Connoisseur Media has taken a pair of radio stations in southeastern Iowa off the air.
“Classic 96” (KKFD-FM/95.9 Fairfield) and Classic Country station KMCD/1570 (Fairfield) left the air at the end of March.
The stations’ former website, ExploreSEIowa.com, now redirects to a Connoisseur Media page saying, “After many wonderful years of serving our community, Classic 96 and 1570 KMCD as part of ExploreSEIowa.com have officially signed off the air.
“From the early morning commutes to the late-night drives, it has been our honor to be your local radio station.”
The website encourages visitors to listen to web streams of other Connoisseur stations in Iowa.
Connoisseur became the owner of the Iowa stations as part of its acquisition of Alpha Media last year.
Long-term plans for the KKFD-FM and KMCD licenses are not immediately clear. Neither station has submitted a filing to the FCC regarding its suspension of operations as of midday Wednesday.
KKFD-FM is licensed for 4.1kW/122m (class A) with a signal rimshotting Ottumwa, while KMCD is licensed for 250 Watts day and 110 Watts night, non-directional.
They are the only commercial radio licenses in Jefferson County, which has a population of about 15,000. Fairfield also receives a few strong signals from Ottumwa and fringe signals from numerous regional stations.
KMCD signed on in 1953 and KKFD-FM, originally KBCT, came on the air in 1977. The FM station changed its callsign to KMCD-FM in 1987, then to KIIK-FM 1989, and KKFD-FM in 2007.