KQDZ "Q-101" Elsberry, MO

[spiritof67]

Last year, KBDZ Perryville (93.1 MHz) leased the use of KWUL Elsberry (101.7 MHz) to simulcast programming to cover the St. Louis metro area. KBDZ ended that simulcast a few months ago, and left the 101.7 frequency to dead air for months.

I noticed that the station resumed broadcasting, running an 80s and 90s Classic Hits format. According to Radio Insight, the station is being leased by the group that owns Active Rock "The Viper" KFNS-FM (100.7 MHz) Troy, MO:

Q101 Debuts In Suburban St. Louis

In St. Louis' northwest suburbs, Viper Broadcasting has launched Classic Hits "Q101" 101.7 KQDZ Elsberry MO. Owned by East Central

radioinsight.com

 

[Mark Roberts]

Last year, KBDZ Perryville (93.1 MHz) leased the use of KWUL Elsberry (101.7 MHz) to simulcast programming to cover the St. Louis metro area. KBDZ ended that simulcast a few months ago, and left the 101.7 frequency to dead air for months.

I noticed that the station resumed broadcasting, running an 80s and 90s Classic Hits format. According to Radio Insight, the station is being leased by the group that owns Active Rock "The Viper" KFNS-FM (100.7 MHz) Troy, MO:

I have to wonder how well a class A from a site near Foley does in St. Charles County. It's probably OK north of I-70 but that's not where most of the population is these days. But it wouldn't be difficult for a group from Troy to run, I'd think.

 

[spiritof67]

I have to wonder how well a class A from a site near Foley does in St. Charles County. It's probably OK north of I-70 but that's not where most of the population is these days. But it wouldn't be difficult for a group from Troy to run, I'd think.

I'm not sure either. At least there is some programming on that frequency. In the past, the station was KLPW-FM Union. Then, there were facilities changes that allowed several stations to up their power, and KLPW-FM's move to Elsberry as a City Of License. Under Randy Wachter's ownership, the 101.7 frequency spent most of its time off the air.

Another part of this is that the owners of 101.7--East Central Broadcasting, LLC, also run KWUL/K-Wulf on 101.5 and now a 100.7 MHz translator which covers St. Louis.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

One of the people behind the new format and imaging is Jim fishback whos been on st louis on and off alto over the last several decades... been on The Viper and also owns WGGH 1150 Marion, IL

 

[Mark Roberts]

I'm not sure either. At least there is some programming on that frequency. In the past, the station was KLPW-FM Union. Then, there were facilities changes that allowed several stations to up their power, and KLPW-FM's move to Elsberry as a City Of License.

Part of the shuffle involved Columbia's KARO (now KPLA) which went from 101.7 to 101.5 and, ultimately, to C1 status. There were a lot of pieces moved around that particular chessboard to get the upgraded Columbia allocation.

Under Randy Wachter's ownership, the 101.7 frequency spent most of its time off the air.

Another part of this is that the owners of 101.7--East Central Broadcasting, LLC, also run KWUL/K-Wulf on 101.5 and now a 100.7 MHz translator which covers St. Louis.

East Central has a whole collection of stations, some of which might have a little bit of a chance by covering Lincoln, St. Charles, and Warren counties. But there were already incumbent stations at Warrenton and Washington (admittedly Franklin County, but still covering much of the east-central area) so I can't imagine that anyone is making very much money out there. It's gotten to be a really curious environment.

 

[Kent]

Last year, KBDZ Perryville (93.1 MHz) leased the use of KWUL Elsberry (101.7 MHz) to simulcast programming to cover the St. Louis metro area. KBDZ ended that simulcast a few months ago, and left the 101.7 frequency to dead air for months.

This has been in the works for awhile. I'm actually surprised it took this long to get 101.7 back up and running.

I have to wonder how well a class A from a site near Foley does in St. Charles County. It's probably OK north of I-70 but that's not where most of the population is these days. But it wouldn't be difficult for a group from Troy to run, I'd think.

Not sure how well 101.7 does from that location. I was able to get 100.7 when it was KZMM at Mid-Rivers Mall about 30 years ago. I was, however, about 8 floors up at the Drury Inn on the outlot. I was able to get a lot of stations on my boombox that high up, including most of them from Quincy/Hannibal and Springfield.

Another part of this is that the owners of 101.7--East Central Broadcasting, LLC, also run KWUL/K-Wulf on 101.5 and now a 100.7 MHz translator which covers St. Louis.

I believe they also still have 920.

Part of the shuffle involved Columbia's KARO (now KPLA) which went from 101.7 to 101.5 and, ultimately, to C1 status. There were a lot of pieces moved around that particular chessboard to get the upgraded Columbia allocation.

I remember that. The biggest move in that shuffle was KTXR being forced off 101.5 to 101.3. I was always told Ken Meyer never forgave Al Germond for that one.

East Central has a whole collection of stations, some of which might have a little bit of a chance by covering Lincoln, St. Charles, and Warren counties. But there were already incumbent stations at Warrenton and Washington (admittedly Franklin County, but still covering much of the east-central area) so I can't imagine that anyone is making very much money out there. It's gotten to be a really curious environment.

