KQMV

KQMV

City	Bellevue, Washington
Broadcast area	Seattle-Tacoma, Washington
Branding	MOViN' 92.5
Slogan	Seattle's #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency	92.5 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) 92.5-3 FM-"Saigon Radio"
First air date	1961 (as KZAM)
Format	Top 40
ERP	60,000 watts
HAAT	698 meters
Class	C
Facility ID	4630
Callsign meaning	KQ MoVin'
Former callsigns	KZAM (1961-1964) KFKF (1964-1972) KBES (1972-1975) KZAM-FM (1975-1983) KLSY (1983-2006)
Owner	Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. (Seattle FCC License Sub, LLC)
Sister stations	KVRQ, KRWM, KIXI, KKNW
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	movin925.com

KQMV (92.5 FM), known as "MOViN 92.5," is a Rhythmic-leaning CHR radio station serving the Puget Sound area. The Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. outlet operates at 92.5 MHz with an ERP of 60,000 watts and its community of license is Bellevue, Washington. Its transmitter is located near Issaquah, Washington on Tiger Mountain, with studios located at Newport Corporate Center in Bellevue.

History

KQMV signed on the air in 1961 as the original KZAM, with an all-black music format, the first of its kind in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and was licensed to Seattle. It was owned by Monty Strohl. In November 1964, after being sold to Kemper Freeman, it became MOR KFKF-FM, became co-owned with 1540 AM, and was re-licensed to Bellevue. In 1972, Freeman sold the stations to Stewart Ballinger, with the station changing call letters to KBES, but retained the MOR format. It flipped to Progressive Rock, again as KZAM-FM, on April 1, 1975. In 1979, Sandusky Newspapers bought the stations (1540 AM would be sold in 1992 to different owners due to Sandusky's acquisition of KIXI from Sunbelt Communications). KZAM flipped on July 18, 1983 to Adult Contemporary as KLSY. The station was challenged numerous times when various stations flipped to Adult Contemporary in the mid-1980s, as it was the most popular format at the time. It became the sister station of KRWM in 1996,^[1] which, like KLSY, also airs an adult contemporary format. From 1988 to December 2003, mornings were hosted by Bruce Murdock, Tim Hunter and Alice Porter. On February 1, 2002, at 9 AM, the station altered its format to Adult Top 40 and moniker to "Mix 92-5", but retained the KLSY calls.^[2]

Ratings for "Mix" were never spectacular, most likely due to adult contemporary sister station KRWM musically overlapping "Mix", as well as morning drive time ratings failing after the departure of "MH&A" (they were replaced by Mitch Elliot and Lisa Foster, although Foster left the station in 2006).^[3]

On May 1, 2006, at 11 AM, "Mix" signed off with "Closing Time" by Semisonic. The station began stunting with songs with a "goodbye" or "farewell" theme, as well as playing slogans from various radio stations around the country (i.e. "The Best Songs of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and Today). At Noon, the station flipped to Rhythmic AC as "MOViN 92.5". This gave Seattle its first adult-targeted Rhythmic station in four years since the demise of KBTB (now KJR-FM) in 2002 (this format also aired on KBKS from 1996–1997). KQMV's first song as "MOViN" was The C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)".^[4][5] This is the first station that has used the "MOViN" branding, as being consulted by Alan Burns & Associates. KLSY changed call letters to KQMV on May 8, 2006, to match the new branding. Unlike KBKS' AC-leaning direction and KBTB's Rhythmic Oldies approach, KQMV featured a mix of Rhythmic Pop/Dance currents, Old School Hip Hop and R&B, and Disco and Classic Dance hits in an Adult Top 40-like presentation, targeting females 25-44, and positioned itself between Rhythmic Top 40 KUBE, the aforementioned now-CHR KBKS, and non-commercial Dance Top 40 station KNHC. Over the years, KQMV slowly dropped most disco tracks and began emphasizing more currents and old-school Hip Hop, R&B, and Dance tracks from artists like Prince, Destiny's Child, and Janet Jackson.

Beginning in September 2009, the station began tightening its playlist by dropping most old-school tracks, and shifted towards an Adult-oriented Rhythmic CHR format, though not explicitly a Rhythmic AC like it had been. The amount of currents was heavily increased, though the station did retain some old-school (usually playing about 6 old-school songs per hour).

As of November 18, 2010, KQMV completed its shift towards a conventional Rhythmic Contemporary direction with emphasis on current Rhythmic Pop/R&B hits. As a result of this shift, KQMV was added to the Mediabase Rhythmic panel. The change occurred because of the continued fading of rhythmic adult contemporary stations and the Rhythmic contemporary format claiming more of a niche in the market. As of November 2010, Mediabase added KQMV to the CHR panel and would rival KBKS and KUBE. On the BDS overall Top 40/CHR panel, KQMV did not contribute its playlist to BDS' monitored chart until 2012 (it also contributes to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart) because of their Rhythmic-heavy playlist and avoids playing any Mainstream Pop/Rock crossovers to avoid overlapping with Modern AC sister KLCK-FM. Within 3 years, KQMV became the highest rated CHR station in the market, as well as one of the highest-ranked stations overall in the market (with a 7.9 share of the market as of the November 2015 Nielsen PPM ratings period). KQMV's success with the format would cause changes at KBKS and KUBE in January 2016: KUBE would move its Rhythmic format to sister KKBW, with their former frequency (93.3 FM) relaunching as Mainstream Top 40 "Power 93.3", while KBKS would adopt sister KYNW's Hot AC format and retained the "Kiss FM" moniker.^[6]

In November 2013, Sandusky Radio sold its radio holdings in Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona to Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.

Airstaff

KQMV added on-air DJs during the Fall of 2006. The current lineup includes the syndicated "Brooke & Jubal" morning show hosted by Brooke Fox and Jubal Flagg (formerly of KBKS) (KQMV is the flagship station for the show), Justin (formerly of KFNK, now KUBE) in Middays, Mason in Afternoons, Kel during Nights, Program Director Ricky in Overnights, and Gabe and Cooper on Weekends. MOViN Mixers include DJ Mack Long, DJ Henski, DJ Kutt and DJ Marty Mar.

HD radio

• KQMV-HD1 carries the analog format ("MOViN 92.5") from the standard 92.5 FM frequency.
• 92.5-HD2 is currently silent, while
• 92.5-HD3 carries Vietnamese programming known as "Saigon Radio."^[7]

External links

• MOViN 92.5
• Article on Sandusky's decision to ditch KLSY's Adult Top 40 format for Rhythmic AC
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KQMV
• Radio-Locator information on KQMV
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KQMV

References

Coordinates: 47°30′18″N 121°58′08″W / 47.505°N 121.969°W / 47.505; -121.969