WECQ (92.1
MHz) is a
commercial FM radio station licensed to
Destin, Florida, and serving
Fort Walton Beach and the
Emerald Coast
The Emerald Coast is an unofficial name for the coastal area in the US state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico that stretches about through five counties, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay, which include Pensacola Beach, Navar ...
. Owned and operated by
JVC Broadcasting, it features an
active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
radio format.
WECQ has an
effective radiated power (ERP) of 19,000
watts. The
transmitter is off Hollywood Boulevard NW in Fort Walton Beach.
History
The station
signed on
Signing may refer to:
* Using sign language
* Signature, placing one's name on a document
* Signature (disambiguation)
* Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice
* Digital signature
A dig ...
the air in 1981 as WMMK. In 2004, the
call sign changed to WWRK, and changed again the following year to WFFY. The station has served the area as a Rhythmic Top 40 station since then, at first branded as Fly 92.1. On December 21, 2011, station owner Quantum Broadcasting sold its stations in the Ft. Walton Beach market, including WFFY, to Apex Broadcasting. On February 17, 2012, at 5 PM
CST after playing "
Stay Fly
"Stay Fly" is the first single from hip hop group Three 6 Mafia's 2005 album ''Most Known Unknown''. The song peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 to become the group's biggest hit. The track, which samples "Tell Me Why Has Our Love ...
" by
Three 6 Mafia, Apex dropped the Fly 92.1 branding and relaunched WFFY as CHR Q92, with
Kelly Clarkson's ''
Stronger'' the first song played. The call sign was later changed to WECQ to reflect the change in branding.
Apex Broadcasting sold WECQ — along with sister stations
WHWY,
WWAV, and
WZLB — to Community Broadcasters effective December 1, 2016, at a purchase price of $5.9 million.
On December 22, 2020, Community Broadcasters sold the entire Fort Walton Beach cluster to
JVC Broadcasting for almost $2.3 million, which later closed on February 1, 2021.
On August 24, 2021, WECQ went jockless and began promoting that "changes" would be coming to the station on September 1 at noon. At that time, after again playing ''Stronger'' by Kelly Clarkson (as a near-bookend to the format's launch), followed by "
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
, the station changed their format to active rock, branded as "Rock 92.1"; the format had been revealed by JVC on the 30th of the month, and carries a typical active rock playlist, along with a decent amount of guitar-based alternative rock crossover songs, with
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
(whose song "
Monkey Wrench" was the first under the new format),
Van Halen,
Mammoth WVH
Mammoth WVH is an American rock band founded and fronted by Wolfgang Van Halen, initially as a solo project while he was still a part of Van Halen prior to their disbandment.
History
Formation and development
Wolfgang Van Halen's musical ta ...
,
Shinedown,
The Offspring,
Led Zeppelin and
Incubus listed as artists to be heard.
Final Broadcast Of Q 92 WECQ / First Hour Of Rock 92.1 FM
/ref>
Staff
The station’s inaugural lineup as "Rock 92.1" will include OM/PD Woofy Ramone in middays and JT in afternoons from 2-7pm. Outside those shifts, the station will launch with a jockless “More Music Mornings” presentation.
References
External links
WECQ official website
*
ECQ
Radio stations established in 1981
1981 establishments in Florida
Active rock radio stations in the United States
{{Florida-radio-station-stub