Radio station in Lyndon, Kentucky
WQNU
(103.1
FM
, "New Country Q103.1") is a
commercial
radio station
broadcasting a
country music
format
.
Licensed
to
Lyndon, Kentucky
, it serves the
Louisville metropolitan area
. It is owned by
SummitMedia
.
[1]
The studios are at Chestnut Centre on South 4th Street in
downtown Louisville
.
WQNU is a
Class C2
station. It has an
effective radiated power
(ERP) of 23,000
watts
. The
transmitter
is on Hitt Road in Louisville, off Riverside Expressway (
Interstate 71
).
[2]
History
[
edit
]
WSTM, WNUU, WRKA
[
edit
]
The station
signed on
the air on October 19, 1966
; 57 years ago
(
October 19, 1966
)
. The original
call sign
was WSTM, with the letters referring to the original
city of license
,
St. Matthews, Kentucky
. It was a Class A station, powered at 2,950 watts, a fraction of its current output. It was owned by J. W. Dunavent and was sold four times in its first 10 years of broadcasting. In the late 1970s, it aired a
disco music
format.
[3]
The station switched its call letters to WNUU on August 28, 1978. On New Year's Day, 1980, the station changed its call sign to WRKA. As WRKA, it aired an
adult contemporary music
format.
In 1982, WRKA tried a short-lived
Top 40
format. Two years later, in 1984, it returned to its adult contemporary format. Radio personality
Glenn Beck
was the morning
drive time
host at one point. In January 1989, the station adopted an
oldies
format.
WQNU
[
edit
]
On July 18, 2008, at 2:30 p.m., after playing
Hello, Goodbye
by
The Beatles
, it broadcast a farewell message from the station's program director going into a commercial break. WRKA then aired a montage of station moments themed to
American Pie
by
Don McLean
that ended on the lyric
The day the music died
, which was followed by one last
jingle
. After a minute of static (through which the ending of
Beginnings
by
Chicago
could be faintly heard), the station began
stunting
by introducing a "new" format as
News/Talk
103.1 WRKA
, complete with fake reports before playing a fake "Breaking
Fox News
Alert" report of
power outages
around the state.
[4]
That led into the introduction of "New Country Q103.1" at 3 p.m., launching with
Kid Rock
’s "
All Summer Long
". The same day, the station changed call letters to the current WQNU.
[5]
The former WRKA call sign is now used on a
sister station
in the Louisville market.
On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio, Inc. announced the sale of WQNU and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.
[6]
[7]
Summit Media has continued to broadcast a country music format on WQNU, competing with 97.5
WAMZ
, owned by
iHeartMedia
.
Notable alumni
[
edit
]
Previous Logos
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Active
|
- Albany
- Allen
- Ashland
- Auburn
- Bardstown
- Bowling Green
- Brandenburg
- Buffalo
- Burkesville
- Burnside
- Cadiz
- Carrollton
- Calvert City
- Cave City
- Central City
- Columbia
- Corbin
- Edmonton
- Flemingsburg
- Fort Thomas
- Frankfort
- Franklin
- Fulton
- Glasgow
- Grayson
- Greensburg
- Greenville
- Hardinsburg
- Harrodsburg
- Hartford
- Hazard
- Henderson
- Hopkinsville
- Irvine
- Jackson
- Jamestown
- Lebanon
- Lexington
- Liberty
- London
- Louisville
- Lyndon
- Madisonville
- Manchester
- Mannsville
- Marion
- Mayfield
- Mckee
- Monticello
- Morganfield
- Mount Sterling
- Mount Vernon
- Munfordville
- Owensboro
- Paducah
- Paintsville
- Perryville
- Philpot
- Pikeville
- Providence
- Russellville
- Salt Lick
- Salyersville
- Shelbyville
- Stanton
- Sturgis
- Tompkinsville
- Vanceburg
- Vine Grove
- West Liberty
- Williamsburg
|
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Defunct
|
- Cumberland
- Flemingsburg
- Fulton
|
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