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Questions about the old KQQK

R

rageradio

A few questions...
I remember KQQK in the mid to late 80s. For me it was an alternative to KKBQ and KRBE and was fairly popular to us hispanics living on the east end. Some of my friends and I also enjoyed listening to the Sunday night heavy metal show, "Queremos Rock". I had stopped listening completely sometime in 1988 and a couple of years later come to find them playing Tejano music. Anyway I recently read that KQQK surrendered their broadcast license in March of 1989 and signed off forever. Then in January of 1990 a new facility signed on at 106.5 and adopted the KQQK calls. Here are my questions:
How did this all play out?
Was there nothing on the air at 106.5FM for those 10 months?
Were both incarnations under the same ownership? (Weren't the Bakers involved with the station at some point).
Did both facilities use the same studios?
Where were they located around that time?

20 questions anybody...


Speaking of the Bakers.... I remember seeing an article in the Houston Post about the station (Tejano by that time) and a photo of Edith in the studio and behind her you could see the KQQK jocks behind the board clowning around, she had this half smile on her face and her expression resembled that of a mother with a house full of rowdy kids. It was kind of funny
 
rageradio said:
]A few questions...
I remember KQQK in the mid to late 80s. For me it was an alternative to KKBQ and KRBE and was fairly popular to us hispanics living on the east end. Some of my friends and I also enjoyed listening to the Sunday night heavy metal show, "Queremos Rock". I had stopped listening completely sometime in 1988 and a couple of years later come to find them playing Tejano music. Anyway I recently read that KQQK surrendered their broadcast license in March of 1989 and signed off forever. Then in January of 1990 a new facility signed on at 106.5 and adopted the KQQK calls. Here are my questions:
How did this all play out?
Was there nothing on the air at 106.5FM for those 10 months?
Were both incarnations under the same ownership? (Weren't the Bakers involved with the station at some point).
Did both facilities use the same studios?
Where were they located around that time?
Click to expand...

WQQK was owned by the Bakers from the time KQQK was incorporated, around 1989; this had been a competing application to replace the Marr ownership. Before that, it was operated by Marr (going back to the 1981 purchase by them) and in around 1988 the were in bankruptcy, with the debtor in possession (headed by Jay Blackburn) changing the format. Marr did not survive and what had been a competing strike application became a single applicant. The Bakers were granted a new facility which was, in fact, the old one. This is some of my imperfect and approximate approximate recollections, aided by expert historian and occasional poster, "Huff".

The station was originally the FM of KGBC in Galveston and went on the air on 106.1 in 1968. A group called Beacon bought it in 1974 and moved to 106.5. From there it went to Marr.

If it was ever off the air, it was for a short period when the previous operator went bankrupt and the new licensee assumed operations. It showed in every book since the signal was improved in 1985.

In 1994, it was sold by the Bakers to Tom Castro's El Dorado for about $10 million. . It was later sold to Hispanic Broadcasting (Today Univision) in 2001 and for $80 million (with a CP for a much better facility). HBC undertook the project of moving the tower site and dramatically improving the signal, which prior to that only partially covered the market; the tower project cost several million dollars.

Rock en español never, ever had any audience success at any station in the US. It was a kiss of death format, and specialty shows were guaranteed audience poison.
 
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After KWIC went off-air, El Dorado bought it and launched a competing or complimentary Tejano station known as KXTJ. It seems like KQQK was more of a Tejano station in the mode of KXTN San Antonio while KXTJ had most of its announcing in Spanish and more regional Mexican tunes mixed in. David might be able to tell you a bit more about that I can.

After selling 106.5, El Dorado moved KQQK's format to 107.9. I don't remember how long it lasted there, but it seems like it went away around the same time most Tejano stations started fading due to an aging audience and a lack of new product.
 
There was a time in the late 90s that KQQK and KXTJ were simulcasting. I remember catching the tail end of the morning show saying goodbye to 106.5 as it was spun off to the new ownership.
 
Around 1985 106.5 was KXKX "La Estrella" running what probably could be called an International Latin Hits format. I suspect such a format did not resonate at all with the local Hispanic demographics. However it was the only Spanish language FM at the time.

