WRQK-FM
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| City of license | Canton, Ohio |
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| Broadcast area | Akron-Canton metro areas |
| Branding | Rock 106.9 |
| Slogan | It Just Rocks! |
| Frequency | 106.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | March 1, 1961 |
| Format | Mainstream rock (Analog/HD) News/Talk (HD2) (WHLO simulcast) |
| ERP | 27,500 watts |
| HAAT | 103 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 8550 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°49′22.00″N 81°25′40.00″W / 40.8227778°N 81.4277778°W |
| Callsign meaning | W "RQcK" –FM (as in "rock music") |
| Former callsigns | WCNO (1961–67) WNYN-FM (1967–71) WHLQ (1971–79) WOOS-FM (1979–85) WRQK (1985–89) |
| Affiliations | iHeartRadio Premiere Networks Premium Choice United Stations Radio Networks |
| Owner | Clear Channel Media and Entertainment (Capstar TX LLC) |
| Sister stations | WARF, WHLO, WHOF, WKDD |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wrqk.com |
WRQK-FM (106.9 FM) – branded Rock 106.9 – is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to Canton, Ohio, serving both the Akron and Canton metro areas. Owned by Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, the station serves as the local affiliate for The Bob and Tom Show, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx, and The House of Hair with Dee Snider. The WRQK-FM studios are located in North Canton, while the station transmitter resides in Canton. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WRQK-FM broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online via iHeartRadio.
History
WRQK-FM began broadcasting as WCNO on March 1, 1961.[1] The new station was owned by the Greer Group, also owner of WAND/Canton; the two stations became WNYN and WNYN-FM in 1967. Both stations were purchased in 1965 by Don Keyes, who had made his mark as a national programmer for legendary station owner Gordon McLendon. In 1971, he sold the FM station to Susquehanna Radio Corporation, the owners of WHLO (AM) Akron, and it became WHLQ.
Susquehanna sold the station in 1978 to the owners of WINW, who applied to change the FM call letters to WHOF (for the "Hall of Fame" city of Canton) but were rebuffed by the owners of WTOF, another local FM station. (Coincidentally, WRQK-FM now has a new Clear Channel sister station using the WHOF call letters.) 106.9 adopted an automated Top 40 format and became WOOS-FM on June 1, 1979.
WOOS-FM changed its call sign to WRQK on August 3, 1985, taking on an album oriented rock music format. For a while, the station called itself Goodrock 107, an apparent play on the name of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in nearby Akron. It formally changed from WRQK to WRQK-FM on February 14, 1989, when AM station WINW changed its call sign to WRQK. The AM station changed back to WINW six months later, but the FM call sign has remained WRQK-FM.
In 1995, the station was sold by Jim Embrescia's Canton/Akron Radio, Inc. to Sabre Communications. Then In 1997, SabreComm sold to Connoisseur. Connoisseur sold their entire radio group to Cumulus Broadcasting in 2000 (at the about the peak of earnings multiples, when companies paid stupid money for stations). Then, on August 8, 2006, it was announced that WRQK-FM would be sold to Clear Channel Communications, pairing WRQK-FM with former partner WHLO, as well as WARF, WKDD, and WHOF. Clear Channel took over operations of WRQK-FM on January 15, 2007, pending FCC approval of its purchase of the station from Cumulus.
In March 2007, WRQK-FM changed its branding from Rock 107 to Rock 106.9. It also changed its slogan from "Canton's Rock Station" to "It Just Rocks!", in an effort to also serve the Akron market.
Since the purchase by Clear Channel, the entire on-air staff has exited the station. The syndicated Bob & Tom morning show is the only program that has remained. Previous personalities include Keith Hamilton, Joe Kleon, Nick Andrews, Meagan, and Todd "Fishhead" Fisher. who returned to the station effective December 2012 so he and Greg Ausham are both the only live DJ's on the station Currently, all music programming on WRQK is done outside of Northeast Ohio at the corporate level. This is known as "Premium Choice".
Current programming
WRQK-FM personality Greg Ausham and Todd "Fishhead" Fisher are the station's sole local on air talent; other music programming is provided via the Premium Choice network. WRQK-FM also airs The Bob and Tom Show weekday mornings and Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx weekday evenings, both via Premiere Networks; and The House of Hair with Dee Snider on weekends via United Stations Radio Networks. The HD2 digital subchannel simulcasts the news/talk format of sister station WHLO/Akron.[2][3]
References
External links
- Official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WRQK
- Radio-Locator information on WRQK
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WRQK
- Aerial photo of WRQK-FM transmitter from Google Maps
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