 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Frequency | 101.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Q102 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Subchannels | HD2:Yacht rock "Smoothinati 101.9 HD2" |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WREW,WYGY,WUBE-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1947 (as WCTS) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | (former) sister station toWKRC, substituted with a "Q" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 11276 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 16,000 watts |
| HAAT | 264 meters (866 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wkrq.com |
WKRQ (101.9FM, "Q102") is a radio station located in theCincinnati, Ohio, area. The station is licensed to Cincinnati and broadcasts from theWKRQ Tower. It airs aTop 40 (CHR) format and is owned byHubbard Broadcasting. The station's studios have been located on Kennedy Avenue in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati with co-ownedWREW,WUBE-FM andWYGY since August 2021.[2]
WKRQ signed on the air in 1947 as WCTS, which aired aclassical music format. After WCTS was bought by Radio Cincinnati, Inc. (which becameTaft Broadcasting in 1959), the station would change its call letters to WKRC-FM in 1950, while retaining the classical format. In 1970, WKRC-FM would become aTop 40 station as "Stereo 102", and was an automatedDrake-Chenault station. In 1972, WKRC-FM became WKRQ, and became a live and local Top 40 station using "102 KRQ" as its primary identity and "Q102" and "the Q" as secondary monikers, with "Q102" being adopted as its primary moniker in 1975.[3] With the exception of a brief switch to analbum-oriented rock format between June and December 1973, WKRQ's CHR format has been in place since 1970, making Q102 one of the longest-running currently broadcasting Top 40 stations in the United States, despite its shift towards anadult top 40 format in the mid-1990s, leaving Top 40/CHR rivalWKFS to take the younger audience by default.
The late 1970s sitcomWKRP in Cincinnati is often said to be based on either WKRQ orWKRC, with the final letter being the only difference. In reality, though, the show was based on creatorHugh Wilson's experience withWQXI in Atlanta.
In 1980, 16-year-old Mary Buchanan won the first one-million-dollar prize ever awarded by any radio or TV station in the United States in a joint contest with sister station WKRC. The feat earned her and the station a place in theGuinness Book of World Records.
Taft Broadcasting would be reorganized as Great American Broadcasting in 1987.[4] However, the company would declare bankruptcy in 1993, and was reorganized as Citicasters, Inc. (their sister AM station would be sold to another locally-based company,Jacor).[5] In 1996, Citicasters itself merged with Jacor (which was subsequently acquired by Clear Channel, now known asiHeartRadio); as part of the merger, WKRQ was sold toBoston-basedAmerican Radio Systems (ARS) on March 7, 1997 (this separated WKRQ from their long-timeTV sister station).[6][7][8][9][10] In September 1997,Infinity Broadcasting (which was renamedCBS Radio in December 2005) would acquire ARS as part of a group deal; the merger was completed the following June.[11][12] CBS owned WKRQ until November 2006, when it was sold toEntercom. Entercom, in turn, announced in January 2007 that it would be swapping its entire Cincinnati cluster, including WKRQ, toBonneville International together with three radio stations inSeattle, Washington, for all three of Bonneville's FM radio stations in San Francisco, California, and $1 million cash.[13] In May 2007, the station launched an online stream from its website at www.wkrq.com. Also that month, Bonneville officially took over the operations of Entercom's former Cincinnati radio cluster through alocal marketing agreement. Entercom officially closed on its acquisition of the stations on November 30. The sale of the Cincinnati cluster to Bonneville was conditionally approved in November 2007, with the remainder of the deal finally approved in March 2008. The official transfer of the Cincinnati stations to Bonneville took place on March 14.
WKRQ became the onlyhot adult contemporary station in Cincinnati since the flip ofWNNF toadult album alternative in2009. WNNF returned to hot AC in2011, only to dump it againthe following year.
On January 19, 2011, it was announced that Bonneville International would sell WKRQ and several other stations toHubbard Broadcasting for $505 million.[14] The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.[15]
39°06′58″N84°30′07″W / 39.116°N 84.502°W /39.116; -84.502