KQHT (96.1 FM, "96.1 The Fox") 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 ...

broadcasting a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format 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 ...

, that's

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Crookston, Minnesota Crookston is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Polk County. The population was 7,482 at the 2020 census. It is part of the "Grand Forks, ND- MN Metropolitan Statistical Area" or "Greater Grand Forks". Crookston ...

. It began broadcasting in 1985. The station is owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. 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 ...

KQHT primarily competes with

Leighton Broadcasting Leighton Broadcasting is a radio broadcasting company based in St. Cloud, Minnesota that owns several radio stations in St. Cloud as well as in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Stations owned {, class="wikitable" , - !Ca ...

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." KQHT also broadcasts

University of North Dakota men's ice hockey The North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey team (UND) is the college ice hockey team at the Grand Forks campus of the University of North Dakota. They are members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and compete in National Co ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

games as the flagship station, while sister station

KSNR KSNR (100.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "100.3 Cat Country") is a Commercial broadcasting, commercial radio station serving the Grand Forks, North Dakota area broadcasting a country music format. City of license, Licensed to Fisher, Minnesota, KSNR fir ...

broadcasts

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

men's and women's basketball home games, and sister station KKXL-AM broadcasts University of North Dakota women's ice hockey.

Programming

In addition to its music programming, the station broadcasts play-by-play coverage of University of North Dakota football and men's hockey games. KQHT also broadcasts

Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...

' '' Casey Kasem's American Top 40'' on Sunday mornings.

History

The station began life in 1985 as KLZC, and become KQHT in 1986. KQHT began as a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

station in 1986 as "Magic 96" competing with XL93 (KKXL-FM/92.9). In 1998 it changed to an

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, quie ...

format. It renamed itself "KQ96" in 1996, and "Mix 96.1" in 1998. In the late 1980s, the on-air talent included Ross Holland (Fast Eddie Fingers) Program Manager, Steve Gunner (future Program Manager), Rick Acker, Tim Burns, and Ron Phillips (The Iceman). During that early 1990s battle with XL93, there were personalities like Magic Mark & Paul Braun, Josh Jones, Shelley Carr, "Smilin'" Wade Williams, "Jammin" Jay Murphy, Denny "Crash" Shields, Michael Knight (Mike Cruise), Pat Ebertz, Bobby Brady, Minimum Wage Mike, Harry Callahan, Kim Cooley, Jack Hammer, and Nick Logan. In 2000, Clear Channel bought KQHT and several other radio stations in Grand Forks. KQHT changed its format to

(a hybrid of

and

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

music formats) calling itself as "96.1 The Fox". Clear Channel also got a contract with the University of North Dakota to broadcast Fighting Sioux basketball, hockey, and football games. Hockey and football games are broadcast on KQHT while basketball games are aired on sister station

100.3. The slogan was changed from "Classic Hits" to "World Class Rock" in 2004, and programming evolved towards a broad-based

format. The station shifted to an updated

version of the

"Kool 100.3"

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format after KSNR changed from oldies to

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

in 2005. When competitor KNOX-FM/94.7 changed from

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

in 2007, The Fox shifted back to a

format. KQHT "96.1 The Fox" switched back to

in 2010, with the "Your Station for the Classics" slogan, after KNOX-FM/94.7 changed from classic rock to Top 40 (CHR) as

KZGF KZGF (94.7 FM, "Z94.7") is a radio station broadcasting a Top 40 (CHR) format serving Grand Forks, North Dakota. It first began broadcasting in the 1967 under the call sign KYTN and used the call sign KNOX-FM for several years until 2011. The ...

"Z94.7" to compete with sister station

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

Top 40 (CHR)

KKXL-FM KKXL-FM (92.9 MHz, "XL93") is a radio station broadcasting a Top 40 (CHR) format serving the Grand Forks, North Dakota area. It first began broadcasting in the 1970s as KKDQ. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Cle ...

/92.9 "XL93".

References

External links

96.1 The Fox official website
* {{coord, 47.845, N, 96.840, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations in Minnesota Radio stations established in 1985 1985 establishments in Minnesota IHeartMedia radio stations