KFEQ

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KFEQ
Broadcast areaNorthwest Missouri
Frequency680 kHz
Branding680 KFEQ
Programming
FormatNews/talk/sports/farm
NetworkFox News Radio
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerEagle Communications, Inc.
KESJ, KKJO-FM, KSJQ, KYSJ, KBCT
History
First air date
February 16, 1923; 102 years ago (1923-02-16)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34419
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
39°49′43″N 94°48′20″W / 39.82861°N 94.80556°W / 39.82861; -94.80556
Translator(s)95.3 K237HF (St. Joseph)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.680kfeq.com

KFEQ (680 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in St. Joseph, Missouri. It is owned by Eagle Communications and airs a news-talk-sports-farm reports radio format. The studios and offices are on Country Lane in St. Joseph along with sister stations KKJO, KSJQ, KESJ, and KYSJ.

KFEQ broadcasts at 5,000 watts using a directional antenna. The transmitter site is on Miller Road, near Interstate 29 in St. Joseph.[2] Due to the station's low frequency, transmitter power, and northwest Missouri's high goundwave conductuity, it provides at least secondary coverage to portions of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa during the day, including Kansas City, Topeka and Omaha. At night, a four-tower array is used to protect Class A clear-channel station KNBR in San Francisco. KFEQ concentrates its nighttime signal toward the St. Joseph and Kansas City areas.

KFEQ is also heard on a 250-watt FM translator station, 95.3 K237HF.

Programming

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Weekdays begin with a mix of national and local news, including farm reports. Before dawn, KFEQ carries America in the Morning and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. In late mornings, there are local talk and agricultural shows. Afternoons and nights, nationally syndicated shows are heard on KFEQ, including The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb and Red Eye Radio. Weekends includes the syndicated AgriShop program with host Gene Millard, The Midwest Outdoors with Fred Ramsey, Gun Talk with Tom Gresham, Today's Homeowner, When Radio Was as well as repeats of weekday shows.

In sports, KFEQ carries Mizzou football and basketball, as well as Kansas City Royals baseball and Kansas City Chiefs football. Most hours begin with reports from Fox News Radio.

Bob Orf is program director, after beginning his career at KFEQ in 1975. Orf is also the Voice of the Griffons for Missouri Western State University sports, beginning football broadcasts in 1975. Orf began calling men's basketball in 1989 and women's basketball in 1992. Barry Birr is news director and hosts "The Hotline", a local weekday morning talk show. Tom Brand came to KFEQ in 1996 to serve as Farm Director from KMA in Shenandoah, Iowa. Brand also hosts "The Mid-Day Farm Report" weekdays and "The Saturday Morning Get-Together".

History

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KFEQ was first licensed on March 16, 1923 to John L. Scroggin,[3] head of the Scroggin & Co. Bank in Oak, Nebraska. The call letters were randomly assigned from an alphabetical list, and its original transmitting wavelength was 360 meters (833 kHz). In late 1926, the station moved from Oak to St. Joseph,[4] and KFEQ made its St. Joseph debut broadcast on December 27, 1926, with an announced schedule of 8:30 until 11 p.m.[5] The first broadcasts used a temporary transmitter and antenna in the Hotel Robidoux. Technical complications resulting from interaction with the steel building structure in the hotel knocked the station off the air for two weeks in January 1927, and prompted relocation of the transmitter and antenna to the Prospect Hill area at Poulin and Elwood Streets, near Huston Wyeth Park in northwest St. Joseph.[6]

The main broadcast studios were initially located in a garage on St. Joseph Avenue, but were later re-located to the mezzanine level of the Hotel Robidoux in downtown St. Joseph.[7] (There are conflicting reports as to the St. Joseph Avenue studio location as the first broadcast was reported as being from the Hotel, in the original 1926 newspaper reports.) The station was noted for its live remote daily broadcasts three times each day from the St. Joseph Stockyards and four times each day from the St. Joseph Grain Exchange.

