transmitter used for Rock 102, WDAY-FM "Y94", and KFNW-FM went on fire putting the stations off the air. In April 2008, the station tweaked back to

Billboard controversy

On July 19, 2007, a woman wrote a

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mail ...

to '' The Forum'' expressing concern over the appropriateness of a billboard of Rock 102 with a woman in tankini standing with a caption saying, "Now Turn Us On!" .

101.9 Talk FM

KRWK shifted to a

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

format on March 19, 2012, branded as "101.9 Talk FM." The former lineup included Tom Becka in the morning, Kilmead & Friends,

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...

, JD Hayworth, and others.

Rock 102 returns

"Talk FM", because of being the Fargo affiliate for both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, did not fare well in the Arbitron ratings, registering a 1.7 share in the Spring 2013 ratings, well behind overall leader KFGO, another talk station on AM who had a 15.5 share. At 4 p.m. on September 8, 2013, following the end of the Minnesota Vikings season opener broadcast, KRWK returned to its original Rock format and branding as Rock 102 in an effort to compete with KQWB-FM, who relocated from 98.7 to 105.1 just a few weeks earlier, and

KPFX KPFX (107.9 FM, "107.9 The Fox") is a classic rock radio station licensed to serve Kindred, North Dakota, serving the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. The radio station is owned by Jim Ingstad's Radio FM Media, and is the flagship radio statio ...

. The station launched with 2,000 songs in a row, and will remain Fargo's FM affiliate for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

as well as

North Dakota State Bison football The North Dakota State Bison football program represents North Dakota State University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level and competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison play in ...

and

Fargo Force The Fargo Force is a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Force have won one league championship in 2018 and was awarded USHL Organization of the Year for 2008–09 and 2012–13. ...

hockey.

Mix 101.9

On July 22, 2015, KRWK abruptly dropped the rock format and flipped to AC as "Mix 101.9", adopting the now-old format of KMJO, which flipped to

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

simultaneously.

101.9 Jack FM

On September 12, 2017, at midnight, after playing "

One Way or Another "One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from their 1978 album ''Parallel Lines''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which ...

" by Blondie, KRWK flipped to variety hits as "101.9 Jack FM". The first song on Jack FM was "

Life is a Highway "Life Is a Highway" is a song by Canadian musician Tom Cochrane from his second studio album, ''Mad Mad World'' (1991). The song became a number-one hit in Canada in late 1991. "Life Is a Highway" also peaked at number six on the US ''Billboard'' ...

" by

Tom Cochrane Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music H ...

. KRWK Becomes 101.9 Jack-FM
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References

External links

KRWK official website
* {{coord, 47.010, N, 97.195, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title RWK Radio stations established in 1983 Midwest Communications radio stations Jack FM stations