City | DeRidder, Louisiana |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Southwest Louisiana |
Branding | "97-9 Nash Icon" |
Slogan | "Playing Great Music from Yesterday and Today" |
Frequency | 97.9 FM MHz |
First air date | September 6, 1991 |
Format | Country |
Power | 50,000 Watts |
HAAT | 150 meters (490 ft) |
Class | C2 |
Facility ID | 9029 |
Transmitter coordinates | 30°36′57.0″N 93°13′31.0″W / 30.615833°N 93.225278°W |
Callsign meaning | KQ Lake Charles |
Former callsigns | KEAZ (1991-2000) KAOK-FM (2000-2003) |
Owner |
Cumulus Media (Cumulus Licensing LLC) |
Sister stations | KAOK, KBIU, KKGB, KXZZ, KYKZ |
Webcast | KQLK Webstream |
Website | KQLK Online |
KQLK is a country formatted broadcast radio station licensed to DeRidder, Louisiana, serving Southwest Louisiana. KQLK is owned and operated by Cumulus Media.
In September 1991, what was originally KQLK 97.9 was located at 97.7 MHz and with the callsign KEAZ featuring a beautiful music and easy listening format which would quickly be changed to a country format not less than a year after first broadcast. It served primarily the De Ridder, Fort Polk and Leesville, Louisiana market and was owned by Pittman Broadcasting Services, LLC. The signal was very fringe and almost inaccessible to Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana market listeners. In 2000, Cumulus Media bought the station and later flipped the station to a simulcast of KAOK-AM, a Lake Charles' news and talk station; this time with a new frequency change from 97.7 to 97.9 and a relocated transmitter from Vernon to Beauregard Parish. In 2003, the station then switched back to country music as "Country 98", and a callsign switch to the current KQLK and received moderate to below average ratings. By late 2004, the station would change to Hot 97-9; featuring a CHR format with a predominantly hip hop slanting. In 2014, the station is now at its current format—NASH Icon and once again for the third time returns to country music. As of 2017, the station serves the Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana market but is still licensed to its hometown of De Ridder.