KQKQ
| City | Council Bluffs, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Omaha-Council Bluffs |
| Branding | Sweet 98.5 |
| Slogan | Omaha's Sweetest Variety |
| Frequency | 98.5 MHz |
| First air date | 1969 |
| Format | Hot AC |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 336 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 43238 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°18′25.00″N 96°1′37.00″W / 41.3069444°N 96.0269444°W |
| Owner |
NRG Media (NRG License Sub, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KMMQ, KOIL, KOOO, KOPW, KOZN, KZOT |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | q985fm.com |
KQKQ-FM (98.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States, the station serves the Omaha metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by NRG Media. Its studios are located at Dodge Street and 50th Avenue in Midtown Omaha, and its transmitter site is located in North Central Omaha at the Omaha master antenna farm on North 72nd Avenue and Crown Point.
KQKQ signed on in 1969 with a progressive rock format as "KQ98."
From September 1980 to March 2004, KQKQ was a Top 40/CHR station known as Sweet 98, and was the Omaha market's first personality-driven FM music station, putting new pressure on market-leader KGOR's automated CHR/MOR operation.
Sweet 98 FM signed on the air in September 1980 with Mark Evans and Dick Warner together, they called themselves "The Breakfast Flakes." The remainder of the lineup included Gregory "Greg Koogler" MacArthur doing middays, Doc Winston (Bruce Soderholm) handling afternoons, Jay Taylor (Craig Wendel) in the evenings, and "Brooklyn Dave" holding down overnights. Brooklyn Dave only lasted a few months before being replaced by Rick Jeffrey.
Operating on a shoestring budget in its early days, the station made its name through a variety of promotions and gimmicks under the guidance of General Manager and DJ William "Will" Honeylamb (Bill Cunningham) and Mark Evans who doubled as Sweet 98 FM's 1st program director. In September 1980, listeners were offered the opportunity to win $50,000 for answering their phones with the phrase, "I listen to the new sound of Sweet 98 FM!"
At approximately the same time, the station opened its "Supermouth" contest, whereby local teens competed for a year-long stint as a Sweet 98 evening jock, a $1,000-a-month salary, a $1,000 wardrobe, and use of a new Pontiac Firebird, emblazoned with station logos and a giant Supermouth emblem on the hood. According to the station, it received over 5,000 applications, from which it auditioned over 300 in 30-second over-the-phone song intros. After narrowing the field to 20 semi-finalists who were given 15 minutes of live airtime apiece, 10 finalists received 30-minute auditions (again live). On February 14, 1981, after five hours of on-air auditions, Bill Cunningham proclaimed Alan Bone, an 18-year-old UNL student, the station's first Supermouth. In all, the station crowned seven Supermouths, the most successful of whom was Scotty "Hot Scott" O'Hanlon, who eventually dominated evenings for most of the late 80s.
...
Wikipedia