A year later the Hispanic targeted Rock format was launched with the KQQK calls and "Estereo Laser" branding. There was a bit of a flap with the then brand new KZFX which launched with a "Lazer Stereo" branding, which promoted the stations use of (the then new) compact disks for music playback. I recall that KQQK filed some sort of cease and desist complaint.

By the end of the 80's KQQK was Tejano. It got direct competition when KXTJ launched in either 1993 or 1994 (can't remember which.) KWIC had tried Album Rock as an eastern rimshot, but failed, and I recall the station was off the air for well over a year (perhaps 18 months?)
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Around 1985 106.5 was KXKX "La Estrella" running what probably could be called an International Latin Hits format. I suspect such a format did not resonate at all with the local Hispanic demographics. However it was the only Spanish language FM at the time.

A year later the Hispanic targeted Rock format was launched with the KQQK calls and "Estereo Laser" branding.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine two less likely to succeed formats for Houston at the time. Pop was not a big choice among a population that, for the most part, had emigrated from smaller towns and villages in Mexico.

Rock was a bad choice anywhere in Latin America except, maybe, Argentina.

Yet, despite Estrella's crash, when TMS bought 93.3 they decided to do the "International Format" because FM was not the place for "grupera" (Regional Mexican) music. Right.
 
DavidEduardo said:


I can't imagine two less likely to succeed formats for Houston at the time. Pop was not a big choice among a population that, for the most part, had emigrated from smaller towns and villages in Mexico.
Click to expand...
Not a Spanish speaker, but was Tejano popular among those immigrants? Was there any crossover hits/artists? I know Tejano is not the same as Regional Mexican, but that's about where my knowledge of Spanish language formats ends. I remember at one point this market had 3 Tejano stations in the 90s that coexisted with an already sizable immigrant population.

Aside from the death of Selena, what happened that made this market go from 3 FM Tejano stations to 4 FM Regional Mexican stations? Seemed those 3 stations did OK within the immigrant community.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Around 1985 106.5 was KXKX "La Estrella" running what probably could be called an International Latin Hits format. I suspect such a format did not resonate at all with the local Hispanic demographics. However it was the only Spanish language FM at the time.

A year later the Hispanic targeted Rock format was launched with the KQQK calls and "Estereo Laser" branding. There was a bit of a flap with the then brand new KZFX which launched with a "Lazer Stereo" branding, which promoted the stations use of (the then new) compact disks for music playback. I recall that KQQK filed some sort of cease and desist complaint.

By the end of the 80's KQQK was Tejano. It got direct competition when KXTJ launched in either 1993 or 1994 (can't remember which.) KWIC had tried Album Rock as an eastern rimshot, but failed, and I recall the station was off the air for well over a year (perhaps 18 months?)
Click to expand...

You know, I also recall (86/87ish) KQQK attempting to position themselves at 107fm by whispering "107" as they "talked up" the intro of a song after saying "1 oh 6 point 5, Kah Koo Koo Kah" (I actually have audio of this)

KXTJ "Super Tejano 108" came about 1993. I was working at the Tejano club Zazz when they came along. They were doing live broadcasts on Friday nights there.
 
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BamaTX said:
Not a Spanish speaker, but was Tejano popular among those immigrants?
Click to expand...

No, for the most part. The exception being immigrants from the Río Bravo border area, who were exposed to Tejano via the US stations where they think the same river is called the Río Grande.

Was there any crossover hits/artists?
Click to expand...

Some, like Mazz, La Mafia and Selena did cross over to regional Mexican with some songs. Selena crossed after her death, for the most part.

I know Tejano is not the same as Regional Mexican, but that's about where my knowledge of Spanish language formats ends. I remember at one point this market had 3 Tejano stations in the 90s that coexisted with an already sizable immigrant population.
Click to expand...

A lot of station owners could not tell a cumbia from a cucumber, so what we often got were stations programmed by whoever the owner or manager found that spoke the best English. And fluent speakers of English tended to be more of the Tejano culture.

