WALQ (1130 AM) is an American

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve the community of

Carrville, Alabama Tallassee (pronounced ) is a city on the Tallapoosa River, located in both Elmore and Tallapoosa counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,763. It is home to a major hydroelectric power plant at Thurlow D ...

. The station's

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

is held by Augustus Foundation, Inc. The station was established in 1979. , the station is temporarily

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

for financial reasons and seeking authorization from the

U.S. Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...

(FCC) to remain silent for up to one year.

Programming

Before falling silent in June 2012, the then-WACQ broadcast an

oldies music Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

to the greater

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, area. Since 1993, WACQ had been the home of local morning show "What's Going On", with Pete Cottle and Fred Randall Hughey as co-hosts. Trivia contests, oldies music, and local news made up the program, which aired weekday mornings. On weekends, there was a Saturday morning show hosted by local band director Michael Bird and a Sunday morning

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

show. The station also aired a local newscast four times daily and network news every hour from the Alabama Radio Network and

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

. Sports programming included the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

Sports Network,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

baseball, and Reeltown Rebels

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

. The bulk of this programming shifted to WBIL (580 AM) on June 28, 2012.

History

Early days

In 1977, Hughey Broadcasting Company, Inc., applied to the

(FCC) for a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for a new broadcast radio station. The FCC granted this permit on February 8, 1979. This new station would broadcast with 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power on a frequency of 1130

kilohertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

, but only during

daylight hours Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunligh ...

to protect

KWKH KWKH (1130 AM) is a sports radio station serving Shreveport, Louisiana. The 50-kilowatt station broadcasts at 1130 kHz. Formerly owned by Clear Channel Communications and Gap Central Broadcasting, it is now owned by Townsquare Media. Its studi ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

CKWX CKWX (1130 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an news/ talk radio format branded as ''CityNews 1130''. CKWX's studios and offices are located at 2440 Ash ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, and

WBBR WBBR (1130 AM) is a Class A clear-channel radio station licensed to New York, New York. It serves as the flagship station of Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg L.P.'s radio service. The station offers general and financial news reports 24-hours a day ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from

skywave In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Since it is not limited by the curvature of ...

interference. The station was assigned

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"WACQ". After construction and testing were completed, the station was granted its

on August 6, 1979. In May 1984, Hughey Broadcasting Company, Inc., agreed to sell WACQ to Buck Helms Broadcasting. The FCC approved the sale on June 27, 1984, and the transaction was completed on November 15, 1984. In July 1985, control of Buck Helms Broadcasting was transferred from Thelma P. Helms to A.B. "Buck" Helms. The FCC approved the move on July 30, 1985. The licensee had the station's call sign changed to "WSFU" on August 26, 1985. In December 1985, A.B. "Buck" Helms,

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

Buck Helms Broadcasting, made a deal to transfer control of the radio station to original owner Fred Randall Hughey's Double H. Broadcasting, Inc. The FCC approved the assignment of license on May 6, 1986. Hughey had the FCC restore the original "WACQ" call sign on June 2, 1987.

1990s

In June 1989, Double H Broadcasting, Inc., made a deal to sell WACQ to Richard P. Smith. The deal gained FCC acceptance on July 27, 1989, but the transaction was never completed. In November 1991, Double H Broadcasting transferred ownership of WACQ to Tiger Broadcasting Company, Inc. The FCC approved the deal on March 9, 1992, and the transaction was completed on March 26, 1992. This ownership was short-lived as in May 1994, Tiger Broadcasting Company, Inc., contracted to transfer WACQ's

to Tuskegee Communications Company, Inc. The FCC approved the move on June 29, 1994, and it was completed on August 31, 1994. Just months later, in January 1995, Tuskegee Communications Company, Inc., applied to the FCC to transfer WACQ to a new company called WACQ, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on February 14, 1995, and the transaction occurred on April 14, 1995. In June 1996, Tuskegee Communications Company, Inc., filed to transfer WACQ to Tiger Communications, Inc. The FCC approved the move on July 31, 1996, and the deal was completed on September 13, 1996. In January 1998, Tiger Communications, Inc., in turn filed an application to send the WACQ license to Hughey Communications, Inc. The move was approved by the FCC on March 9, 1998, and the transaction was completed on May 12, 1998.

