KDKE (102.5 FM, "Duke FM") is a classic country radio station located in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

(

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...

Superior, Wisconsin Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...

). KDKE is owned by

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications, Inc. is a Wausau, Wisconsin–based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Il ...

, which also owns

WDSM WDSM (710 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, serving the Duluth-Superior area of Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. WDSM is owned and operated by Midwest Communications and broadcasts a sports ...

WDUL WDUL (970 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial broadcasting, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station city of license, licensed to Superior, Wisconsin. It airs a contemporary hit radio radio format, format and is owned and operated by Midwest Communi ...

, KDAL,

KDAL-FM KDAL-FM (95.7 MHz, "My 95.7") is an American radio station in Duluth, Minnesota, airing an adult contemporary format. KDAL-FM is owned by Midwest Communications, which also owns KDKE, WDSM, WDUL, KDAL, and KTCO in Duluth. All the Duluth stati ...

and

KTCO KTCO (98.9 FM broadcasting, FM, "Kat Country 98.9") is a radio station in Duluth, Minnesota, airing a country music format. KTCO is owned by Midwest Communications, which also owns KDKE, WDSM, WDUL, KDAL (AM), KDAL, and KDAL-FM in Duluth. All th ...

in Duluth. All the Duluth stations share the same studio location at 11 East Superior St. Suite 380, downtown Duluth. Most of KDKE's personalities are voice-tracked or syndicated.

History

The station was Top 40/CHR as "102.5 KZIO" (call sign now used by 104.3/94.1) until November 1996 when it switched to

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

as "102.5 The Bear" with the KRBR-FM

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

. The Bear transitioned to

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 ...

in 1998, and broadened its playlist by 2002. By 2006, "The Bear" moniker was dropped as the station branded as "102.5 KRBR" and added a significant amount of

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

to its playlist to become a

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 a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

station. On March 3, 2008, KRBR-FM changed its call sign to KHQG, and began branding itself as "102.5 The Hog" while remaining with a

format. In March 2009, KHQG shifted from mainstream rock to "

102.5." In the classic rock arena, 102.5 more solidly targeted the market's heritage classic rock station,

KQDS-FM KQDS-FM (94.9 Hertz, MHz, "95 KQDS") is a classic rock music formatted radio station located in Duluth, Minnesota. Established in 1976 as KAOH-FM, the station is owned by Midwest Communications, and follows a format similar to that of the wel ...

94.9. The previous format had fallen between KQ and its

sister, 94X. On August 30, 2010, KHQG flipped back to Top 40 (CHR) as "102.5 KDWZ", the branding and callsign a nod to

KDWB-FM KDWB-FM (101.3 MHz) is an commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces o ...

in Minneapolis. On September 21, 2015 at 10 am, KDWZ flipped to Classic Country as "102.5 Duke FM". It currently airs a mix of classic country music. Many KDWZ staff members, including The Jake and Tanner Morning Show, moved to My 95.7. The KDWZ call sign was previously used with Top 40 stations in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

(was known on-air as "Z93", now

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

formatted

KIOA Kioa is an island in Fiji, an outlier to Vanua Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. Situated opposite Buca Bay, Kioa was purchased by settlers from Vaitupu atoll in Tuvalu, who came between 1947 and 1962. Despite its relatively large size, Vait ...

) and

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

(now

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

formatted

KYCK KYCK (97.1 FM, "97 KYCK") is a radio station broadcasting a country format serving Grand Forks, North Dakota that's licensed to Crookston, Minnesota. It first began broadcasting in 1979 under the call sign KDWZ. The station is currently own ...

) in the 1980s. The station changed its call sign to the current KDKE on December 1, 2016.

References

External links

* * {{coord, 46.789, N, 92.119, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Radio stations in Superior, Wisconsin Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1979 Midwest Communications radio stations 1979 establishments in Wisconsin