WNRQ

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Coordinates: 36°02′10″N 86°50′56″W / 36.036°N 86.849°W / 36.036; -86.849
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania radio station that held the call sign WNRQ from 1995 to 1996, see WPGB.

WNRQ
iHeartMedia, Inc.
  • (iHM Licenses, LLC)
    • WLAC, WRVW, WSIX-FM, WUBT
    History
    First air date
    		1953; 71 years ago (1953) (as WSOK-FM)
    Former call signs
    		WSOK-FM (1953–1955)
    WHCY (1955–1957)
    WFMB (1957–1964)
    WLAC-FM (1964–1978)
    WKQB (1978–1981)
    WJYN (1981–1983)
    WLAC-FM (1983–1998)
    Call sign meaning
    		Nashville's RoQ (pronounced as "Rock")
    Technical information
    Facility ID34392
    ClassC
    ERP100,000 watts
    HAAT376 meters (1,234 ft)
    Translator(s)HD2: 97.5 W248BQ (Nashville)
    Links
    WebcastListen Live
    HD2: Listen Live
    Website1059therock.iheart.com
    HD2: nashville.binnews.com

    WNRQ (105.9

    Nashville, heard in northern middle Tennessee and southern central Kentucky. It airs a classic rock format. It is owned by iHeartMedia, with studios in Nashville's Music Row
    district.

    WNRQ is a

    FM translator
    W248BQ at 97.5 MHz.

    History

    The station

    signed on the air in 1953; 71 years ago (1953). Its original call sign was WSOK-FM. In 1964, it switched to WLAC-FM, becoming the sister station to WLAC 1510 AM. WLAC-FM had an easy listening format, airing quarter-hour sweeps of mostly instrumental cover versions of popular adult music, along with Hollywood and Broadway show tunes
    .

    It later switched to

    album oriented rock
    (AOR), as "Rock 106," WKQB; and "The Joy of Nashville," WJYN, the latter reflecting a former easy listening format.

    In 1998, Dick Broadcasting, owner of WGFX, and SFX Broadcasting, the then-owner of WLAC-FM, agreed to trade the intellectual property of the stations. The trade, to have taken place February 2, 1998, would have moved WLAC-FM to 104.5 FM, and moved WGFX's classic rock format to 105.9 under SFX ownership. However, when the agreement fell apart, SFX decided to go ahead with launching a classic rock format anyway, and flipped WLAC-FM to WNRQ on January 30.[2]

    Current format

    The current format features harder-edged classic rock. Most of the station's playlist first hit the Nashville-area airwaves on the now-country-formatted WKDF during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as WKQB, "Rock 106" (from 1978 to 1981).

    It was also Nashville's station for the syndicated

    Southern stations with the same format as WNRQ. The station stopped airing John Boy and Billy in the spring of 2020. It later had a local wake-up program, "The Josh Innes Show".[3] The show also aired on WEGR in Memphis and WLLZ in Detroit
    .

    The current morning show is hosted by "Battle." Some of the

    Tampa
    .

    Former disc jockeys

    • "Moose" – currently programs WCJK, "96.3 Jack FM," Murfreesboro/Nashville.
    • "Proud Mary" – worked before at sister station WRVW, now retired.
    • "Big Rig" – worked nights, was at WFBQ, now at WXTB
    • "Squeegie" – now at
      WBUZ-FM
    • "Riley"
    • "Joe Elvis" – afternoons; let go in August 2013 in favor of automation.
    • "Tyler"
    • "Mud" – programming director for the station; also worked nights, then afternoons; now at WBGG-FM.
    • "Jimmy The K"
    • "Laura Steele" – also worked at WFBQ in
      The Classic Rock Channel
      .

    HD Radio

    WNRQ broadcasts two HD Radio channels; WNRQ-HD1 simulcasts the analog station, while WNRQ-HD2 serves as the Nashville affiliate of the Black Information Network, and is the originating channel for translator station W248BQ (97.5 FM).

    WNRQ-HD2

    WNRQ-HD2 was at first a

    Clear Channel Communications-provided channel called "Vinyl Vineyard", but due to technical difficulties, the simulcast of sister station 1510 WLAC was moved to the HD2 signal. On August 25, 2014, the WLAC simulcast was replaced by an alternative rock format, branded "Alt 98.3" (reflecting its simulcast on translator station W252CM) made its debut, replacing the WLAC simulcast. On September 2, 2016, the format changed to classic country, branded as "The Big Legend 98.3"; this format served as a brand extension of sister station WSIX-FM.[4] On March 31, 2017, WNRQ-HD2 returned to alternative rock, branded as "Alt 97.5" (reflecting its simulcast on translator W248BQ), featuring the same airstaff as "Alt 98.3" and broadcasts of Nashville Sounds baseball; origination of the "Big Legend 98.3" classic country format moved to WSIX-HD2.[5] On December 16, 2018, WNRQ-HD2 changed its format to gospel music, branded as "97.5 Hallelujah FM".[6]

    On June 29, 2020, fifteen iHeart stations in markets with large African American populations, including W248BQ/WNRQ-HD2, began stunting with African American speeches, interspersed with messages such as "Our Voices Will Be Heard" and "Our side of the story is about to be told," with a new format slated to launch on June 30.[7][8] That day, W248BQ/WNRQ-HD2, along with the other fourteen stations, became the launch stations for the Black Information Network, an African American-oriented all-news network.[9]

    WNRQ-HD3

    WNRQ-HD3 was a simulcast of sister station WLAC until 2013, when the simulcast moved to WNRQ-HD2. WNRQ-HD3 was then removed; it resumed broadcasting in 2016 carrying Air1, feeding translator station W223BV (92.5 FM). WNRQ-HD3 was again discontinued on January 1, 2020, when Educational Media Foundation, owner of Air1 and W223BV, transferred origination of the translator's programming to the HD2 channel of WLVU.

    References

    1. ^ "WNRQ-FM 105.9 MHz - Nashville, TN". radio-locator.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
    2. ^ "RR-1998-02-06" (PDF). American Radio History.
    3. ^ "Josh Innes Show to Anchor Mornings at 105.9 the Rock Nashville".
    4. ^ iHeart Debuts The Big Legend 98.3 Nashville Radioinsight - September 2, 2016
    5. ^ "Alt Returning to Nashville". Radioinsight.com.
    6. ^ "HALLELUJAH! 97.5 NASHVILLE FLIPS FROM ALTERNATIVE TO GOSPEL". Radioinsight.com. December 17, 2018.
    7. ^ "IHEARTMEDIA LAUNCHES BLACK INFORMATION NETWORK". Radioinsight.com. June 30, 2020.
    8. ^ "Several iHeartMedia Stations Stunting With Speeches, New Format To Be Announced Tomorrow". All Access. June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
    9. ^ "iHeartMedia Debuts All-News BIN: Black Information Network". All Access. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.

    External links

    36°02′10″N 86°50′56″W / 36.036°N 86.849°W / 36.036; -86.849

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