KQFM (93.7 FM, "The Q") 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 ...

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 ...

to serve

Hermiston, Oregon Hermiston () is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Its population of 19,696 makes it the largest city in Eastern Oregon. Hermiston is the largest, and fastest-growing, city in the Hermiston-Pendleton Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

, United States. The station, established in 1978, is owned by West End Radio, LLC, which is in turn owned by the Ronald L. Hughes and Gloria Hughes Living Trust.

Programming

KQFM broadcasts an

adult contemporary music 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, quiet ...

format including the satellite-delivered " Adult Contemporary (radio network)" 24-hour live format produced by

Westwood One 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 ...

. KQFM had aired the Hits and Favorites radio network provided by ABC Radio Networks and Citadel Media, but the network ceased operations in July 2014, leaving KQFM to affiliate with Westwood One's format. KQFM 100.5 FM recently left its oldies format behind for new programming that features adult contemporary music including hits from the '70s through the '90s, plus current popular music. In addition to its usual music programming, KQFM broadcasts select

high school sports Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing ...

events featuring teams from Hermiston High School.

History

The beginning

This station began regular operation on September 18, 1978, broadcasting with 3,000

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 of

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 ...

on a frequency of 99.3

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 ...

. The station was assigned 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 ...

KOHU-FM 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 jurisd ...

. Launched as a

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 ...

KOHU KOHU (1360 AM, "Real Country") is a radio station licensed to serve Hermiston, Oregon, United States. The station, which began broadcasting in 1956, is owned by West End Radio, LLC, and serves Umatilla County and Morrow County, Oregon. Programm ...

(1360 AM), KOHU-FM broadcast a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...

format under the guidance of

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

and

chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer ...

Harmon Springer and program director Willie Kelly and the ownership of the Hermiston Broadcasting Company. The station was assigned new call sign KQFM-FM by the FCC on March 1, 1984. Just over two years later, on November 25, 1986, the station changed call signs again, this time to the simpler KQFM.

New ownership

In February 1997, the Hermiston Broadcasting Company reached an agreement to sell KQFM and AM sister station KOHU to the Capps Broadcast Group through their West End Radio, LLC, subsidiary. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 16, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on May 1, 1997.

Move to 100.5

In April 2000, KQFM applied to the FCC to change its assigned broadcast frequency from 99.3

to 100.5 MHz. The change was made as part of a multi-station shuffle to accommodate a power increase by KUJ-FM in

Burbank, Washington Burbank is a census-designated place (CDP) in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States, where the Snake River meets the Columbia. The population was 3,291 at the 2010 census. Named for Luther Burbank, the city is located just east of Pa ...

. The station received a new

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

to authorize the change on August 8, 2000. In January 2003, the Capps Family, co-owners of KQFM licensee West End Radio, LLC, announced an agreement to transfer control of the company to Ronald L. Hughes and Gloria Hughes. The deal was approved by the FCC on February 14, 2003, and the transaction was consummated on June 4, 2003. This move coincided with the station's flip from

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 ...

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, quiet ...

music. In March 2004, Ronald L. Hughes and Gloria Hughes applied to the FCC to transfer the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

for KQFM to the Ronald L. Hughes and Gloria Hughes Living Trust. The transfer was approved by the FCC on April 7, 2004, and the transaction was consummated on April 12, 2004.

Move to 100.1

In April 2007, KQFM filed another application with the FCC to change its assigned broadcast frequency again, this time from 100.5 MHz to 100.1 MHz. This move is part of a multi-station shuffle involving KQFM and

KWRL KWRL (102.3 FM, "The River") is a radio station licensed to serve La Grande, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The station is owned by Elkhorn Media Group and the broadcast license is held by KWRL, LLC. KWRL broadcasts a hot adult contemporary mu ...

to allow religious broadcaster KHSS in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two ...

, to obtain a "bigger, more powerful" signal at 100.7 MHz. The transmitter site would also be moved very slightly to the west and the antenna raised to in

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it ...

. The station received a new construction permit to authorize the change on September 17, 2007. The station began licensed operation on 100.1 MHz on February 17, 2010.

Move to 93.7

On February 4, 2016 KQFM moved from 100.1 FM to 93.7 FM, swapping frequencies with KRKG-FM Pasco, Washington, which moved from 93.7 FM to 100.1 FM.

Station alumni

Harmon Springer, then the

of KQFM and

, served as the president of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters for the 1987 calendar year.

Previous logo

(KQFM's logo under previous 100.5 frequency)

References

External links

GoHermiston.com
* {{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Oregon QFM Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1978 Hermiston, Oregon 1978 establishments in Oregon