Aside from the death of Selena, what happened that made this market go from 3 FM Tejano stations to 4 FM Regional Mexican stations? Seemed those 3 stations did OK within the immigrant community.
Click to expand...

No, they did not. As the population exploded, the Tejano segment became a smaller and smaller portion of the total Hispanic market. And the share dropped. KXTN in San Antonio in the early 90's had double digit shares. Today, with a modified format that plays George Strait as well as Emilio Naveira, they are in the 3-share range.

And there was very little new Tejano music from the late 90's onwards.
 
DavidEduardo said:


A lot of station owners could not tell a cumbia from a cucumber, so what we often got were stations programmed by whoever the owner or manager found that spoke the best English. And fluent speakers of English tended to be more of the Tejano culture.
Click to expand...

That's actually quite funny and irresponsible by today's standards. I vaguely remember one Tejano station (100.7) started splitting evening air time with a Hip-Hop/Dance show. I always thought that both formats targeted the same audience since they used "Spanglish" personalities on both formats.

But what you're telling me is that whoever managed the station was likely only playing what he/she liked and not being innovative?? It fooled me at the time.

No, they did not. As the population exploded, the Tejano segment became a smaller and smaller portion of the total Hispanic market. And the share dropped.
Click to expand...
So the immigration boom killed Tejano? I always thought those three stations pulled in decent numbers back in the day. As a matter of fact, I always thought Estere Latino and KQQK were neck to neck in the 90s. I just assumed KQQK lost after KLTN moved from their rimshot signal and gained full market coverage.

Thanks for the small history lesson of Spanish language formats in Houston. You can always find information about stations such as KLOL or KIKK 96, but nothing about the history of Spanish language radio. Quite sad there's not much information out there for those who are interested.
 
One thing to remember about Tejano music: It is a genre created in Texas by Texans. Immigrants would probably be completely unfamiliar with it.
 
BamaTX said:
That's actually quite funny and irresponsible by today's standards. I vaguely remember one Tejano station (100.7) started splitting evening air time with a Hip-Hop/Dance show. I always thought that both formats targeted the same audience since they used "Spanglish" personalities on both formats.

But what you're telling me is that whoever managed the station was likely only playing what he/she liked and not being innovative?? It fooled me at the time.
Click to expand...

Tejano today is generally a 35+ appeal format. Hip hop, although widening in recent years, is strongest in 18-34 and teens.

The bipolar programming of that station was more likely sales driven. Perhaps the hip hop show attracted club advertisers and the like, which would be a strong reason for doing specialty programming as there are not many older-adult accounts using the night daypart on regular buys.

All this goes back historically to the 70's when the marginal AM players were crushed by the shift of listening to FM. As and example, and as hard as it is to visualize today, there were even Top 40 daytimers taking a little piece from the bigger AM Top 40's. Those very secondary AMs that still make money back then had to find something new to do. Some did paid religion or other limited, but profitable, formats.

Those stations of that sort that were in markets with high Hispanic populations had the option of turning to Spanish language formats. We can assume that nearly none of the owners and managers spoke Spanish, so recruiting of staff depended on finding people who spoke enough English to communicate with ownership. Thus it often became more important to know English than to know programming.

But when a market had limited or no Spanish competition, most anything that could be put on the air in Spanish was better than nothing. And that's the situation that existed through much of the 80's, too, until some larger operators started moving into Hispanic opportunities and brought with them general market (meaning the standards of successful larger market stations in the US, Mexico, Puerto Rico, etc) programming practices.

An example of how things changed can be seen when TAK Broadcasting bought an AM/FM in San Antonio. They put Tejano on the AM and "international" (meaning pop and ballads) on the the FM. The thinking was that Tejano was for "people who did not have FM radios" and that the "sophisticated" listeners would be the only listeners to Spanish language on FM. Wrong.

The AM got much better ratings than the FM. They soon switched the Tejano format to FM and got double digit numbers. And the gradual move of the broadest appeal formats to FM gained speed, to the point that, by the mid-90's AM stations could not successfully play music in markets where there were similar formats on FM.
 
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