KMCQ
Encyclopedia
KMCQ is a radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 based in Covington, Washington
Covington, Washington
Covington is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,575 at the time of the 2010 census. Prior to the 2010 census, Covington was counted as part of Covington-Sawyer-Wilderness CDP.-History:...

, targeting the Seattle market. The First Broadcasting outlet broadcasts an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....

 music format at 104.5 MHz with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...

 of 7.1 kW.

History

KMCQ, who signed on the air on November 28, 1968 as KCIV-FM and changed call letters to KMCQ on June 20, 1984, has been serving the The Dalles
The Dalles, Oregon
The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is...

/Hood River, Oregon
Hood River, Oregon
The city of Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,831...

 area since its sign on, as a beautiful music station under the KCIV-FM calls, then mostly as a Hot AC under the KMCQ calls until March 30, 2007. Oldies is their current format. In 2005 a realignment of FM frequencies in the Pacific Northwest area resulted in several stations moving to new locations.

KMCQ would end up being one of the stations relocating in the shuffle as the 104.5 signal changed its city of license to Covington, Washington
Covington, Washington
Covington is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,575 at the time of the 2010 census. Prior to the 2010 census, Covington was counted as part of Covington-Sawyer-Wilderness CDP.-History:...

, a suburb of Seattle in southeastern King County
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....

. As a result of this move, KMIH
KMIH
KMIH is a high school radio station broadcasting a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio format. Licensed to Mercer Island, Washington, USA, it serves the Seattle area. The station is currently owned by Mercer Island School District # 400...

, a class-D FM station licensed to Mercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States and the name of the island in Lake Washington on which the city sits. The population was 22,699 at the 2010 census....

, vacated the 104.5 signal to make room for KMCQ and moved to 88.9 after the changes were made. Already another station at this same frequency, KCFL-LP
KCFL-LP
KZFX-LP is a radio station licensed to serve Fall City, Washington, USA. The station is owned by Snoqualmie Educational Radio Project. The station broadcasts oldies and classic rock...

, has since relocated to Ocean Shores, Washington
Ocean Shores, Washington
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,836 people, 1,789 households, and 1,198 families residing in the city. The population density was 444.7 people per square mile . There were 3,170 housing units at an average density of 367.5 per square mile...

 at 89.5.

KMCQ was testing its signal and allowed KMIH to remain at their current frequency, but requested that they sign-off their 104.5 transmission occasionally at night in order to do the testing. The testing was done most of time with programing provided by KMIH, possibly to lower the number of listener complaints. At the same time there were several issues holding up the move-in as they also waited on KAFE
KAFE
KAFE is a 60 kW radio station located and licensed in Bellingham, Washington, USA, transmitting from Mount Constitution on Orcas Island...

/Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

's planned move from 104.3 to 104.1 which was delayed by the coordination process with Canada as the stations are all in the Canadian border zone. In addition, CHHR 104.1
CHHR-FM
CHHR-FM is a Canadian radio station. Licenced to Vancouver, British Columbia and operating at 104.3 FM, the station serves the Metro Vancouver area. CHHR broadcasts with an ERP of 10000 watts with an HAAT of 600m. The station has an adult album alternative format...

 Vancouver was approved as a new station in 2008 by the CRTC. In February 2009, CHHR-FM applied to the CRTC to move from 104.1 to 104.3, allowing KAFE to move to 104.1 and allowing KMCQ to move to Cougar Mountain; CHHR themselves would begin broadcast on July 1, 2009 at 104.1.

On August 27, 2008, it was announced that KMIH and KMCQ finalized their frequency swap. The move now paved the way for KMCQ to finally target the Puget Sound area. KMCQ also announced that on August 31, 2008, that they will flip from adult contemporary to oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....

, filling the void left open by KBSG, who dropped the format for news/talk as KIRO-FM two weeks earlier.

The frequency swap between CHHR-FM and KAFE was granted on March 31, 2009; the two stations swapped frequencies on January 14, 2010 at 7:30 AM, thus allowing KMCQ to increase its effective radiated power and become a full-fledged Seattle radio station with wider coverage.

Following the flip of KVI to talk in January 2012, KMCQ will become the market's only oldies station despite rival KJR-FM
KJR-FM
KJR-FM is a Seattle, Washington,radio station that is broadcasting a classic hits format. It operates at 95.7 MHz at 98 kW, and also on the Internet via streaming audio. KJR-FM is owned by Clear Channel Communications, Inc.- KJR :...

 being a classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...

station.

External links

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