KJKJ (107.5 FM, "KJ108") is an American commercial

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

serving

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

, United States. It first began broadcasting in 1985. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and the station's broadcast license is held by iHM Licenses, LLC. KJKJ primarily competes with Leighton Broadcasting's

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

1590 KGFK/95.7 K239BG/97.5 K248DH "Rock 95."

Programming

Weekday personalities on KJKJ include the "BigDogz" morning show, Scott Gilbert on mid-days, Jon Roberts on afternoons.

The BigDogz

The station's coarse comedy satirical news and variety

morning show Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a lo ...

pranksters, The BigDogz (sometimes spelled Dawgz), is one of the first of their type, commonly compared to the syndicated morning show Bob and Tom,

Tom Barnard Thomas 'Tom' Mark Paul Barnard (born November 7, 1951) is an American talk radio host and former voice-over talent. He retired as the host of '' The KQ92 Morning Show'' on 92 KQRS but currently hosts Tom Barnard Show on 105 The Ticket from 6:0 ...

's show on KQRS-FM, and Howard Stern. The BigDogz is hosted by Bill Tanner and Pat Mars, and has been on the air since 1995. The BigDogz are known mainly for satire of local and national events; mixed with a variety of characters. The BigDogz talk weekly to comedian

Bob Zany Bob Zany (born Robert Earl Tetreault; September 11, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for performing with his trademark cigar on stage. According to an article found on his web page, he "stuff a cigar into a plastic b ...

and host him annually for a series of comedy shows typically held at Muddy Rivers Ballrooms.

History

KJKJ first signed on in 1985 as "Rock 108" with an

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

(AOR), a predecessor to today's

format, similar to that of the well-known KQRS-FM in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. During the early 1990s, Rock 108 tweaked to

, the descendant of the AOR format. In 1995, The BigDogz debuted as their satirical news morning show, sometimes being compared to morning shows such as the syndicated Bob and Tom,

of KQRS-FM in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Howard Stern, and has been the top-rated morning show for many years.

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

bought out several radio stations including KJ108 in 2000, and KJ108's format evolved into a broad based

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

formatted station; playing a mix of

and

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, to the latest from Five Finger Death Punch, Pop Evil,

Seether Seether are a South African rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion wit ...

, and other mainstream

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

artists. The music consists of a mix of today's heavy metal, alternative and hard

. The station is known to play new

as soon as it reaches radio. KJ108 also plays album tracks not heard on radio reminiscent of album oriented rock as it one of the largest libraries of classic, recurrent mainstream, and

in the Great Plains. The station with the Big Dogs morning show creates a mass appeal rock station and can be heard through most of eastern North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota.

References

KJ108 Playlist

External links

KJ108 official website
{{coord, 47.964, N, 97.030, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title JKJ Mainstream rock radio stations in the United States Active rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1985 1985 establishments in North Dakota IHeartMedia radio stations