KKBQ-FM

KKBQ-FM, "The New 93Q", is a Houston-based Radio station with a country music format. The station is owned by Cox Radio and is part of the Houston Radio cluster including KGLK, KHPT & KTHT. KKBQ has been nominated twice for Country Music Association awards for Best Radio Station in a Large Market, winning once. It was honored with a NAB Marconi award in 2013 for Country Station of the Year and again in 2014 as Major Market Station of the Year. The station has also won the Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Awards award for Best Country Station three times. It is headquartered out of Suite 2300 at 3 Post Oak Central in the Uptown district in Houston, Texas, United States and the transmitter site is near Missouri City.

History

Origination

The station signed on at 92.5 FM in August 1962 as KLVL-FM, Houston's first Spanish language FM station, "La Voz Latina".

In 1969, the station's original owner, Felix Morales, sold station for $175,000 in cash to Woody Sudbrink. The call letters were changed to KFMZ, with transmitter facilities located on the top of the Pasadena State Bank building at only a few hundred watt signal. Due to complaints from KFMK, the calls were changed to KYED (on air moniker was "Keyed"), airing paid religious programming during the day and oldies at night. After upgrading to a powerful 100kW signal atop the new Shell Plaza in 1971 to cover the entire Houston market, the station changed its call letters to KYND ("Kind 92") and adopted the syndicated Beautiful Music format of Stereo Radio Productions. Soon after this upgrade, Sudbrink sold KYND for over $2 million, over a tenfold return on his original investment. KYND grew to be the dominant beautiful music outlet in Houston, and in 1976 became the first FM radio station to top the Houston radio ratings. Late summer of 1982, KYND moved from 92.5 MHz to 92.9 MHz to accommodate the incoming 92.1 FM in Seabrook, Texas.