WEQE 93.3 Goldsboro NC

[Keith_Lake]

I was going through some radio-history websites recently and found one that rather piqued my interest. Apparently in 1950 there was an FM station on 93.3 in Goldsboro with the calls WEQE. Today of course 93.3 is occupied by WERO in Washington. Whatever happened to WEQE? Did it just go dark and turn in its license like so many FMs did in those days, or did it eventually evolve into another station?

KL

<a href="http://home.nc.rr.com/gttyson/lastradio.html">The Last Radio Station<a><P ID="signature">______________
</P>

 

[BLewis]

Similar story: WCBT-FM 98.5 Roanoke Rapids

It reminds me of the story about WCBT-FM 98.5 in Roanoke Rapids, NC. It was the FM sister to WCBT-AM 1230 in the 40's and early 50's. This station was on-the-air with either 50Kw or 100Kw, with a mixture of simulcast programming from the AM and Beautiful Music/EZ Listening. When Hurricane Hazel came through, it took down the tower that served both stations. When the new tower went up...the AM went back on, the FM went dark. I grew up at this station (the AM, of course) and found old newspaper clippings about the stations. I would imagine the original owners of these stations turned over several times in their graves when FM exploded years later.

I was going through some radio-history websites recently and
> found one that rather piqued my interest. Apparently in
> 1950 there was an FM station on 93.3 in Goldsboro with the
> calls WEQE. Today of course 93.3 is occupied by WERO in
> Washington. Whatever happened to WEQE? Did it just go dark
> and turn in its license like so many FMs did in those days,
> or did it eventually evolve into another station?
>
> KL
>
> The Last Radio Station
>

 

[RadioDaze]

Re: Similar story: WCBT-FM 98.5 Roanoke Rapids

That Goldsboro station on 93.3 was actually WEQR, which dates to 1947, when it signed on as WGBR-FM at 99.7 (They apparently moved to 93.3 around 1948-9). I don't know if they've been consistently on the air since '47, but the station was on 96.9 by the end of the 1950s, the forerunner of today's WYMY "96.9 La Ley". If you study early Eastern NC FM, you'll notice a "Hurricane Hazel Effect" that permenantly claimed several of the high fidelity pioneers, such as WCBT-FM and WGTM-FM 106.7 (Wilson). There was a WFMC-FM 105.5 licensed to Goldsboro that, if it ever made the airwaves, might have fallen victim as well.

> It reminds me of the story about WCBT-FM 98.5 in Roanoke
> Rapids, NC. It was the FM sister to WCBT-AM 1230 in the
> 40's and early 50's. This station was on-the-air with
> either 50Kw or 100Kw, with a mixture of simulcast
> programming from the AM and Beautiful Music/EZ Listening.
> When Hurricane Hazel came through, it took down the tower
> that served both stations. When the new tower went up...the
> AM went back on, the FM went dark. I grew up at this
> station (the AM, of course) and found old newspaper
> clippings about the stations. I would imagine the original
> owners of these stations turned over several times in their
> graves when FM exploded years later.
>
> I was going through some radio-history websites recently
> and
> > found one that rather piqued my interest. Apparently in
> > 1950 there was an FM station on 93.3 in Goldsboro with the
>
> > calls WEQE. Today of course 93.3 is occupied by WERO in
> > Washington. Whatever happened to WEQE? Did it just go
> dark
> > and turn in its license like so many FMs did in those
> days,
> > or did it eventually evolve into another station?
> >
> > KL
> >
> > The Last Radio Station
> >
>

 

[magicmk]

Re: Similar story: WCBT-FM 98.5 Roanoke Rapids

> That Goldsboro station on 93.3 was actually WEQR, which
> dates to 1947, when it signed on as WGBR-FM at 99.7 (They
> apparently moved to 93.3 around 1948-9). I don't know if
> they've been consistently on the air since '47, but the
> station was on 96.9 by the end of the 1950s, the forerunner
> of today's WYMY "96.9 La Ley". If you study early Eastern
> NC FM, you'll notice a "Hurricane Hazel Effect" that
> permenantly claimed several of the high fidelity pioneers,
> such as WCBT-FM and WGTM-FM 106.7 (Wilson). There was a
> WFMC-FM 105.5 licensed to Goldsboro that, if it ever made
> the airwaves, might have fallen victim as well.
>

Did any of those aforementioned stations occupy the old radio building along Hwy 117 south of town (close to where south George Street ends)? Someone mentioned a couple of years back what was once there, I can never remember, and I'm also curious as to when those facilities were last in use.

 

[Timothy]

Re: Similar story: WCBT-FM 98.5 Roanoke Rapids

> > That Goldsboro station on 93.3 was actually WEQR, which
> > dates to 1947, when it signed on as WGBR-FM at 99.7 (They
> > apparently moved to 93.3 around 1948-9). I don't know if
> > they've been consistently on the air since '47, but the
> > station was on 96.9 by the end of the 1950s, the
> forerunner
> > of today's WYMY "96.9 La Ley". If you study early Eastern
>
> > NC FM, you'll notice a "Hurricane Hazel Effect" that
> > permenantly claimed several of the high fidelity pioneers,
>
> > such as WCBT-FM and WGTM-FM 106.7 (Wilson). There was a
> > WFMC-FM 105.5 licensed to Goldsboro that, if it ever made
> > the airwaves, might have fallen victim as well.
> >
>
> Did any of those aforementioned stations occupy the old
> radio building along Hwy 117 south of town (close to where
> south George Street ends)? Someone mentioned a couple of
> years back what was once there, I can never remember, and
> I'm also curious as to when those facilities were last in
> use.

If you happen to go by there, the FCC site number is displayed. You can look it up on their web site. The last time I was there, the construction was too mind numbing to stop for a geek fix. It looks like the towers are still in use.