KQCH (94.1 FM) is a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

station serving the

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

metropolitan area. It is owned by

SummitMedia SummitMedia, LLC is an American radio broadcasting company based in Birmingham, Alabama. The company formed to purchase mid-market radio stations being divested by Cox Radio in 2013. On November 1, 2018, SummitMedia acquired 19 stations in ...

. KQCH's studios are located on Mercy Road in Omaha's

Aksarben Village Aksarben Village is a mixed-use development in the central United States, located in Omaha, Nebraska. Measuring over , it is on the land of the former Ak-Sar-Ben coliseum and horse track. Aksarben is Nebraska spelled backwards. There is over ...

, while its transmitter is located off North 72nd Avenue and Crown Point at the Omaha master antenna farm.

History

The 94.1 frequency was originally KOAD, owned by the ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...

'', and launched on 94.3 FM in 1941. This lasted until 1949, when it moved to 94.1 and went silent. In 1959, it returned to the air as KMEO, where it had a middle of the road format until 1968, when it became

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...

station KOWH-FM. By 1979, KOWH-FM switched formats to R&B as KYNN-FM under then-new owner Great Empire Broadcasting, lasting until 1982, when it flipped to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. In September 1983, it became WOW-FM and retained the country format, where it enjoyed a successful 17-year run. Journal Broadcasting would buy out Great Empire in 1999. On October 10, 2000, WOW-FM changed its call letters and re-branded to KSSO, "Kiss Country", which prompted a cease and desist letter from

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

– who had previously trademarked and service-marked the "Kiss" name and had recently launched a "Kiss" station in nearby

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. A couple of months later, they modified the call letters and became KMXM "Max Country" on January 2, 2001. KQCH's origins began on May 21, 1999, when KESY (97.7 FM) flipped from

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

as "Channel 97.7". The station became a serious challenger to

KQKQ-FM KQKQ-FM (98.5 FM broadcasting, FM, ''Sweet 98-5'') is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States, the station serves the Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha metropolitan area. The station is ...

during its three years on the 97.7 frequency. On May 3, 2002, at noon, Journal Broadcasting moved KQCH from 97.7 to 94.1 as "Channel 94.1".KQCH Moves From 97.7 to 94.1
/ref> The station continued in a rhythmic direction until 2004, when it shifted to a more mainstream (and slightly adult-leaning) direction after KQKQ flipped to

adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

. In early September 2012, KQCH received direct competition when

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

(then Clear Channel)'s KQBW flipped to Top 40. Journal Communications and the

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

announced on July 30, 2014, that the two companies would merge to create a new broadcast company under the E. W. Scripps Company name that owned the two companies' broadcast properties, including KQCH. The transaction was completed in 2015. Scripps exited radio in 2018; the Omaha stations went to

in a four-market, $47 million deal completed on November 1, 2018.

References

External links

Channel 94.1's website
{{Contemporary Hit Radio Stations in Nebraska 1960 establishments in the United States Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1960 QCH