Following a series of frequency changes, on November 11, 1928, under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, KFEQ was assigned to 560 kHz on a timesharing basis with WOI in Ames, Iowa. It was limited to daytime-only operation, with a power of 2,500 watts.[8] On December 1, 1929, KFEQ moved from 560 kHz to its present frequency of 680 kHz and broadcast on a full daytime schedule.[9] On February 10, 1938, the station moved its transmitter and tower to a location on Pickett Road, 3 miles east of the St. Joseph city limits.[10]

1958 station advertisement.[11]

In 1943, the station was allowed to stay on the air around the clock with 5,000 watts.[12] At that time in 1943, the transmitter site was moved to its present location just north of St.Joseph and the current directional antenna facility was installed. It was an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network, running its schedule of comedies, dramas, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio". The Blue Network became ABC in 1945.

KFEQ moved its main studios from the Hotel Robidoux to the third floor of the Schneider building in 1933, and then to the 4th and 5th floors of the KFEQ building (later named the Howitt Building) at 8th and Frederick in 1947. While at the KFEQ Building, on May 2, 1948, the station placed KFEQ-FM on the air for two years on 92.3 MHz. The FM broadcasts were discontinued in June 1950.[13] In 1956, the main studios were relocated to the KFEQ-TV building at 40th and Faraon Street.

KFEQ also had a TV station for a time, KFEQ-TV (channel 2), which went on the air on September 27, 1953.[14] Even though it was based in St. Joseph, KFEQ-TV took out an advertisement in the 1957-58 Telecasting Yearbook to boast of its effective radiated power of 100,000 watts and covered 37 counties, including part of the Kansas City media market. In 1955, KFEQ-AM-TV were sold to the Midland Broadcasting Company.[15] Midland Broadcasting was part-owned by singer-actor Bing Crosby and previously owned KMBC-TV in Kansas City. During the years KFEQ radio was part of the KFEQ-TV organization, several local personalities performed dual roles in programs on both TV and radio, among them were Bill Foster, Ron Davis, and newsman Frank Smith.

In 1969, the two stations were sold to different owners. The TV station changed its call sign to KQTV. KFEQ kept its original callsign as it was acquired by Connie B. Gay Enterprises, using the title "KFEQ, Inc."[16] As a result, the main studios were moved to the Frederick Towers building, located at 2400 Frederick Avenue, where they remained until 1976. In 1976, the main studios were relocated to the Provident Savings and Loan Building at 4305 Frederick Avenue.[17]

Prior to 1974, KFEQ played easy listening, adult music and variety programs. From 1974 through the 1990s, the station played country music, in addition to its farm reports, sports and news. It called itself "Country Sunshine". It also broadcast St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. Through the 1990s, KFEQ added more talk programming and cut the amount of country music it was playing, until it made the transition to a full-time format of talk, news and farm reports. It was acquired by Eagle Communications in 1991.[18]

One of the station's four towers was toppled in a farming accident on June 16, 2009. All four towers were rebuilt and placed into service in 2010.

Logo before translator sign on

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KFEQ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KFEQ
  3. ^ "New stations", Radio Service Bulletin, March 1, 1923, page 3.
  4. ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, January 31, 1927, page 6.
  5. ^ St. Joseph News-Press, December 27, 1926, "First Air Program Over KFEQ Tonite", page 1.
  6. ^ "KFEQ Signs Off For Two Weeks", St. Joseph Gazette, January 4, 1927, page 1.
  7. ^ St. Joseph News-Press Spotlight, February 18, 1978, "55th Birthday for KFEQ Radio", p. 5
  8. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1935 page 40
  9. ^ St. Joseph Gazette, November 30, 1929, p.3, "St. Joseph in Brief Column"
  10. ^ St. Joseph News-Press, Feb 9, 1938, p.1, "New Tower in Use"
  11. ^ "KFEQ" (advertisement), Broadcasting, January 13, 1958, page 69.
  12. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1943 page 108
  13. ^ St. Joseph News-Press Gazette, June 13, 1950, p. 5 "FM Broadcasts are Discontinued"
  14. ^ Telecasting Yearbook 1957-58 page 158
  15. ^ Telecasting Yearbook 1956-57 page 147-148
  16. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1970 page B-120
  17. ^ License document fcc.gov
  18. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-265
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