ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — KFEQ celebrates 100 years on the air February 15th.
Or 16th.
It depends on the source.
In a “Brief History of KFEQ,” longtime KFEQ engineer Kenny Lux reported John Scroggin began his first broadcast on KFEQ at three o’clock in the afternoon of Feb. 15, 1923. Yet, the “License for Land Radio Station” issued by the Department of Commerce contains a date of issue of Feb. 16, 1923.
No matter, KFEQ is one of the oldest radio stations in the country with its temporary 200-watt transmitter issued for three months to a University of Nebraska engineering student predating even creation of the Federal Communications Commission.
KFEQ now operates with a 5,000 watt directional antennae at 680 AM that serves St. Joseph, northwest Missouri, northeast Kansas, southeast Nebraska, and southwest Iowa. The powerhouse radio station serving the Midland Empire is a leader in providing commodity market reports, agricultural news, as well as news, talk, and sports.
And, it all began 100 years ago in tiny Oak, Neb.
Scroggin had been an engineering student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln when a bout of measles forced him to return home to Oak. While recuperating, Scroggin began experimenting with a new medium called radio, first building a ham radio before starting KFEQ in the back of his father’s bank building in Oak. Scroggin moved the station to his home, broadcasting farm market reports from throughout the Midwest and entertainment from local musicians.
In 1926, the St. Joseph Booster Club, the St. Joseph Grain Exchange, and the St. Joseph Livestock Exchange convinced Scroggin to move his station to St. Joseph where it would grow to become one of the heritage agricultural market stations in the nation.
KFEQ has been serving St. Joseph and the region ever since, providing comprehensive agricultural reports, news about the community and the four-state region, as well as talk through the KFEQ Hotline, and sports, especially as the voice of the Missouri Western State University Griffons, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Kansas City Royals.
One hundred years ago, KFEQ received a license from the federal Department of Commerce “for broadcasting entertainment and like matter” and continues to stay true to that vision and more.