 | |
| Broadcast area | Piedmont Triad |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 97.1MHz |
| Branding | 97.1 QMG |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban Adult Contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | July 8, 1962; 63 years ago (1962-07-08) |
Call sign meaning | "Where Quality Music Lives in Greensboro" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 47078 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 327 meters (1,073 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°56′42.5″N79°51′44.1″W / 35.945139°N 79.862250°W /35.945139; -79.862250 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WQMG (97.1FM) is anurban adult contemporaryradio station licensed toGreensboro, North Carolina, and serves thePiedmont Triad includingHigh Point andWinston-Salem. It is owned byAudacy, Inc., with studios near thePiedmont Triad International Airport.
WQMG has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000watts, the maximum for most stations in the U.S. Thetransmitter is off Osbourne Road in High Point.[2]
The earliest roots of this station date to 1948. An FM station with thecall sign WFMY began broadcasting on 97.3 MHz. It was owned by the Greensboro News Company, publishers of theGreensboro Daily News andDaily Record (now merged as theGreensboro News & Record). One year after its founding, its owners putWFMY-TV channel 2 on the air. It was the first television station in Greensboro and the second in North Carolina.
The FM station was taken off the air in 1953 after broadcasting for five years. The Greensboro News Company decided to devote more of its resources to the television station and didn't think the FM station would become profitable.
A new stationsigned on the air on July 8, 1962; 63 years ago (1962-07-08).[3] It broadcast on 97.1 MHz with the call letters WQMG, which stand for "Where Quality Music lives in Greensboro." With its new 20,000-watt facility, the station was the first in the southeast to broadcast inFM stereo. WQMG playedmiddle of the road (MOR) music and was known as "Stereo Island."
By the mid-1970s, WQMG had flipped tourban contemporary music. It was quite successful, using the slogan "Power 97 FM". By 1996, the station shifted in an adult direction with the slogan "Classic Soul...Smooth R&B". The change was due to WQMG becoming co-owned with its chief competitor, 102.1WJMH.[4] Management decided to make WJMH the more youthful urban station and allow WQMG to go more adult. Following the format change of competitor 105.7WMKS, WQMG became the primary Urban AC station for the Triadradio market. In 1999, WQMG was acquired byEntercom.[5]
From March 1997 to 2015, WQMG was the Triad's home of thenationally syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show". Shilynne Cole and Busta Brown began hosting a local late-morning show, and Renee Vaughn, who was a local host during Joyner's show, moved to middays.
The "Steve Harvey Morning Show" began airing on WQMG on November 9, 2015.[6][7] Local hosts are heard in middays and afternoons. The station also airs a "Quiet Storm" show most evenings andurban gospel on Sunday mornings.
In November–December 2021, WQMG achieved a rating of 13.0, the largest share in the history of the station.[8] WQMG is often the top station on the Triad's radio dial.