KCQQ

KCQQ

Davenport, Iowa United States
Broadcast area	Quad Cities
Frequency	106.5 MHz
Branding	Big 106.5
Programming
Format	Classic hits
Affiliations	Westwood One
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	KMXG, KUUL, WFXN, WLLR-FM, WOC
History
First air date	1966 (as KWNT-FM)
Former call signs	KWNT-FM (1966–1973) KRVR (1973–1995)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	32987
Class	C1
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	273 meters (896 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°37′58.1″N 90°24′38.5″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website	big1065.iheart.com

KCQQ (106.5 FM, “Big 106.5”) is a radio station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, with a classic hits format. The station broadcasts with a power of 100,000 watts from a transmitter located in rural Scott County near LeClaire.

KCQQ is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios located in Davenport. Other stations located in the same complex are KMXG, KUUL, WLLR-FM, WFXN and WOC.

KCQQ is not licensed to broadcast in the HD Radio (digital) format.

History

When the Quad Cities' allocation for 106.5 FM first signed on in 1966, it was home to the market's first FM country music station. The station was known as KWNT-FM, and for the most part, was simply the FM repeater for KWNT's AM signal (at 1580 kHz). KWNT was a daytime station and was required to sign-off the air at sunset. KWNT-FM briefly had its own talk show after the AM station had signed off for the day. Also, shortly before becoming KRVR, KWNT-FM featured album rock music. It was the first commercial station in the Quad Cities market to do so.

The station continued its country format until the summer 1973, when 106.5 FM was switched to an easy listening/adult contemporary format as KRVR-FM; KWNT continued with the country format for several more years. Fondly known to locals under its slogan "K-River," KRVR continued on with few changes until March 1995, when it switched to a classic hits format, eventually tweaking to classic rock, as KCQQ, "Q-106.5".

From September 1995 through December 31, 2006, KCQQ was the home of the top-rated local morning duo Dwyer and Michaels. At the beginning of 2007, it was announced that the two hosts would return to rival station WXLP in July, where they previously had hosted a morning show. Clear Channel sued Dwyer and Michaels, alleging that they had violated a non-compete clause in their contract. The judge ruled in favor of the duo.

Since January 2007, KCQQ has featured the nationally syndicated The Bob & Tom Show.

Like what WXLP did in late 2014 to early 2015, KCQQ began to add in a few newer tracks to its playlist and also some tracks one would not typically find on a classic rock station. The "new" artists mixed in to the classic rock playlist include Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz late 1990s material (along with "Are You Gonna Go My Way"), Smashing Pumpkins "1979", the Offspring's "Self Esteem", "Lightning Crashes" by Live, and even "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes, and "Epic" by Faith No More.

On September 24, 2021, at 1 p.m., after playing "Brain Damage" by Pink Floyd, KCQQ abruptly dropped the classic rock format and flipped back to classic hits as "Big 106.5". The first song as "Big" was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. The change came not because of ratings ("Q" had gone out with a 4.8 share in the August 2021 Nielsen Audio Ratings, significantly behind rival WXLP's 9.9 share, but good enough for 4th place in the market), but to capitalize on the similar flip away from the format by KIIK-FM earlier that day.

External links

• KCQQ's website
• Facility details for Facility ID 32987 (KCQQ) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KCQQ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database