City Brainerd, Minnesota Frequency 1340 kHz | Broadcast area Brainerd Format News Talk Information | |
Branding Brainerd Business Radio First air date May 16, 1964 (1964-05-16) | ||
KVBR (1340 AM, "Brainerd Business Radio") is a radio station broadcasting a news talk information format. Licensed to Brainerd, Minnesota, United States, the station serves the Brainerd area. Founded in 1964 by the Persons family, the station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., and features programming from USA Radio Network.
History
KVBR was started on May 16, 1964. The station changed its call sign from KVBR to KQBR on November 15, 1982 as the station was purchased by Jim and Larry Lakoduk from Fargo, North Dakota. The Lakoduks also owned KQWB AM-FM in Fargo and WEBC in Duluth, Minnesota. The station format was changed to full service country with the image "1340 Q-Country" under General Manager Chuck Whittman. The air staff for KQBR included Bob Randall (PD), Don Kelley (news), Barbara Ann, Don Jahnke, Charlie Kampa, Steve Sedall, H.P Thomas, Chuck Sargent, Dave Torkelson, Ken Adams and Jeff Butler. On August 15, 1986, the station returned its call sign to KVBR when the Lakoduks sold the station back to station founder Charles Persons. The Persons family operated the station on a much smaller scale than the Lakoduks, focusing on a news/talk format. Persons sold the station, as well as an FM construction permit, to Ingstad Broadcasting in the early '90s. After several ownership changes KVBR became part of B.L. Broadcasting (a subsidiary of Omni Broadcasting) with studios in Baxter, Minnesota.
Hubbard Broadcasting announced on November 13, 2014 that it would purchase the Omni Broadcasting stations, including KVBR. The sale was completed on February 27, 2015, at a purchase price of $8 million for the 16 stations and one translator.