KOKQ (94.7FM) is a commercialradio station located inOklahoma City, Oklahoma. KOKQ airs aclassic rockformat branded as "Q94.7". Owned byiHeartMedia, its transmitter is located in Northeast Oklahoma City, and studios are located 6525 North Meridian Avenue in Oklahoma City.

KOKQ, along with the other iHeart stations in Oklahoma City, simulcasts the audio ofKFOR-TV if a tornado warning or other disasters are issued within the Oklahoma City metro viewing area.

The current KOKQ license is the third to operate on 94.7 in Oklahoma City.

The first was KOCY-FM, which was the first FM station to broadcast in the state, opening on September 16, 1946.^[2] Initially broadcasting on 98.5 MHz, KOCY-FM was co-owned withKOCY (1340 AM). KOCY-FM quickly increased its effective radiated power, to 3,000 watts in January 1947;^[3] it changed frequencies to 94.7 in mid-1947.

A year later, KOCY-FM activated a new transmitter site and increased its power to 70,000 watts, claiming "the tallest exclusive FM tower in the world".^[4] KOCY-FM was additionally used to feed eight AM stations in a statewide network that began operations in September.^[5]

KOCY-FM ceased operations in 1950. Its tower was acquired by stationKOMA (1520 AM) for use in broadcasting television.^[6]

It would be another eight years before a new 94.7 station operated; on August 17, 1958, Carl E. Williams opened KEFM, offering a "fine music" format.^[7] The fine music outlet was hit with staff turmoil in 1960 when it moved to a more upbeat music policy during the daytime hours; former station manager Earl Thomas claimed no involvement with the change.^[8]

1963 saw an even larger change; the station moved toMidwest City and adopted a new KMWC call sign to reflect its home. KMWC, along withKJEM-AM-FM, carried daily radio broadcasts fromTinker Air Force Base.^[9] However, Williams made an ill-advised move; he leased the station for six months in 1964 to Marlin Joe Pershall withoutFederal Communications Commission approval. In March 1965, the FCC fined Williams $1,000.^[10] Later that year, the station was deleted, and the FCC set aside the fine that December.^[11]

The Electronic Broadcasting Company applied on October 9, 1965, to build a new FM radio station on 94.7 in Oklahoma City. The FCC approved its application for a construction permit on August 17, 1966,^[12] and KEBC—named for the owner—signed on in May 1967. The station was a country music outlet, and the KEBC call sign was often referred to and became a monicker for the station known as "Keep Every Body Country" instead of the Electronic Broadcasting Company, broadcasting from studios at 3920 SE 104th Street on the city's southeast side; in 1970, the studios were moved to 830 SW 31st Street.^[12]

In 1971, Ralph Tyler and Harold McEwen bought a majority share in KEBC, and a new tower facility followed in 1973. KEBC established itself as a force in the market; it pulled double-digit ratings in each year between 1979 and 1982, fighting withKKNG andKTOK for the top spot in Oklahoma City.^[13] However, KEBC gained a formidable competitor on May 27, 1982, whenKXXY-FM flipped to country.^[14] The more aggressive KXXY-FM edged ahead of KEBC in 1983 and would widen its lead to eight ratings points by the end of the decade.^[13]

While KXXY-FM surged, KEBC was sold several times. Van Wagner Broadcasting, which only owned two outlets in Michigan, bought the station from Ralph Tyler for $4 million in 1986.^[15] Two years later, Van Wagner sold KEBC to Independence Broadcasting for $3.9 million.^[16] Independence would see a return on its investment when Clear Channel Communications, forerunner to iHeartMedia, acquired KEBC for $7.5 million in 1993.^[17]

After 28 years in the country format, KEBC relaunched on July 8, 1996 as analternative rock station known as "95X", adopting the call sign KNRX.^[18][19] It was the market's first station in the format.

