KQXR (100.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) 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 ...

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...

Payette, Idaho Payette is a city in and the county seat of Payette County, Idaho, United States. The population was 7,433 at the 2010 census.Boise metropolitan area The Boise, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (commonly known as the Boise Metropolitan Area or the Treasure Valley) is an area that encompasses Ada County, Idaho, Ada, Boise County, Idaho, Boise, Canyon County, Idaho, Canyon, Gem County, ...

. It airs an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

and is owned by

Lotus Communications Lotus Communications Corporation is a media company that owns numerous radio stations and a few TV stations, and is one of the largest privately owned radio station groups in the United States. Headquarters are located in Los Angeles, and the co ...

. The studios and offices are on Fairview Avenue in downtown Boise. It uses the slogan "100.3 The X...Rocks." KQXR 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

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, the maximum for most American 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 off Idaho State Highway 16 in

Emmett Emmett may refer to: Places ;In the United States * Emmett, Idaho * Emmett, Kansas * Emmett, Michigan, a village in St. Clair County * Emmett Charter Township, Michigan in Calhoun County * Emmett Township, St. Clair County, Michigan * Emmett, Misso ...

.Radio-Locator.com/KQXR
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History

KWBJ (1978–1984)

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 on . The original

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 ...

was KWBJ, owned by Blue Mountain Broadcasting. It broadcast on 100.1 MHz and was powered at 3,000 watts, a fraction of its current output. KWBJ was co-owned with 1450 KYET, now

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

, with both stations

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) ...

ing in the late 1970s and early 80s.

Oldies (1984–1991)

KWBJ broke away from the simulcast. It began to run an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format that was largely

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

Top 40 (1991–1993)

The station had a

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 ...

-leaning

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, branded as ''Power 100''. After being heard only in Ontario and Payette, KWBJ got a big increase in power. It began broadcasting at 98,000 watts, with the signal reaching most of the

Treasure Valley The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, and Owyhee rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rural east ...

including

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Ea ...

Nampa The Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA) is the national news agency of the Republic of Namibia. It was founded in 1987 under the name Namibia Press Association as a SWAPO partisan press agency, and resuscitated after independence under its current name ...

, and most parts of

Ada County Ada County is located in the southwestern part of Idaho, United States. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 494,967, which by 2024 was estimated to have risen to 535,799. Ada County is by far the state's most populous county; ...

. In 1992, KQXR moved one notch up the FM dial, to the present frequency following a realignment.

Rock (1993–1995)

In 1993, KQXR picked up a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

format branded as ''Pirate Radio 100.3''. It was modeled after Pirate Radio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, now KKLQ.

Alternative (1995–2010)

KQXR flipped to

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and rebranded as "100.3 The X" on August 25, 1995. The X started out playing alternative rock. however the music overlapped with co-owned J-105 (

KJOT KJOT (105.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Boise, Idaho. It is owned by Lotus Communications and carries an adult hits radio format known as Jack FM. KJOT plays a wide variety of hits from the 1960s until today, concentrating mostly ...

). KQXR was a finalist for ''

Radio and Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'' magazine's 2007 Industry Achievement Award for "Best Alternative Station for markets 100 and Up." Other finalists include

WKZQ-FM WKZQ-FM (96.1 MHz, "96.1 KZQ") is an alternative rock radio station licensed to Forestbrook, South Carolina and serves the Grand Strand area. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an effective ...

, WJSE,

WBTZ WBTZ (99.9 MHz "99.9 The Buzz") is a commercial FM radio station in Plattsburgh, New York, and serving the Plattsburgh area, the Burlington, Vermont metropolitan area and Greater Montreal. The station is owned by Hall Communications, and airs ...

KXNA KXNA (104.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an alternative format. Licensed to Springdale, Arkansas, United States, it serves the Fayetteville (North West Arkansas) area. The station is currently owned by John Lykins, through licensee Rox ...

, and WSFM.

Active rock (2010–present)

The station shifted to an

format in 2010. The station won the "Small Market Radio Station of the Year" at the RadioContraband Rock Radio Convention in 2017.

Scripps and Lotus ownership

Journal Communications Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...

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 will own the two companies' broadcast properties, including KQXR. The transaction is slated to be completed in 2015, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. In January 2018, Scripps announced that it would sell all of its radio stations. In August 2018,

announced that it would acquire Scripps' Boise & Tucson clusters for $8 million. The sale was completed on December 12.

References

External links

Official Website
* {{coord, 43.825, N, 116.509, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title QXR Active rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1978 Lotus Communications stations 1978 establishments in Idaho Payette County, Idaho