KQAD (800 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

broadcasting a classic hits format.

Licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...

Luverne, Minnesota Luverne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rock County, Minnesota, United States, along the Rock River (Big Sioux River), Rock River. The population was 4,946 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Luverne is part of the Sioux Falls ...

, United States, the station serves the Luverne and Rock Rapids areas. The station is owned by Alpha Media out of Portland, Oregon. The station broadcasts

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. 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 1976. The co ...

's 'Classic Hits Gold' format, which plays hits from the 1960s to the 1980s. Max Hodgdon hosts the morning show, Matt D is the afternoon host and Jay Kelly is on evenings. The station covers local news from Luverne and Rock Rapids, and covers Luverne Cardinal High School sports.

Founding and early history

In the late 1960s well-known local newspaperman,

Al McIntosh Alan Cunningham McIntosh (October 7, 1905 – July 23, 1979) was editor of the ''Rock County Star-Herald'' of Luverne, Minnesota. He was president of the Minnesota Newspaper Association in 1949. The association now recognizes individuals who hav ...

, became aware of an application pending at the FCC to locate an AM radio station in Luverne. This application was initiated by the owner of a radio station in

York, Nebraska York is a city in and the county seat of York County, Nebraska, United States. At the 2010 census, the city population was 7,766. It is the home of York University and the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women. History York was platted in ...

, so McIntosh convinced four other local businessmen, Mort Skewes, Warren Schoon, Rollie Swanson, and Dominic Lippi, to join forces and submit a competing application to the FCC. These two applications were mutually exclusive, and sat in the hands of the FCC for upwards of two years before local stakeholders accelerated the process. In the spring of 1968, Paul Hedberg, an experienced owner of another radio station in southern Minnesota, joined the five businessmen from Luverne, and together they entered negotiations with their competitor to withdraw his application with the FCC. Soon thereafter the FCC granted the six-member ownership group, now organized as Siouxland Broadcasting, the construction permit for KQAD. At its inception KQAD broadcast a pop music format, and was affiliated with the ABC Radio Network. Six months after the debut of KQAD, its sister station KQAD-FM went on the air. KQAD-FM is now known as KLQL.Hedberg, ''The Time of My Life'', 99.

References

External links

{{Alpha Media Radio stations in Minnesota Soft adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1971 1971 establishments in Minnesota