KQFC (97.9 FM, "Magic 97.9") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

. It airs a

soft 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 ...

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 broadcasting, ...

and is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

Studios A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to Wiktionary:study, study or zeal. Types Art The studio o ...

and offices are on West Bannock Street in Boise. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off North Bogus Basin Road, amid other TV and FM

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, north of Boise.

History

KBOI-FM (1960–1985)

On , the station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air as KBOI-FM. It was the FM counterpart to KBOI, owned by Boise Valley Broadcasters. The company was a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. At first, KBOI-FM mostly

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

the full service, middle of the road format on KBOI, consisting of popular music, news and sports. By the late 1960s, KBOI-FM broke away with its own beautiful music format. It played quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumental

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs, as well as

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

show tunes.

KBOI-TV KBOI-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Boise, Idaho, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside low-power CW+ affiliate KYUU-LD (channel 35). The two stations share studios on North 16th Str ...

was also co-owned with KBOI-AM-FM, although the TV station today is owned by the

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

Country (1986–2017)

On January 1, 1986, the station switched its

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 as ...

to KQFC, flipping to a

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 ...

format. Cory Mchals and Debi McCallister, longtime radio veterans, joined KQFC in August 2002 from the

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

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 ...

to host 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 c ...

. Other announcers include Spencer Burke (middays), Tommy Collins (PM drive), Scott Cruize (evenings), and Ron O'Brian (weekends). In October 2011, Cumulus took over the ownership of Citadel's Boise operations, placing KQFC under the same ownership as

KIZN KIZN (92.3 FM) is a commercial radio station located in Boise, Idaho. KIZN airs a country music format branded as ''Kissin 92.3''. History Early years (1967–1978) The station was launched in December 1967 as KATN-FM. On August 1, 1968, ...

, one of its country music rivals. The change in ownership meant cuts in KQFC's air staff, as McCallister and Burke were let go from their contracts as part of a reduction in workforce throughout the company. It was also speculated that with Cumulus having two Country outlets in Boise, either KIZN or KQFC would be poised for a possible format flip in the future. On May 24, 2013, KQFC rebranded as ''

Nash FM Nash is a media brand owned by Cumulus Media. It covers country music-related properties owned by Cumulus, including radio stations, digital properties and publications ('' Nash Country Daily''), Nash TV (a video on-demand service operated in pa ...

97.9'', using Cumulus' national branding for many of its country stations. In February 2014, the

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

''America's Morning Show'' replaced the local ''Q Waking Crew with Cory Mchals'' after more than 10 years. Mikhals was relocated to co-owned KIZN.

Classic country (2017–2019)

On April 3, 2017, KQFC dropped the "Nash FM" branding and flipped to a classic country format as "97.9 KQFC." On April 3, 2017, Steve Shannon became the morning DJ after hosting afternoons on sister station KIZN.

Soft adult contemporary (2019–present)

On October 11, 2019, KQFC began

ing KIZN. Three days later, KQFC dropped its longtime country format and flipped to

as "Magic 97.9". The Soft AC format had scored sizable ratings in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, leading Cumulus to try it in Boise.

Previous logo

References

External links

Official Website
* {{coord, 43.756, N, 116.099, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title QFC Cumulus Media radio stations QFC Radio stations established in 1960 Soft adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Adult hits radio stations in the United States 1960 establishments in Idaho