KJOC (93.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Bettendorf, Iowa Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. It is the 15th largest city of Iowa and the third-largest city in the " Quad Cities". It is part of the Davenport– Moline– Rock Island, IA- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The popu ...

, and serving the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are th ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. It broadcasts an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

, known as "I-Rock 93.5." KJOC is owned by

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

, with

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s and offices on Brady Street in Davenport, Iowa. KJOC has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ...

(ERP) of 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 Wa ...

s. Its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is located on 205th Street in rural LeClaire in Scott County.

History

Early years as KBQC-FM

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

the air as KBQC-FM, on July 4, 1984. The

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 assig ...

stood for "Bettendorf-Quad Cities." KBQC-FM first began broadcasting live from a bandshell in Middle Park, during the "Old Fashioned 4th of July" event staged by the city of Bettendorf. For several weeks prior to going live, the station had broadcast

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

' "

Here Comes the Sun "Here Comes the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. Harrison wrote the song in early 1969 at the country house o ...

" continuously, as a teaser to the slogan of the station, "B-93, Where it's Always 93 and Sunny." KBQC was Bettendorf's first licensed commercial FM radio station, and was built off an

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issued in May 1983, after a contentious application process by several proposed owner/operators. The prevailing party was Stromquist Broadcast Services, owned by Peter Stromquist, of

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota. Edina began as a small farming and mil ...

. Stromquist and his first hired employee, Barry Martin, originally from

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper and Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. Joplin is the largest city located within both Jasp ...

, oversaw construction from the ground up, of the transmitting facilities in LeClaire, Iowa, and of the new studios and offices on State Street in downtown Bettendorf, located adjacent to Omeara's Pub. When the station premiered, Martin was known as "Martin in The Morning" and served as the host of morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cla ...

. Stromquist sold his interest in the station in 1985 and went on to become VP/GM Europe Middle East, Africa for United Press International, CEO of ABC's radio division in Asia, and Director of Mainland China operations for the broadcasting division of Paris-based Hachette media. Martin subsequently became the morning host of KVON-AM in the San Francisco bay area for nearly 20 years, and later worked in public relations for local government.

The 1990s and early 2000s

The station underwent a number of format changes from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. Formats included

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

as KGLR-FM and

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to w ...

as KQCS. From 1995 to 2004, the station was KORB-FM, broadcasting first an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

format as "Planet 93.5". From 1997 to 2000, the

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

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was broadcast in mornings. In early 2000, the station shifted to

as "93 Rock". The active rock format proved successful, with KORB becoming one of the highest rated stations in the Quad Cities for a few years. However, the ratings of

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WXLP WXLP (96.9 megahertz, MHz FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station, city of license, licensed to Moline, Illinois, and serving the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broa ...

("97X") were not as good, and it didn't help that the two shared somewhat-similar formats. In April 2004, Management decided to merge the two stations; the rock format become "97 Rock", while retaining the WXLP call letters. Following the merge, a

Hot AC 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, qui ...

format took over the 93.5 frequency as "Star 93.5" and call letters were changed back to KQCS. Despite being the only Hot AC outlet in the Quad Cities market, and having 10 years to build a loyal following, "Star" struggled in the ratings. Year after year, it was among the lowest-rated FM stations in the market. "Star" featured "Intelligence for Your Life" hosted by

John Tesh John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...

in the evenings, and carried the "Daily Dees" syndicated program hosted by

Rick Dees Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...

. Local air talent included Melissa Martin and Steve Donovan.

Sports radio

On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would acquire 53

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

stations, including KQCS, for $238 million. The deal was part of Cumulus' acquisition of

Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...

. Townsquare and Dial Global were both controlled by

Oaktree Capital Management Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele. The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that ...

. The transaction was consummated effective November 14, 2013. On June 13, 2014, it was announced that on June 16, KQCS would flip to

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comedy ...

, partially simulcasting KJOC (1170 AM) and carrying

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN" ...

programming as ''ESPN 93.5''. As a Hot AC station, KQCS registered just a 1.5 in the fall 2013

Arbitron ratings Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging ...

. A number of other changes were announced, including a local sports talk show and broadcasting of area high school games. KQCS became the Quad Cities' home for

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

baseball,

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

football and

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

sports. On July 9, 2014, KQCS changed its call letters to KJOC-FM to match the call sign on 1170 AM.

Return to Rock

On August 30, 2019, the station flipped back to active rock after a 15-year absence, branded this time as "I-Rock 93.5". Concurrently, the sports format moved to KBOB, replacing

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 inn ...

on that frequency. I-Rock 93.5 Debuts in Quad Cities; ESPN Moves to 1170
Radioinsight - August 30, 2019 Despite no longer carrying sports, the KJOC call letters remain on 93.5.

Previous logo

References

External links

I-Rock 93.5 — official website
{{Townsquare Media Active rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations in the Quad Cities Radio stations established in 1989 Townsquare Media radio stations