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Q98 WQSM
- Thread starter wnc40
- Start date
They've been pretty solid since that year they went by "Magic 98". And that was a while back.
I have been pleasantly surprised since they dropped Billy Bush that they have actually had some imaging and dj talk in the evenings.
I have been pleasantly surprised since they dropped Billy Bush that they have actually had some imaging and dj talk in the evenings.
This station really and truly gets on my nerves.
How hard is it to program "real" country music?
How hard is it to program "real" country music?
It must have been kind of hard, I guess?
They gave up country in the mid-70s. It was undoubtedly "real" country since country hadn't gone "Urban Cowboy" yet.
They were The Country Wheel or something like that I think.
They gave up country in the mid-70s. It was undoubtedly "real" country since country hadn't gone "Urban Cowboy" yet.
They were The Country Wheel or something like that I think.
I was living in Fayetteville when WQSM changed formats. It was about 1975. WQSM did use the motto, "Your Country Wheel" and the logo was a wagon wheel. It didn't make any sense then either. Their AM, WFNC was a block format. They had recently increased power from 10,000 watts day 1000 watts night directional to 50,000 watts day, 1000 watts directional night on 940. They had a big on the air ceremony where they had the mayor "flipped the switch" to 50,000 watts. Format was MOR in the morning. standards during the day and Top 40 when the kids got out of school until 11pm when they ran CBS Mystery Theater I believe it was until sign off at midnight.
FM radio was on the rise and at the time you had 2 AM stations pretty much eating WQSM and WFNC's lunch. Top 40 1000/250 watt WFLB was king of the hill and smoking WFNC and 1000/250 watt WFAI was beating 50,000 watt WQSM. Since the power increase hadn't really done much for WFNC, a format change was in order. Country was not a FM format in those days. No FM radios in pickup trucks or cars for that matter much. Country moved to WFNC with heavy news in the morning and WQSM became Q98 Top 40 with a power increase to 100,000 watts. Both stations went 24/7 at this time. WFNC started to beat WFAI and within a few years WFLB was also a memory. WFNC continued with country on 940 until WKML FM came on in 1985 doing country (country was cool now) and within a year, WFNC had not only changed frequencies to 640 am (10,000 watts day/1000 watts non directional night) but also dropped country for news/talk. Not sure what they are doing these days.
I had the opportunity to go through WFNC/WQSM with a civic group about that time when the formats changed in the 70's and the building they were in had been added to a lot of times. It was a patch work of big open rooms and long hallways. WFNC's control room had been specially build as an add on room. They made sure we knew that when the tour went through. I have no idea why other than some marketing thing about how "great" WFNC was to have its own designed control room. If memory serves, it wasn't all that big.
FM radio was on the rise and at the time you had 2 AM stations pretty much eating WQSM and WFNC's lunch. Top 40 1000/250 watt WFLB was king of the hill and smoking WFNC and 1000/250 watt WFAI was beating 50,000 watt WQSM. Since the power increase hadn't really done much for WFNC, a format change was in order. Country was not a FM format in those days. No FM radios in pickup trucks or cars for that matter much. Country moved to WFNC with heavy news in the morning and WQSM became Q98 Top 40 with a power increase to 100,000 watts. Both stations went 24/7 at this time. WFNC started to beat WFAI and within a few years WFLB was also a memory. WFNC continued with country on 940 until WKML FM came on in 1985 doing country (country was cool now) and within a year, WFNC had not only changed frequencies to 640 am (10,000 watts day/1000 watts non directional night) but also dropped country for news/talk. Not sure what they are doing these days.
I had the opportunity to go through WFNC/WQSM with a civic group about that time when the formats changed in the 70's and the building they were in had been added to a lot of times. It was a patch work of big open rooms and long hallways. WFNC's control room had been specially build as an add on room. They made sure we knew that when the tour went through. I have no idea why other than some marketing thing about how "great" WFNC was to have its own designed control room. If memory serves, it wasn't all that big.
The trouble is the last two real country stations I have listened to where I live, not counting a new one whose AM signal problems may be too much to deal with, were on 98.1 and 98.3. And both were messed up by you-know-who a lot. The one at 98.1 more so.w00t said:
It would be funny for all us radio pals to come up with as many Q98s or Q's we ever wrkd at or listerened to!!!!!! ;D Mark and Steve Craig bothw orked at Q98 "Lakecounrty"'s hit music station but I don't know if they ere related. Mark went up in a heklicoppter for TV after this and I think Steve ownwd Byrd's food stores at some time. Wgo else!?? 
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