WRQQ
Encyclopedia
WRQQ is a radio station broadcasting on the FM band at 97.1 MHz licensed to the city of Belle Meade, Tennessee
Belle Meade, Tennessee
Belle Meade is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, United States, within Nashville.-Overview:In 1963, it was absorbed into the metropolitan government of Nashville-Davidson County, however, it retains its independent city status, and its residents pay taxes both to the Metro government and to the...
, but serving the Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
market as a whole. It is currently branded as Classic Hits 97.1 RQQ, broadcasting a classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format. It is owned by Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
and operates out of studios on Nashville's world-famous "Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
". Its transmitter is located just north of downtown Nashville. It is Nashville's most recent full-power FM station to take the air.
Ownership
The license was originally granted to the privately owned Dickey Brothers Broadcasting and WRQQ became a sister stationSister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
to WNPL
WNFN
WNFN is a Top 40 formatted radio station in the Nashville, Tennessee market, broadcasting a Top 40 format.Previously licensed to the affluent Nashville suburb of Belle Meade, and recently obtaining a permit for an increased signal, with a new license based in nearby Millersville, WNFN was...
(106.7 FM) and WQQK
WQQK
WQQK is an Urban Adult Contemporary FM radio station broadcasting in the Nashville, Tennessee market on a frequency of 92.1 MHz.Beginning in the 1970s as the pioneering station of the "rock oldies" format in the Nashville market, "92-Q" WQQK was later reformatted to Urban contemporary format and...
(92.1 FM).
In 2002, Dickey Brothers Broadcasting sold the three-station Nashville cluster to Cumulus, a publicly traded company in which the Dickey family is also heavily involved. In 2003, the station moved to a new state-of-the-art studio and welcomed WSM-FM
WSM-FM
WSM-FM is an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee. The station broadcasts at 95.5 MHz and broadcasts a country music radio format, with an emphasis upon recordings released since the 1990s....
and WWTN
WWTN
WWTN is a 100 kW, Class C0 FM radio station serving the Nashville, Tennessee media market. Its dial position is 99.7 MHz. Home to many local and national talk radio shows, the station is marketed as SuperTalk 99.7 WTN...
as sister stations after Cumulus purchased them from Gaylord Entertainment Company
Gaylord Entertainment Company
The Gaylord Entertainment Company operates a number of hotel, resort, and media companies that were built by Edward Gaylord. It was previously a subsidiary of the Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma Publishing Company, which is owned by the Gaylord family and publishes the Daily Oklahoman newspaper...
.
On September 16, 2011, WRQQ and sister station WNFN were placed into an independent trust (Volt Radio, LLC) while Cumulus seeks a buyer. The move was forced by FCC ownership limits following Cumulus' acquisition of Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country...
, which resulted locally in WKDF
WKDF
WKDF is a Country music radio station broadcasting on a frequency of 103.3 MHz from Nashville, Tennessee. WKDF is owned by Cumulus Media.-History:...
and WGFX
WGFX
WGFX is a radio station broadcasting on the FM band at 104.5 MHz licensed to the city of Gallatin, Tennessee, but serving the Nashville market as a whole. It is currently branded as 104.5 The Zone, broadcasting a sports talk format. It is owned by Cumulus Media and operates out of studios on Second...
joining the Cumulus cluster. The FCC, as of 2011, allows a single company to own a maximum of five FM stations and two AM stations in any given market. To meet these guidelines in Nashville, Cumulus was forced to spin off two of its seven FM stations, and the company chose WRQQ and WNFN, traditionally its two lowest-performing stations.
On November 14, 2011, Cumulus announced it was removing WRQQ from the Volt Radio trust, replacing it with WQQK
WQQK
WQQK is an Urban Adult Contemporary FM radio station broadcasting in the Nashville, Tennessee market on a frequency of 92.1 MHz.Beginning in the 1970s as the pioneering station of the "rock oldies" format in the Nashville market, "92-Q" WQQK was later reformatted to Urban contemporary format and...
.
Stunting
Once the station's transmitter was up and running, WRQQ, preparing for its official launch, began stuntingStunting (broadcasting)
In radio broadcasting, stunting occurs when a station abruptly airs programming that is seemingly uncharacteristic compared to what they normally play...
with jukebox sound effects and clips from songs from all genres of music with the promise that "an all-new radio station is coming to 97.1 FM". This stunt was broadcast for a few days in early 2000.
Star 97
WCVQ
WCVQ is a Fort Campbell-licensed radio station broadcasting a Hot Adult Contemporary format in the Clarksville-Hopkinsville broadcast area. The station is currently owned by Saga Communications of Tuckessee, LLC. and is also broadcast on HD radio.-History:The station was assigned the call letters...
/Clarksville), Jack Shell (now middays/MD at WYCD
WYCD
WYCD is a radio station in Detroit, Michigan. The station is the only country music station in the Detroit area. WYCD's offices and studios are located on Woodward Heights . near Interstate 75 in Ferndale, Michigan...