100.7’s signal is a little better and does actually reach into St. Charles County. 101.7 would seem to be more of a Lincoln County stick. Not sure how much money there is to make out there, but the Troy area does have some business and commerce. Troy has one of two Krogers in the state (though Kroger operates in western and central Missouri as Dillon's and Gerbes), and Kroger does advertise on radio, albeit sparingly. Kroger seems to buy more digital ads. My niece's orthodontist was in that area, but that’s not usually a service that advertises. It tends to be a referral-based service. I can’t imagine the businesses in Troy being able to afford St. Louis rates, and the Mid-MO stations are too far away to efficiently cover Lincoln County (though the old Premier group used to cover tornado warnings in western Lincoln County on KPLA and KOQL). So, you really only have a few choices if you’re based in Lincoln County and need advertising. Checking 100.7’s website, it looks like it has had cutbacks over the last few years, too. It only shows two current on-air hosts. It used to have more than that.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I remember that. The biggest move in that shuffle was KTXR being forced off 101.5 to 101.3. I was always told Ken Meyer never forgave Al Germond for that one.

Ken really needed to grow up about that. He only had to shift one channel, he didn't lose any coverage, and he got new equipment, bought and paid for by someone else.

100.7’s signal is a little better and does actually reach into St. Charles County. 101.7 would seem to be more of a Lincoln County stick. Not sure how much money there is to make out there, but the Troy area does have some business and commerce. [...] So, you really only have a few choices if you’re based in Lincoln County and need advertising.

I wonder if the Troy Free Press and Silex Index is still around. My dad had some business in Troy for a few years and subscribed to those papers.

The big prize in the region, St. Charles County, has always been a tough advertising market since I can remember. One reason was that St. Charles was slowly losing its individual identity and becoming absorbed into the greater St. Louis region. The most immediate reason: the "shopper" newspapers. The Suburban Journals were run by Donnelly out of St. Louis. Donnelly created a separate operating unit in St. Charles, with even its own typesetting equipment, and flung its tabloids into our driveways twice a week. There were more locally-based entities such as the County Tribune in O'Fallon and the Wentzville Messenger that were also distributed free. We were also very close to St. Louis. Even a cheap outdoor antenna would give you good reception of all six St. Louis TV stations. St. Louis FM stations had mostly upgraded to 100 kw (or 50 if east of the Mississippi) by the early 1970s. We could pick most of them up.

The Journals seemed to get most of the advertising. O'Fallon and Wentzville also had weeklies that weren't shoppers, but they didn't have nearly the advertising. St. Charles had a daily newspaper, and KIRL radio. KWRE out of Warrenton also tried to appeal to St. Charles County. Of course, the two St. Louis dailies also circulated in our area.

While St. Charles County was growing tremendously, that didn't seem to be reflected in the advertising market. Probably some of that was because St. Louis-based chains started moving into the county. Maybe another is that the isolation caused by too few bridges for too many people across the Missouri River was beginning to be addressed with new bridge construction projects. (Ask me about the Highway 115 bridge some time. It was a fright.)

So, wrap all those things together and take a look at 1978. KIRL went from CHR to oldies a couple of years earlier; in 1978, it went to country. Possibly it hoped to capitalize on WIL's relatively weak signal in the northwest metro. By 1980, it was sold to the black-gospel operators that ran it for many years afterwards. KIRL had a good signal, but that 1980 sale, actually announced in 1979, was an indication that the advertising market for KIRL in its home county had gone soft. Also in 1978: the St. Charles Banner-News, the local daily which had started winning awards, was abruptly shut down. I still have the last issue; the Banner-News sold the subscription list to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which immediately started a zoned section of the newspaper called The St. Charles Post. Ogden Newspapers never explained the decision. I suspect they saw the trend of more consolidation with the St. Louis market and decided that they could, at best, maintain steady business but not grow. Somehow, newspapers on the Illinois side of the St. Louis area didn't make this calculation; perhaps their communities had more distinctive identities than St. Charles wound up with.

There's a minor irony: after the Banner folder, Donnelly tried to start a daily newspaper based in St. Charles, separate from the Journal. It lasted a few months. Much later, the Post-Dispatch bought out Donnelly and kept the Suburban Journals.

For KWRE, St. Charles County was gravy...enough gravy to justify having an O'Fallon telephone line...but its real base was in Lincoln and Warren counties plus Hermann and Montgomery City. Later on, Kaspar put KFAV(FM) on the air. Even then, KFAV didn't refer to specific counties. Instead, it invented the term "Westplex", which caught on, to represent Lincoln, St. Charles, and Warren counties...in other words, the northwest suburbs and exurbs.

Anyone who's local will have a clear idea of what the market is, but it's probably not well understood by national agencies who most likely see it as just another part of the St. Louis market if they see it at all. Thus most business for any advertising outlet in the Westplex is going to be local, sold by actual people. And that's an even tougher task than ever now.