| City of license | Fairview Beach, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Fredericksburg, Virginia |
| Branding | SuperHits 95.9 |
| Slogan | "The Greatest Hits of All Time" |
| Frequency | 95.9 MHz |
| First air date | May 3, 1986 |
| Format | Classic hits |
| ERP | 1,900 watts |
| HAAT | 181.5 meters (595 ft) |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 64922 |
| Former callsigns | WPOT (1985)[1] |
| Owner | Telemedia Broadcasting, Inc. |
| Sister stations | WGRX |
| Webcast | WGRQ webstream |
| Website | 959wgrq.com |
WGRQ (95.9 FM, "SuperHits 95.9") is an American broadcast radio station licensed to serve Fairview Beach, Virginia, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in May 1986, is currently owned and operated by Telemedia Broadcasting, Inc.
The station was assigned the call sign WGRQ by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on December 1, 1985.[1]
Contents |
WGRQ broadcasts a classic hits music format to the Fredericksburg, Virginia, area.[2] As of January 2011[update], weekday on-air personalities include Dave Adler on morning drive, Lisa Parker on mid-days, Mark Clifford on afternoons, and Mike Harvey on evenings.[3] Each year, beginning on the day after Thanksgiving, WGRQ flips to all-Christmas music programming and becomes "Your Home for the Holidays." This format flip completed its fifth year in 2010.[3]
In addition to its music programming, since 2009 the station has broadcast Virginia Cavaliers football games as a member of the Virginia Football Radio Network.[4][5] WGRQ also broadcasts Washington Redskins games as a member of the Redskins Radio Broadcast Network.[6]
After an application was filed in March 1983, the original construction permit for this station was granted by the FCC on December 7, 1984.[7] This would be a new station broadcasting on 95.9 MHz with 3,000 watts of effective radiated power from an antenna 91.3 meters (300 ft) in height above average terrain. The new station's city of license was to be Colonial Beach, Virginia.[7] The still-under construction station was assigned call sign WPOT on February 25, 1985.[1]
In November 1985, original permit holder Colonial Beach Broadcasting, Inc., applied to the FCC to transfer the permit to Potomac Broadcasting, Inc.[8] The call sign was changed to WGRQ on December 1, 1985, and has remained stable for more than 25 years.[1] The sale to Potomac Broadcasting was finalized in March 1986.[8]
WGRQ began broadcasting under program test authority on May 3, 1986, with an adult contemporary music format.[9] The station received its broadcast license from the FCC on November 16, 1987.[10] Just days later, Potomac Broadcasting applied to the FCC to transfer the license to Telemedia Broadcasting, Inc.[11] The FCC approved the transfer on January 4, 1988, and the transaction was consummated on January 20, 1988.[11]
The station flipped formats from oldies to classic hits in February 2005.[12] WGRQ had broadcast Virginia Tech Hokies football games as a longtime member of the Virginia Tech Sports Network before transitioning to Virginia Cavaliers football broadcasts in September 2009.[4][13][14]
The station was involved in controversy when a rival broadcasting company complained to the FCC in July 2001 that WGRQ's main studios were located too far from the station's city of license, a violation of FCC regulations.[15] WGRQ acknowledged that its studios were 28.8 miles (46.3 km) from the center of Colonial Beach, Virginia, but successfully asserted that it was in compliance with the law because "unique terrain" kept the studio location within the station's "principal community contour".[15][16]
In August 2005, Telemedia Broadcasting applied for a "main studio waiver" which would have allowed them to relocate their broadcast studios even farther from the center of Colonial Beach.[17] The new site, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) farther from the city center, would have allowed the station to eliminate a 100-foot tower built for the studio-transmitter link, a point of contention with the Spotsylvania County Planning Commission.[18] The FCC denied this application on September 20, 2005.[17]
In January 2010, Telemedia Broadcasting applied to the FCC to change WGRQ's city of license from Colonial Beach to Fairview Beach, Virginia.[12][19] Fairview Beach is a census-designated place in King George County, Virginia, roughly 15 miles (24 km) WNW of Colonial Beach and significantly closer to the primary market of Fredericksburg. The FCC authorized the change on April 27, 2010.[19]
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||