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| Broadcast area | Atlanta metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 94.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Star 94 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Rhythmic adult contemporary |
| Subchannels | HD2:Channel Q |
| Affiliations | WXIA-TV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | January 1, 1964 (1964-01-01) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Star" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 30822 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 316 meters (1,037 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°45′33″N84°20′05″W / 33.7593°N 84.3346°W /33.7593; -84.3346 |
| Translator | 100.9 W265AV (Woodstock) (Off the air) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | audacy.com/star94atlanta |
WSTR (94.1FM, "Star 94") is a radio station licensed toSmyrna, Georgia, and serving theAtlanta metropolitan area. Owned byAudacy, Inc., it broadcasts a Hot AC-leaningVariety Hits format, switching toChristmas music between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Its studios are located atColony Square inMidtown Atlanta, while the station transmitter resides inAtlanta'sReynoldstown neighborhood.
The station signed on as WDJK on January 1, 1964, founded byWSMA (1550 AM) owner Mitchell Melof; WDJK operated as asimulcast of WSMA.[2]
Jupiter Broadcasting of Georgia, then the owner ofWQXI (790 AM), purchased WDJK in January 1965, with Kent Burkhart serving as vice president and general manager.[3] WDJK'scall sign was changed to WKXI and abeautiful music format was installed, with studios at 2970Peachtree Road NW in Atlanta. ThePacific and Southern Company, forerunners to the modern-dayGannett andTegna Inc., purchased WQXI and WKXI in November 1967.
In 1969, the station changed its call letters to WQXI-FM to match its AM sister station. In mid-1977, the station started calling itself "94Q" when WQXI'scontemporary hit radio format was moved to the FM station.
Around 1987, WQXI-FM's audience share began to dwindle. Various tweaks were made to the music mix, followed by an outright change of direction in late 1988 that competed head-to-head with then-dominant Top 40 outletWAPW (99.7 FM) as "Atlanta's Hit Music, 94Q". Another CHR outlet,WZGC (92.9 FM), was already experiencing similar downfall at the time. However, by the following summer, 94Q had been soundly beaten, and the station began to purge most of its management and on-air talent.[4][5]
WQXI-FM notably carried asmooth jazz-themed program calledJazz Flavors during the 1980s, first airing on Sunday evenings before eventually expanding to weeknights. Despite the seeming incompatibility between it and contemporary hits, this program ran on WQXI-FM for several years, eventually serving as the genesis for the "Jazz Flavors" branding onWJZF (104.1 FM) when that station became the first one in the Atlanta market to adopt the format full-time. "Jazz Flavors" was reduced back to Sunday nights only in March 1989, when 94Q was experimenting with a mainstream CHR format.[6][7]
At midnight on November 15, "94Q" signed off after 12 years, with the final song being "Imagine" byJohn Lennon. 94.1 would then relaunch as "Star 94" with the call letters WSTR. The first song on "Star 94" was "Oh Atlanta" byLittle Feat.[8][9][10] The station's format was a hybrid ofhot AC and Top 40, best described asadult Top 40. The station initially avoided mosthip-hop andrhythmic-oriented music hitting the Top 40 charts, though it added some rhythmic songs in the mid-1990s.Steve McCoy was brought in as morning show host and was paired with Vikki Locke;[11][12] McCoy and Locke would helm the station's morning show for the next 17 years.[13]
After WAPW flipped tomodern rock asWNNX in October 1992, WSTR was considered the "default" hit music station in Atlanta due to the lack of a mainstream Top 40 outlet. Outside of a brief stint as a Top 40 whenWBTS launched in 1999, Atlanta gained a mainstream Top 40 station in 2001, whenWWWQ (100.5 FM) signed on.
In September 2010,Nielsen BDS moved WSTR from the CHR/Top 40 panel to the adult Top 40 (hot AC) panel, as the station became more identified with a Hot ACplaylist.[14] WSTR changed its on-air slogan to "Your Life...Your Music", to emphasize its shift to hot AC. In February 2011, WSTR began programming all-1990s weekends, called "Big 90s Weekends" in response to the all-1980s weekends onWSB-FM (98.5). However, in the Fall of 2011, the station dropped the All-90s weekends.
Jefferson-Pilot Communications (and laterLincoln Financial Media) had owned WSTR and WQXI since 1974. On December 8, 2014,Entercom announced its purchase of Lincoln Financial Media's entire 15-station lineup, including WSTR and WQXI, for $106.5 million. The stations were operated under alocal marketing agreement (LMA) until the sale was approved by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC).[15] Entercom officially took over WSTR and WQXI on July 17, 2015;[16] WQXI was spun off to Atlanta Radio Korea in 2016.[17]
In November 2017, Entercom merged withCBS Radio, making WSTR co-owned withWZGC,WVEE-FM andWAOK.[18]
In 2019, the station airedChristmas music during the holiday season for the first time.[19][20]
On September 17, 2020, the station began teasing a "big announcement" to come at 3 pm; the use of the word "big" seemed to allude to previous reports the station was soon to flip toadult hits as "Big 94" (matching a similar recent format change on cross-country sister stationWBGB inBoston). At that time, after playing "Closing Time" bySemisonic, WSTR instead relaunched with arhythmic adult contemporary format, maintaining theStar branding while promoting the new focus as "The NEW Star 94" under the slogan "The Rhythm of ATL", with the first song being "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" byMichael Jackson.[21]
It was announced via Instagram on September 4th, 2025, that Atlanta’s beloved Kevin and Taylor morning show would be moving to WSTR. The announcement came 8 months after the shutdown of 104.7 the Fish.
On November 26, 2025, WSTR flipped to an all-Christmas music format. While they did weekends of all-Christmas music in 2024, the station had never before flipped to Holiday tunes full time. The station is the only full power station in Atlanta to flip to Christmas music. Prior to 2025, WFSH-FM (nowWAIA) flipped to Christmas music every year. However, in 2024 they were bought byK-Love Inc. and now broadcast theAir1 radio network.[22]
Following the station’s first full-time flip to Christmas music, Star 94 ownership segued its music mix to a Hot AC-leaning Variety Hits format, utilizing a higher share of current-based pop music and 90s- and 2000s-era adult contemporary tracks, while scaling back its so-called “Feel Good Throwbacks” (rhythmic hits from the 90s and 2000s) to just a few tracks per hour.
Accompanying the switch, WSTR began using a new tagline: “Atlanta’s Upbeat Variety.” The format, unique to both the Atlanta market and radio nationally, has been cast as an updated, female-oriented variety hits format, with added core artists likeKelly Clarkson,Bruno Mars,Charlie Puth,Michael Jackson andPrince.
Several influential air personalities have worked at the station, includingRyan Seacrest. Seacrest interned on the night show withTom Sullivan, who also helped train him;[23][better source needed] Sullivan gave Ryan his first "on air" shift, and eventually he began working weekends, Ryan did this while still attendingDunwoody High School.[citation needed]
The HD2digital subchannel formerly aired aclassic hits format under the brand "Star 94.1 HD2".[24]
The HD3 channel formerly aired Audacy'sLGBTQ+ talk/dance format "Channel Q". It has since moved to HD2 with the HD3 channel being turned off.