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KQRS
City of license	Golden Valley, Minnesota
Broadcast area	Minneapolis-St. Paul
Branding	KQ92 or 92 KQRS
Slogan	Minnesota's Classic Rock
First air date	1969
Frequency	92.5 (MHz) 92.5-2 FM KQRS2 Blues (HD Radio)
Format	Commercial; Classic Rock
Power	100,000 watts
Class	C
Callsign meaning	Quality Radio Station
Owner	Disney/ABC
Website	www.92kqrs.com

KQRS (92.5 FM, KQ92 or 92 KQRS) is one of the most popular radio stations in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, and primarily broadcasts a classic rock format.

KQRS, whose call letters stand for Quality Radio Station, is known as the station that finally unseated legendary area broadcaster WCCO 830 AM from the top ratings spot, with help from a popular morning show hosted by Tom Barnard. Barnard and the KQ Morning Show also were successful in holding the top rating spot when Howard Stern made his debut on the Twin Cities airwaves in 1997. Stern only lasted until mid-1999 in Minneapolis as his ratings brought him to the number two position in morning drive time, but the station that carried the show, WRQC, had poor ratings during the rest of the day, leading to the dropping of Stern and a format change.

The station is owned by Disney, which owns a few other outlets in the area, including "93X" (KXXR) 93.7 FM, "Drive 105" 105.1/5/7 FM, and KDIZ 1440 AM. Its main transmitter is located on the KMSP Tower in Shoreview, Minnesota, with backup facilities atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.

Contents 1 History 2 Pop culture 3 External links 4 References

The original call letters were KADM, and they were co-owned with sister AM station KEVE (as in "Adam and Eve"). Eventually, the call letters for both stations became KQRS. The KQRS call sign stayed with 1440 AM until 1996, when that frequency changed over to become part of Radio Disney, with a children's format (see KDIZ).

Initially, the station programmed a younger-leaning beautiful music/soft rock format. In the summer of 1968, they started experimenting with freeform progressive rock in the late night hours. It became popular, and by the end of the year, this became the KQRS' primary format.

By 1977, the freeform rock would give way to a tightly programmed rock approach, courtesy of radio consultants Burkhart/Abrams and their "Superstars" format, which was essentially just the hits from album oriented rock. Loyal KQ92 listeners were very unhappy when this happened. This approach continued into 1986, with respectable, if not spectacular ratings, when KQRS signed a new consultant, Jacobs Media and evolved into its present day classic rock-leaning approach. That, coupled with its massively popular morning show, elevated KQRS to the top of the ratings.

93.7, then known as KXXR (and "93X"), was purchased by then-owners Capital Cities-ABC in the Spring of 1994 and became an alternative/post-progressive rock station (KEGE, "The Edge"). It primarily competed with the growing "Rev 105," though KQRS' owners purchased that station in 1997. It went through several incarnations before becoming known as today's "Drive 105."

With the three stations, Disney has created what many in the industry refer to as the "wall of rock". It's easy to say that Disney dominates rock music in the Twin Cities, and uses 93X and Drive 105 as 'flankers' to ward off competitors trying to knock off the cash cow known as KQRS.

KQRS has been programmed by the legendary Dave Hamilton for about 20 years. His airstaff has remained the same line up for years as well. Tom Barnard and Terri Traen ("Trainy") in the morning (as well as others such as Pioneer Press sports collumnist Bob "Sanny" Sansevere, Mike "Stretch" Gelfand, Phillip "Philly Dawg" Wise, Bryce, Brian Zepp, and Channel 9 news personality Jeff Passolt); Wally Walker-middays; Ray Erick-afternoons and Lisa Miller-evenings and imaging voice of the station.

Former on-air personality Tony Lee did many bits and parody songs but was fired due to a power struggle with Barnard. Barnard is notorious for not allowing the names of former on-air personalities to be mentioned once they exit the station; loyal listeners were surprised when one day Tony Lee wasn't on the air with the rest of the crew (no explanation of his departure, no mention of his name since). The morning show has become less humor-oriented and more news-oriented since Lee's departure; KQRS "compilation" CDs (most of which proved the morning show to mainly be a vehicle for Tony Lee's bits, skits and songs) from past years bear this out.

In May 2005, KQRS began offering podcasts of its popular morning show through the station's website.

In the 1996 Christmas-themed movie Jingle All the Way, the character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger calls KQRS in an effort to win a rare toy doll for his child. The character gets through and answers the question correctly, but finds out that he wins only a gift certificate.

• KQRS
• KQRS Streaming Audio
• Radiotapes.com: featuring historic airchecks of KQRS and other Twin Cities radio stations

• Diane Richard (November 8, 1996). Disney plans to invade Children's radio turf. The Business Journal (Minneapolis/St. Paul edition).
• (April 26, 2004). Radio Aahs receives $12 million payment from ABC, Disney. The Business Journal (Minneapolis/St. Paul edition).
• Scott Carlson (March 12, 1997). The music stops for alternative station REV 105. Minnesota Daily.
• (May 14, 2005). On the Air: Mei Young moves to 105. Saint Paul Pioneer Press.
• Amy Carlson Gustafson (May 17, 2005). Radio roundup: KQ goes pod wild. Saint Paul Pioneer Press.