Wikipedia

KQSF

KQSF
Broadcast areaSioux Falls, South Dakota
Frequency95.7 MHz
Branding95.7 KELO-FM
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
1998 (1998) (as KSOB)
Former call signs
  • KSOB (1998–2001)
  • KSQB-FM (2001–2013)
Call sign meaning
"Q Sioux Falls"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID76903
ClassC3
ERP25,000 watts
HAAT100 meters (330 ft)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitekelofm.com

KQSF (95.7 FM, "95.7 KELO-FM") is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to Dell Rapids, South Dakota; it serves the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area. It first began broadcasting in 1998, under the call sign KSOB. The station is owned by Midwest Communications.

Its studios are located on South Phillips Avenue in Sioux Falls, while its transmitter is located near Baltic.

History

[edit]

The station signed on in 1998, as KSOB with an oldies format as "Q Gold 95.7" owned by LA Media, and later changed to the KSQB-FM call sign in 2001. KSQB was also owned by Feller Broadcasting, made up of a partnership of brothers Rob and Nick Feller. KSQB gradually tweaked to an adult contemporary format, and dropped the "Gold" from its moniker by April 1, 2004. Backyard Broadcasting acquired the station later in September 2006. With the growth of the adult hits format in 2005, Q95.7 gradually shifted to adult hits, and began reporting with the format to Arbitron by 2006.

The station was staffed by The Cartwright Brothers Morning Show and Big Scott Allen. Big Scott was also the program director of the station.

On November 1, 2012, Midwest Communications acquired KSQB-FM and its six sister stations from Backyard Broadcasting at a purchase price of $13.35 million.

Logo for the classic hits version of "Q95.7"

On March 1, 2013, KSQB-FM changed its call letters to KQSF and became a classic hits station as "Kool 95.7"; the new format served as a merger of KSQB's adult hits format with the former oldies format of KXQL "Kool 107.9", which was concurrently replaced with a simulcast of KELO (1320 AM) as KELQ.[2][3][4] By 2014, KQSF had rebranded back to "Q95-7".

On September 13, 2018, at 9 a.m., after stunting with poetic readings of various song lyrics, KQSF flipped to Top 40/CHR, keeping the "Q95.7" name,[5] to compete against the more established CHR station KKLS-FM "Hot 104.7".

On April 14, 2025, at 10 a.m., KQSF shifted back to adult contemporary. The shift was prompted by the discontinuation of Westwood One's "Hits Now!" network, and followed a gradual evolution of sister station KELO-FM's own adult contemporary format to hot adult contemporary; KQSF's CHR format had also maintained lower ratings than KKLS-FM.[6]

On October 31, 2025, Midwest announced that 95.7 would take on the adult contemporary format and branding of KELO-FM on November 3, coinciding with the start of KELO-FM's annual Christmas music programming; the adult contemporary playlist will return on December 26. The "Q" branding concurrently moved to 101.9 with a revived version of the CHR format, and the stations intend to swap call signs.[7] The 95.7 facility will be the third to use the KELO-FM call sign, which had been on 92.5 until 2013.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KQSF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Midwest Shakes up Its Sioux Falls Cluster".
  3. ^ "Format Changes". Your Midwest Media. February 28, 2013. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013.
  4. ^ Ellis, Jon. "Broadcasting News-February 2013". Northpine.com. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  5. ^ KQSF Stunting in Sioux Falls
  6. ^ KQSF Moves From CHR To AC;KELO-FM To Hot AC
  7. ^ George, Angela. "Turn that dial for holiday hits. KELO-FM moving to a new broadcast station". Argus Leader. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  8. ^ Venta, Lance (October 31, 2025). "Midwest Prepping Sioux Falls Frequency Swap". RadioInsight. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
[edit]

43°45′47″N 96°48′29″W / 43.763°N 96.808°W / 43.763; -96.808

Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

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