KQDJ-FM (101.1 FM, "Q101") is a

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 ...

licensed to serve

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

, serving the Jamestown and Valley City areas. The station is owned by Ingstad Family Media. It airs a Top 40 (CHR) music format. The station was assigned the KQDJ-FM call letters by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

on November 1, 1996.

History

Prior to 1996, KQDJ-FM was the sister station of KQDJ-AM in Jamestown, North Dakota, and transmitted on the frequency of 95.5 FM (now used by

KYNU KYNU (95.5 FM, "Big Dog 95.5") is a radio station licensed to serve Jamestown, North Dakota. The station is owned by i3G media. It airs a country music format. The station was assigned the KYNU call letters by the Federal Communications Commiss ...

"Big Dog Country"). Known then as "J-Country" and owned by Sorenson Broadcasting, KQDJ-FM was a fully automated contemporary country station that occasionally broadcast live play-by-play of high school and the

University of Jamestown , mottoeng = Light and Truth , established = , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Christian , endowment = $45 million , staff = , faculty = , president = Polly Peterson , p ...

sports events. The station used four stereo

reel-to-reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

tape players to rotate music through a pre-programmed sequence of songs throughout the day. The system (affectionately known as "Chumley" by the announcers and engineers) was fairly reliable and included five AA-size

Fidelipac The Fidelipac, commonly known as a "NAB cartridge" or simply "cart", is a magnetic tape sound recording format, used for radio broadcasting for playback of material over the air such as radio commercials, jingles, station identifications, and mu ...

commercial cart carousels that automatically inserted commercials at pre-programmed times plus two larger carts for announcing the time, one with odd minutes and one with even minutes. As a

CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

affiliate, national news was aired via satellite whereas both local news and weather were prerecorded by the AM station announcers and inserted into the automated program lineup. As a cost-saving measure, the station shared its operating hours with its AM counterpart so that the AM announcers could oversee and maintain the automated system including having the night shift AM announcers program "Chumley" for the next day. The original studios were located on the corner of 1st Avenue South and 2nd Street SE in Jamestown on the second floor of the former White Drug Building and across the street from its regional competitors, KSJB and KSJZ. Both stations have since relocated. In 1996, the station moved to 101.1 FM and flipped to a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format as "Q101", carrying programming from ABC's Today's Best Hits network. In 2007, the station began carrying Top 40 (CHR) formatted program ''Romeo's Playhouse'' in the evening and night hours, and Top 40 (CHR) formatted program ''

Open House Party ''Open House Party'' (often referred to as "OHP") is an American radio show hosted by Kannon (Saturday) and Joe Breezy (Sunday), branded as "The Biggest Party on the Planet!", playing contemporary hit radio, contemporary hit music. From its incep ...

'' during the Saturday and Sunday evening and night hours. In July 2008, the station dropped the

Today's Best Hits Today's Best Hits was an American radio network with a Hot Adult Contemporary format. It played many contemporary songs. It also featured many retro (1980s) hits, and on Saturday night, it played only requested retro songs. The network was prev ...

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

network, which was its daytime programming, and flipped to a locally programmed Top 40 (CHR) format with syndicated ''

The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show ''The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show'' (formerly ''Kidd Kraddick in the Morning'') is an American ensemble morning radio show that originates from Dallas, Texas. The show is heard weekday mornings on flagship station, KHKS, and on dozens of other r ...

'', keeping the "Q101" moniker. In 2016, Q101 began a new local morning show called ''The Morning Rally with Warren and Kali''. The new morning show was created to provide more local content.

References

External links

Q101 web pageNews Dakota
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kqdj-Fm QDJ-FM Barnes County, North Dakota Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States