However, less than 18 months later, another change came. On November 7, 1997, after repeating "A Change Would Do You Good" bySheryl Crow for an hour, KNRX becamesoft adult contemporary KQSR, seeking to target the 35–44 audience and citing the duplication of alternative music on stations in other formats in Oklahoma City.^[20][21]

The station returned to alternative on July 8, 2002, and became KHBZ-FM "The Buzz",stunting beforehand with a buzzing noise played over the soft rock songs and notifying listeners that their "technicians were working to get 'the Buzz' out".^[22][23] Starting with the 2006-07NBA Basketball season, KHBZ-FM also served as the flagship station/Master control (Simulcasting to the Hornets radio network back in Louisiana.) for theNew Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets Basketball team, replacing sister stationKTOK that served as the Hornets flagship station/Master control for the 2005-06 NBA season.

On January 11, 2008, at 5 p.m., the station began stunting with all-Metallica, relaunching the following Monday with anactive rock format. Despite a format emphasizing active rock and some classic rock titles, KHBZ-FM was still placed on thealternative rock panel byRadio & Records/Nielsen BDS.

By the spring of 2009, KHBZ-FM had adopted Clear Channel's syndicatedPremium Choiceactive rock format, becoming musically identical outside of morning drive to sister stationsKIOC inBeaumont, Texas andWHRL inAlbany, New York.

On December 29, 2009, KHBZ-FM flipped to 1980s-basedclassic rock, branded as "The Brew." With the flip, the station changed its call sign to KBRU. The station's initial slogan was "Classic Rock's Next Generation".

Since adopting the "Brew" moniker, KBRU shifted between rock formats on several occasions. In 2012, the station began playing more recent titles, bringing it closer to the music mix heard on the former KHBZ-FM; later in the year, the station added more classic rock titles, eventually moving fully to classic rock as a competitor toKQOB. Since 2015, when the station moved back to mainstream rock, KBRU had oscillated between classic and mainstream rock formats.

On August 18, 2021, at 6 a.m., after playing "The End" byThe Doors, KBRU flipped to sports, branded as "94.7 The Ref", under new a KREF-FM call sign.^[24][25] For overnight programing, the station simulcastedFox Sports Radio along with other sports stations in the Oklahoma City radio market, including sister stationKGHM,KREF inNorman (which the station simulcast as part of a partnership and affiliation between iHeart Oklahoma City and Metro Radio Group, KREF's owner), andKZLS inEnid.

TheOklahoma City CometsPacific Coast LeagueMinor League baseball team affiliate of theLos Angeles Dodgers baseball team broadcast some select games on KREF-FM, specifically those conflicting with college football game broadcasts and other events on AM sister stationKGHM, the team's primary flagship radio station.

On August 7, 2023, iHeart Oklahoma City announced it would end the KREF-FM partnership and affiliation with Metro, and the station would change to a different format at 6 p.m. on August 18 (exactly two years to the day after launch).^[26] While KREF-FM still retained the sports talk format after that time, it would drop all Metro-sourced programs and runFox Sports Radio programming simulcasted with sister stationKGHM full-time as an interim move.

On October 31, 2023, at midnight, KREF-FM dropped the sports talk format and, after playing theJimi Hendrix cover of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and an oldstation identification from the station's time under the KBRU call sign, flipped back to classic rock as "Q94.7", and changed call letters to KOKQ. The station launched with a "Two-For Tuesday", playing sets of two consecutive songs from the same artists all day, starting withWhitesnake's "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love". KOKQ featuresWFBQ Indianapolis host Dave "Gunner" Gunn in mornings. The move brought a full-fledged, full-powered classic rock format back to the area for the first time sinceKRXO had dropped the format from its primary signal in 2013.^[27] Despite the format and call letter change from sports talk and KREF-FM, KOKQ-FM still serves as an alternate station, broadcasting some select games of theOklahoma City Comets (Formally the Oklahoma City Dodgers.)Minor League baseball team, specifically those conflicting with college football game broadcasts and other sports events on AM sister stationKGHM, the team's primary flagship radio station.

KOKQ's HD2 sub-channel carries aregional Mexican format branded as "El Patrón", and is simulcasted on two translators.

• Facility details for Facility ID 11964 (KOKQ) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KOKQ inNielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 140403 (K253BV) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• K253BV at FCCdata.org
• Facility details for Facility ID 148125 (K253AY) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• K253AY at FCCdata.org

• HD Radio stations
• Radio stations in Oklahoma City
• Classic rock radio stations in the United States
• Radio stations established in 1967
• IHeartMedia radio stations
• 1967 establishments in Oklahoma

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