City Camarillo, California Frequency 95.9 MHz | Branding Q-95.9 | |
Broadcast area Ventura County, California
Santa Barbara, California Slogan The 805's Hip-Hop And R&B First air date 27 September 1958 (as KAAR at 104.7) | ||
KCAQ, also known as Q-95.9, is a Rhythmic Top 40 outlet serving the Ventura County, California area. The station, whose frequency is 95.9 MHz is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting Ltd. and its city of licence is Camarillo, California.
Station History
KCAQ was one of the first FM stations to go on the air in the Oxnard/Ventura radio market, having signed on in 1958 as KAAR. Prior to becoming KCAQ (originally known as Q-105 when it was mainstream), the station was easy listening KACY-FM and by 1978, the station was soft rock KPMJ (known as K-105). KCAQ originally started out as a mainstream Top 40 in 1983, but by 1988 it shifted to a Rhythmic Top 40 direction after KYMX, its Rhythmic competitor, flipped formats to Country. KCAQ continues in its current Rhythmic direction today, as its musical fare includes R&B/Hip-Hop, Dance and Rhythmic Pop hits.
The original Q105 on-air staff included E. Curtis Johnson in mornings, Johnny Dolan was the 1st programme director in middays, followed by Brian Thomas in afternoons who later replaced Johnny as PD. Nights were hosted by Gwen Johnson and later Famous Amos who was popular with the teenage demographic and Jay Porter hosted late nights. Q105 was an immediate ratings success climbing to #1 with double digit ratings in both the Arbitron and Birch ratings reports. Harold A. Frank was one of the partners of KCAQ and its first general manager.
On July 1, 2016, the station swapped frequencies with sister station KOCP, transferring from 104.7 FM to 95.9 FM, thus giving part of the Los Angeles metro a rhythmic oldies station again in the wake of KHHT flipping to urban in February 2015.
KCAQ operates on the same frequency as KFSH in Anaheim, and competes for signal strength in fringe areas such as the San Fernando Valley in northwest Los Angeles, thus making both signals virtually un-listenable in much of the western LA County area. KCAQ Has Started Streaming Online for folks who live outside Ventura County