Townsquare Media swapped locations of two of its brands in Waterloo IA this morning.
Country “K98.5” KOEL-FM Cedar Falls has moved to 92.3, while CHR “Q92.3” KKHQ-FM Oelwein moves in the opposite direction to 98.5. The move places the Country format on the stronger 100kW/297m Class C0 signal that covers a larger swath of rural areas in northeastern Iowa. KOEL-FM had been located on 92.3 until its move to 98.5 in 2003 to make room for the launch of KKHQ-FM’s CHR format. 98.5 is a 15kW/129m Class C3 signal.
In the Spring 2020 Nielsen Audio ratings, KOEL-FM’s Country format was second in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls market with a 9.8 share, while KKHQ-FM’s CHR was third with an 8.2 share.
kent
I never understood why Cumulus didn’t combine the two country stations on 92.3 and take 98.5 CHR when it made that move in ’03.
I actually sent a T&R to KKHQ at the time, and it would’ve been cool to have worked on a signal that big. It didn’t end up happening. The stations where I was working at the time got sold to Cumulus a few months later and ended up co-owned with them. Q92.3 already had a full airstaff by that point. So, I couldn’t transfer there either!