KQMQ-FM (93.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, United States, known as "HI93". It is owned by the Pacific Media Group and it broadcasts a format of contemporary Hawaiian and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

music. The programming is led by local radio vet Kelsey Yogi. The station's studios are on Alakea Street in Downtown Honolulu. KQMQ-FM 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 ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations. 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 on Palehua Road near Palikea Ridge in Akupu. The station is also heard on Oceanic Spectrum digital channel 868 for the entire state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

History

Rock and Top 40

The station signed on the air on . Its original call sign was KGMB-FM and was the FM counterpart to KGMB (590 AM, now KSSK). The two radio stations, along with KGMB-TV channel 9, were owned by the Pacific Broadcasting Company, led by J. Howard Worrell. The station changed its call letters to KGMQ on September 1, 1973, shortly after future Hawaiian congressman Cecil Heftel bought the KGMB-AM-FM-TV cluster. It became an

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

station in 1976, & changed its call letters to KQMQ after it was spun off from Heftel to the Aloha Broadcasting Company. Gene Davis was Program Director and hosted 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 ...

while Lee Abrams was the consultant. Among the disc jockeys were Ron Wood, Bob Cole and Noel Grey. It was one of the first stations in Hawaii to include Hawaiian contemporary music in its regular

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

, giving exposure to groups like Kalapana, Cecilio and Kapono, and Keola and Kapono Beamer. By the 1980s, it inherited the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format from KKUA and continued it into the 1990s. On December 18, 2000, at 5am, it flipped to all-1980s and 90s music, with the Top 40 format previously on KQMQ moving over to

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 ...

KDDB. KQMQ was then known as "93.1 The Q". In 2005, KQMQ returned to Top 40 hits with a

modern 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 ...

lean as "93.1 The Zone". During its second run as a Top 40/CHR, KQMQ-FM was the first station in the U.S. to play Linkin Park's " New Divide". This was certified by Mediabase 24/7.

Reggae and Hawaiian Contemporary

In early 2011, management was planning a major change. The station sent out a decoy media release that KQMQ would switch to a new format that would be Traditional Hawaiian "Nā Mele 93.1", a brand that is used at parent company Ohana Broadcasting's other outlets in Hawaii. On February 4, KQMQ dropped its Top 40/CHR format and began stunting with all-

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

music during the weekend until February 6. It then flipped to a format that consists of

and contemporary Hawaiian music, billing itself as "93.1 Da Pā'ina". The move to a Reggae-based format made this the second of its kind in the United States. February 6, was also Marley's birthday, which added to the timing of the flip. According to Program Director Rick Thomas, "Pa’ina’s mission to is to have fun and play the reggae and island jams people really want to hear". Thomas launched with Big Teeze as station voice and with Imaging Director John James. With this move, KQMQ competes with two other Hawaiian contemporary outlets that also feature reggae music in their presentation, KDNN and KCCN.

Pacific Media Group

Pacific Media Group acquired the Ohana Broadcasting cluster in June 2019. It owns 20 radio stations in Hawaii. The acquisition gives Pacific Media its first stations on O'ahu. KQMQ-FM rebranded as "HI93" on March 9, 2020. The rebranding was made to match the similar "HI92.5" KLHI-FM on Kahului, Maui and “HI95” 95.9 KSRF, Poipu, Kaua’i.KQMQ-FM rebranded to "HI93"
former " 93.1 Da Pa’ina"

Past personalities

KQMQ has been the home of several noted radio personalities including Chris Hughes, Augie Tulba (Da Augie Radio Show), Kimo Leahi, Austin Vali, Tony Taylor, Scotty B, Bridgette Sarchino, Sam The Man, Hawaiian Ryan, Leikia, Dan Cooke, Michael Qseng and Danielle Tucker (Morning Madness), Jeff Kino and Lois Miyashiro and Shawn Ho (The Morning Zoo), Justin Cruz, Wili Moku with Wild Kyle the traffic guy, Laurie Ann Solomon, Cliff Richards, Erika Engle, and Kari Steele. Some other popular radio personalities that worked on KQMQ include: Brad Barrett, who also served as sister station KKUA Program Director, later moving to cross street competition KSSK-FM, Kimo Akane, Kriss Hart, Kevin "Bish" Bishop, Myk Powell, Lou Richards, Michael W. Perry, Mark "Mars Frehley" Marolt, Jon Kealoha, Shawn Ho, Jon E. Blaze, Candace Cruise, Kurt Williams, Kathy With A "K", Timster, Bruddah Bryan, Roro, Lisa D. and Steve Kelly, Wayne Dines as "Young Bobby Young" and Mark Morgann as the weekend SegueGuy.

Former Logos

References

93.1 Da Pa'ina rebrands to "HI93"HI93 finds Hawaii's Best Tattoo

External links

FCC History Cards for KQMQ-FM
* * * https://radioinsight.com/headlines/185057/kqmq-honolulu-rebrands-as-hi-93-102-7-the-bomb-debuts-new-morning-show/ KQMQ-FM rebrand link {{coord, 21, 23, 45, N, 158, 05, 58, W, region:US-HI_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title 1967 establishments in Hawaii Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Hawaiian-music formatted radio stations Radio stations established in 1967 QMQ-FM