/Detroit), Mark Allen, and Scotty O'Brien.
Though the name stayed the same through the various changes, the station used four different taglines/slogans:
- A Better Variety of Music!
- The Best of the 80s, 90s, and Today!
- The Best 80s and More!
- Real Music Variety!
Oldies 97.1
WCJK
WCJK is an FM radio station broadcasting to the Nashville, Tennessee market on a frequency of 96.3 mHz. WCJK-FM is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast with a power of 39,000 watts to serve the community of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.- History :In the early and mid 1980s,...
), which had broadcast the oldies format in Nashville for over a decade, suddenly changed formats to "Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
". Sensing a void, Cumulus management reacted by changing the underperforming Star 97 to the newly abandoned oldies format.
The new format, put together literally overnight, mimicked the template that WMAK had set forth. The logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
and jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
package were nearly identical to the ones WMAK used, the same slogan ("Good Times & Great Oldies") was incorporated, and the major components of WMAK's airstaff, including Nashville radio legends Coyote McCloud
Coyote McCloud
Coyote William McCloud was a popular radio disc jockey in Nashville, Tennessee. For over 30 years, he was a drive-time personality at several Nashville radio stations. He first became well-known in the early 1970s on WMAK-AM, then a market-dominant rock and roll station, as host of its 7...
and Cathy Martindale, were hired.
97.1 WRQQ
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
and abandoned the "Oldies" moniker as well. The station was reimaged, and for the first time (aside from legal identifications) used the call letters in its on-air imaging. The station became known as "97.1 WRQQ, Rock N' Roll Hits of the 60's and 70's". While the staff initially remained intact, Coyote and Cathy were released in November, and the station replaced them with The Bob & Tom Show
The Bob & Tom Show
The Bob & Tom Show is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995....
during morning drive in December. In doing so, Cumulus secured the rights to Bob & Tom from WBUZ ("102.9 The Buzz"), which had been the duo's Nashville affiliate since 1997. Midday air personality Bobby Knight was also released as part of the shift. As the station matured, its music selection became more and more male-oriented, and the station began to compete more directly with WNRQ
WNRQ
WNRQ is an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee, broadcasting on a frequency of 105.9 MHz. It serves counties in northern middle Tennessee and southern central Kentucky.-History/Ownership:...
("105.9 The Rock"), after being initially positioned to compete with WCJK
WCJK
WCJK is an FM radio station broadcasting to the Nashville, Tennessee market on a frequency of 96.3 mHz. WCJK-FM is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast with a power of 39,000 watts to serve the community of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.- History :In the early and mid 1980s,...
("96.3 Jack-FM").
Classic Hits 97.1/97.1 The Tower
97-1 RQQ
On March 21, 2008 at 10 AM CDT, WRQQ underwent another format change. The station began running liners the day before that pointed to a "major announcement" that would be made on the 21st following The Bob & Tom ShowThe Bob & Tom Show
The Bob & Tom Show is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995....
. At 10 AM, the station played a couple of instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
versions of popular classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
songs. A montage featuring sound bites from prominent rock artists was then played, after which the station launched its new format and branding. The new format is rock, and the branding is "97-1 RQQ." The first song played on "97-1 RQQ" was "Rock Rock Til' You Drop" by Def Leppard. The format overall found "RQQ" positioning itself as "Nashville's Rock Station," playing Classic Rock artist such as Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Aerosmith to more current artist like Nickelback and Green Day. Additionally, the station would play new songs from established artists not getting much airplay, such as Mudcrutch's (Tom Petty's First Band) "Scare Easy" and "Saints Of Los Angeles" by Mötley Crüe. This new version of WRQQ featured new talents Karen Keeley doing middays and Mac in the afternoon. Bob and Tom Producer and air talent J. Patrick remained in place. On May 18, 2009, WRQQ became the latest Cumulus station across the country to flip to an Adult Album Alternative format. They join WNNX, KDBN, and KHJK
KHJK
KHJK is an Adult Alternative-formatted radio station serving the Houston and Beaumont, Texas, areas. The studios are currently located in the Westchase Bank Building at 9801 Westheimer Road in Houston, Texas, with its transmitter facility located southeast of Devers, Texas, in Liberty County...
as recent converts to the format. (KDBN dropped the format in September 2009.) The local airstaff remains in place.
Classic Hits 97.1 RQQ
On July 16, 2010 WRQQ changed their format to classic hits once again, branded as "Classic Hits 97.1 RQQ". Along with this change, WRQQ became the flagship station for Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
football
Vanderbilt Commodores football
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program is a college football team that represents Vanderbilt University. The team currently competes in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Southeastern Conference...
and men's basketball
Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball
The Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represents Vanderbilt University in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference . The Commodores have won three SEC regular season titles . They have competed in ten NCAA Tournaments, making it to the Elite Eight once and the Sweet 16 six times...
.