Edwin C. Wolff of Sioux City filed on August 13, 1960, for a construction permit to build a new FM radio station in Sioux City. Wolff announced that his sons, John and Daniel, would be heavily involved in the new station's operation; John ran a hi-fi radio store and was a symphony concertmaster in town.[3] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the application on October 5, less than two months later,[4] and KDVR began broadcasting on February 6, 1961.[1] Originally operating with 3,000 watts, the station upgraded to 38,000 watts in 1964.[5]
In 1973, Stuart Enterprises, owner of KMNS (620 AM), purchased KDVR from Wolff.[6] KDVR relaunched as easy listening station KSEZ "Stereo 98" that July.[7] An increase in effective radiated power from 38,000 to 62,000 watts went into effect in November 1975, increasing KSEZ's coverage area.[8] However, the easy listening format turned out to be unable to attract significant advertiser support in the market; as a result, on February 23, 1976, the station flipped to rock.[9]
Stuart sold its two Sioux City stations to Sentry Broadcasting, a division of Wisconsin-based Sentry Insurance, for $1.8 million in 1979.[10] In 1986, a carousel of changing ownership began for KMNS and KSEZ as Sentry sold the pair to Sage Broadcasting of Stamford, Connecticut; at the same time, it sold off three of its six other broadcasting operations.[11] Sage retained the pair for three years, selling to Legend Communications in 1989;[12] the stations were then sold to Chesterman Communications in 1992 after a previous attempt by the same buyer to purchase them the year before fell through.[13][14]
After the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which relaxed limits on radio station ownership, Chesterman and the Cardinal Communications cluster of KGLI and KWSL combined operations.[15] Chesterman later purchased the other stations and changed its name to Radioworks. Clear Channel, predecessor to iHeartMedia, acquired the Sioux City cluster from Radioworks for $12 million in 2000.[16]
^"KMNS Buys KDVR". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. December 21, 1973. p. 4. Retrieved April 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Station Begins Program". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. July 18, 1974. p. 13. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Radio Station Hikes Power". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. November 25, 1975. p. 15. Retrieved April 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Music and Dollars". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. March 3, 1976. p. A1. Retrieved April 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Connecticut company buys KMNS and KSEZ". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. April 12, 1986. p. A3. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Radio station sale awaits FCC OK". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. October 26, 1989. p. A3. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Transactions"(PDF). Radio & Records. May 22, 1992. p. 8. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
^"Chesterman buys radio stations". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. December 8, 1991. p. B2. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Two rival radio stations to merge". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. February 29, 1996. p. A8. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Transactions"(PDF). Radio & Records. October 6, 2000. p. 6. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
