KQPR (96.1 FM, "Power 96") 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 rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

/ full service format. Licensed to

Albert Lea, Minnesota Albert Lea ( ) is a city in Freeborn County, Minnesota, Freeborn County, in southern Minnesota. It is the county seat. Its population was 18,492 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is at the junction of Interstates Intersta ...

, United States, the station serves the Albert Lea-

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

area. The station is currently owned by Daniel and Barbara Massman, through licensee D&Z Media, LLC.

History

KQPR first went on the air on August 14, 1990. Sometime in the 1990s, it became a

satellite station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

KQCL KQCL (95.9 FM, "Classic Rock Power 96") is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock music format. Licensed to Faribault, Minnesota, United States, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. History The station was assigned the call ...

, which originates out of Faribault. On December 13, 2001, KQPR began broadcasting independently again from its own studios in Albert Lea, its city of license. On March 29, 2004, KQPR increased its effective radiated power from 5,000 to 25,000 watts. In August 2018, it was announced that Hometown Broadcasting was selling KQPR to D&Z Media. The official transfer of ownership was effective on January 2, 2019. Operations Manager Reggie Bauer was brought in with the new ownership, having previously worked for

KDWA KDWA (1460 AM/97.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a hyperlocal News/ Talk format, licensed to Hastings, Minnesota. The station is currently owned by K & M Broadcasting, Inc. and features national news programming from the USA Radio Network ...

(the other station owned by Massman) as a teenager. After Reggie departed, programming an operations were picked up by long time Program Director and Operations Manager Ron Hunter-Budrik. Ron has been part of KQPR for over 22 years. Long time morning host Jay Paul resigned and Ron was moved into the morning slot focusing on more music and community leader interviews.

References

External links

KQPR official website
* Radio stations in Minnesota Classic rock radio stations in the United States {{Minnesota-radio-station-stub