KRQN/107.1 (Vinton-Cedar Rapids) has flipped to a Regional Mexican format as “El Gallo” (“The Rooster”).
The change marks the first time the Cedar Rapids market has had a Spanish-language station. The next nearest Spanish-language station is KZAT-FM/95.5 (Belle Plaine-Tama), which can sometimes be heard on car radios in Cedar Rapids.
KRQN is owned by Memphis-based broadcaster George Flinn. RadioInsight reports the station is being operated by Steven Lara’s Gorilla Broadcasting Company, which owns stations in South Carolina and operates a station in Georgia. A time brokerage agreement has not yet appeared in KRQN’s public inspection file.
KRQN had been run by Cumulus Media and Townsquare Media from 2006 until May 2021, when Townsquare’s agreement to run the station ended and it began carrying Conservative Talk from the USA Radio Network.
KRQN then informed the FCC in June 2022 that it had gone off the air after a lightning strike damaged equipment. Its most recent public inspection file says it was off the air completely from July to September.
KRQN signed rimshots Cedar Rapids with a 4.7kW/113m (class A) signal. It is also including Iowa City and Waterloo, which do not currently have any Spanish-language formats, in its legal ID.