KBEA-FM

KBEA-FM (99.7 FM, "B100") is a radio station licensed to Muscatine, Iowa, whose format is Top 40 (CHR). The station broadcasts at a power of 100 kW. The signal can be received in both the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas.

KBEA-FM is owned by Townsquare Media, with studios located in Davenport, Iowa (along with the co-located KJOC, WXLP, KQCS and KBOB).

Frequency history

KWPC-FM (1949-late 1960s) and KFMH-FM (late 1960s-1973)

The Muscatine allocation for 99.7 MHz dates to February 1949, when the station signed on as KWPC-FM, a sister station to KWPC (860 AM). The studios for both stations were located on the outskirts of Muscatine.

Early in its history, KWPC-FM—like most FM stations of the 1950s and 1960s—played beautiful, easy listening music. In the late 1960s, the station's call letters changed to KFMH, but easy listening music continued on the frequency for several more years.

KFMH-FM (1973-1994)

In June 1973, KFMH underwent a major format change, Captain Steve Bridges (who had worked at KSTT in Davenport) came in as program director (he later became a part-owner); the station began playing alternative rock, which had gained widespread popularity on the west coast. KFMH ("99 Plus" and "The Real FM" was how it was commonly known) soon gained a devoted, fiercely loyal audience, as the station played lesser-known and local artists in a variety of genres—rock, jazz, blues, etc. Plus, KFMH's disc jockeys Andy Hammer, Kerry Peace, Lisa Catalona, Beth McBride, Chris Carson, Borderline Bob, and later Sean Tracy, Phil and Tom Maicke, Mary of the Heartland, Bob Just Bob, Dirty Judy, Jim Hunter, Roberto Nache, John Obvious, and Captain Steve played album cuts from popular artists. The station was known for pushing the envelope at times, but it also would change programming at a moment's notice (such as when word spread about the shooting death of John Lennon in 1980).