| City of license | Anderson, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Upstate South Carolina |
| Branding | Rock 101 |
| Slogan | The Upstate's Only Classic Rock Station 101% Classic Rock |
| Frequency | 101.1 MHz |
| First air date | 1947 |
| Format | Classic rock |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 296 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 318 |
| Callsign meaning | "Rock" (The station's moniker) |
| Former callsigns | WCAC-FM (1947-1978) WAIM-FM (1978-1982) WCKN (1982-1991) |
| Affiliations | John Boy and Billy |
| Owner | Entercom Communications |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wroq.com |
WROQ-FM is a Classic rock station licensed to Anderson, South Carolina and serves the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville and Spartanburg. The station has had a Classic Rock and Roll format since December 1, 1987. This makes it one of the oldest Classic Rock stations in the country as far as years with the same format. The Rock 101 Moniker was first used on the station from 1978-1982 and returned in 1987. The Entercom Communications outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast at 101.1 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. The station goes by the name Rock 101 and its current slogan is "The Upstate's Only Classic Rock Station." Former slogans include "Rock 101.1- The Home of Classic Rock and Roll" and "The Upstates Classic Rock and Roll station".
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101.1 signed on as WCAC-FM in 1947 as the sister station to WAIM-AM 1230. It was owned by Wilton E. Hall, the publisher of the Anderson Independent and Daily Mail and one-time US Senator from South Carolina. The station is noted for being one of the earliest FM stations in the state. WCAC-FM had a "beautiful Music"/ Standards format for many years. In 1978, after the death of owner/founder Wilton E. Hall, WCAC-FM, WAIM-AM 1230 and WAIM-TV 40 were all sold to Frank Outlaw (the founder of the BI-LO chain of grocery stores). Outlaw changed the 101 FM format to Rock. The moniker became "Rock 101" in early 1978. The logo was a large flaming fireball with Rock 101 FM in large red letters. The new Rock 101 did MANY local live remotes. Many were held at ABC Jeans in the Belvedere Shopping Plaza in Anderson. It became WAIM-FM in September 1980. For many years, the studios were located on the campus of Anderson College in Anderson, South Carolina. In 1986, the studios were moved about a mile down the road to a location that is going towards the Anderson Jockey Lot. The studios were moved from Anderson to Greenville in 1992. The Rock 101 name and format has been so long-lasting on the station that it has survived during four different sets of call letters beginning with the start of Rock 101 in 1978, those call letters being: WCAC-FM, WAIM-FM, WCKN-FM and now WROQ-FM (since 1991). One of the early D.J.`s on Rock 101 in 1978 was Bill Love (the morning man on WMYI-FM 102.5). Some of the D.J.`s at Rock 101 over the years have also included: Scott Shannon, Gary Jackson, Lee Rogers, "The Doctor" Mike Allen, Ken Thomas, Craig Allen, Mike Benson, Max Mace, "The Nightstalker" Big Bill Walker, Scooter Lesley, Diana Daniels, Maddog, Marc Bailey, Spanky Jim Miller, K.C. Carson, "Magoo", The Intern, T.J. Carson, Robert Wagner, J.J. Micheals among many, many others.
In the Fall of 1982, WAIM-FM changed format to a hybrid of Top 40 (CHR) and Album Rock as WCKN. Known as "Rock 101", the station set off to do battle with then-dominate Top 40 outlet WANS (now WJMZ). In 1984, the station licensed the "Hot Hits" format from consultant Mike Joseph and tightened up the music, playing only 20 current songs and no re-currents or oldies. This approach did not work and was dropped. In 1986, the playlist was broadened and the "Power 101" moniker was adopted.
Despite these attempts, ratings remained in second place to WANS's dominance in the CHR market. In late November 1987, the station started running promos about "giving the audience what they wanted". On December 1, the CHR format was dropped for Album Rock (with a strong musical lean toward Classic Rock) and the "Rock 101" name was reclaimed. During this time, two very popular shows on Rock 101 were, "The Midnight Tracker" where a random full Rock and Roll album would be played at Midnight all the way through with no commercial interruption. On Friday Nights at Midnight, the same concept but with six albums played all the way back to back. The D.J.`s would state all of the tracks on each album and then play the album all the way trought. The Friday Night show was called "The Friday Night Six Pack". Both of these shows were very popular with listeners and continued on Rock 101 until the mid-1990`s. The WCKN-FM calls were finally dropped for WROQ-FM in February, 1991 as the format shifted toward Active Rock, but keeping the Rock 101 nickname. This approach was successful as the station became a solid Top 5 performer in the ratings for much of the 90s and early 2000s, eventually going to #1 on several occasions during that time.
The station was eventually acquired by Barnstable Broadcasting in 2002. Since Barnstable at the time had also owned WROQ's main competitor WTPT-FM, it was decided to shift the station back toward Classic Rock. This move was meant to allow both stations some breathing room and ratings have strengthened since that time.
Clear Channel Communications signed on WBZT-FM in April 2002 as "96.7 The Buzzard", playing a mix of rock music from the 1960s through the present day. The move was meant to play spoiler to WROQ - however, the idea did not succeed very well, and the rock format was dropped at WBZT in 2007.
In 2011 there was some on-air confusion about the date that Rock 101 started. In early 2011, the station started airing spots saying "20 years of Rock 101". However, the current version of Rock 101 started on December 1, 1987. The "Rock 101" moniker dates back to 1978, where the station was known as Rock 101 until the early 1980`s when they went Top 40. The Rock 101 Moniker returned on December 1, 1987 and the station has had the same format since. After many listeners calling the station about the "20 years" error, the spots were quickly pulled.
The station is owned by Entercom Communications, which acquired WROQ-FM, along with WTPT-FM and WGVC-FM (now WYRD-FM) from Barnstable in 2005.
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