2000s

In October 1999, Hughey Communications, Inc., made a deal to sell the station to Progressive United Communications, Inc., of Heathrow, Florida. The deal gained FCC approval on December 10, 1999, and the transaction was completed on February 3, 2000. In July 2006, Progressive United Communications, Inc., transferred WACQ back to Hughey Communications, Inc. The FCC approved the transfer on September 8, 2006, and the deal was completed on December 4, 2006. Hughey Communications agreed to pay Progressive United Communications $106,000 plus forgive $50,000 in debt in exchange for the return of the WACQ broadcast license and station assets. This deal came as settlement of a 2003 civil suit between Hughey Communications and Progressive United Communications. In August 2006, Hughey Communications applied to the FCC to increase this class D station's daytime-only power from 1,000 to 25,000

s. Whereas with the original 1,000 watt signal the station could operate at full power from sun-up to sunset, the new 25,000 watt power authorization means operating at sharply lower levels (1,000 watts) from sign-on until two hours after sunrise then again from two hours before sunset until sign-off to prevent

interference with

, and

. The FCC granted a

for this change on August 21, 2007, with an expiration date of August 21, 2010. With testing completed in October 2008, the station applied for a new

and this was granted on November 25, 2008.

2010s

In 2006, WP Media Lending loaned Hughey Communications $225,000. This was rolled over into a "First Replacement Promissory Note" in March 2008, then a second note in November 2008, and a third in March 2009. The loan was declared in default in February 2010. In April 2011, Hughey Communications, Inc., filed an application with the FCC to transfer WACQ to Westburg Broadcasting Montgomery, LLC. The FCC approved the deal on May 24, 2011, and the transaction was completed on June 16, 2011. The transfer of ownership was in settlement of the defaulted loan from WP Media Lending to Hughey Communications that, as of December 31, 2010, had increased to $494.662.16 owed. This total included $402,527 in principal, plus unpaid interest, and legal fees. Fred Randall Hughey, former owner, temporarily continued to operate WACQ under a joint operating agreement with the new owners. Under the terms of the deal, Hughey Communications retained the rights to the "WACQ" call sign and announced plans to relocate them and the station's current programming to another station, then licensed as WBIL, in which he held partial ownership. Westburg Broadcasting Montgomery, LLC, principal David Westburg also owns Alabama radio stations

WINL WINL (98.5 FM, "Dixie Country") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Linden, Alabama. The station's broadcast license is held by Westburg Broadcasting Alabama, LLC. WINL broadcasts a country music format to the greater ...

in Linden, and

WXAL WXAL (1400 AM) is an American radio station licensed to serve Demopolis, Alabama. Since August 2011, the station has been owned by Westburg Broadcasting Alabama, LLC. It airs an urban contemporary and urban oldies music format, simulcasting sis ...

and

WZNJ WZNJ (106.5 FM, The River) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Demopolis, Alabama. Since August 2011, the station has been owned by Westburg Broadcasting Alabama, LLC. It previously aired a classic hits music format b ...

Demopolis Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census. The city lies at the confluence of the ...

(all licensed to Westburg Broadcasting Alabama, LLC) plus stations in Colorado and New Mexico.

Falling silent

On October 20, 2011, Westburg Broadcasting Montgomery requested that the FCC grant the station

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stat ...

to operate WACQ with reduced power. In support of the request, the licensee stated that it acquired the WACQ license as part of a foreclosure on the station and that the "current economic conditions combined with the less than successful operation of the station by the previous licensee" continued to require WACQ to either operate with reduced power or cease operation. This authority was granted on October 24, 2011. On March 9, 2012, Westburg Broadcasting Montgomery applied for an extension of the special temporary authority, citing the same economic conditions as in the original application. This was request approved by the FCC and is scheduled to expire on September 9, 2012. , the station is temporarily

for financial reasons and seeking authorization from the

(FCC) to remain silent for up to one year. Under the terms of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of t ...

, as a matter of law a radio station's

is subject to automatic forfeiture and cancellation if they fail to broadcast for one full year. On July 19, 2012, the station's call sign was changed to WALQ. On October 10, 2015, WALQ returned to the air with a country music format. In October 2020, WALQ went silent.Alabama Broadcast Media Page
/ref> Effective November 30, 2020, Westburg Broadcasting Montgomery sold WALQ to Augustus Foundation, Inc. for $40,000.

References

External links

{{Daytime-only radio stations in Alabama ALQ Radio stations established in 1979 Tallapoosa County, Alabama 1979 establishments in Alabama ALQ