WKLQ (94.5 FM, "The Q 94.5") is a radio station

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 ...

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black River). ...

. Owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

, the station broadcasts an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

format serving the

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

market.

History

Prior to the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format, 94.5 was occupied by WKLQ, with a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

/ CHR format as ''"Hit Rock! The FM 94 KLQ"'' that started in 1984. But by the early 1990s, the station flipped formats to 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 ...

format. In 1996, the station added

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

to the morning lineup. By 1999, the station had tweaked into Alternative and became known as ''The Rock@94.5 KLQ''. After a few years of struggling with the rock format, the station flipped to WTNR and country on October 11, 2004 as ''94.5 The New Thunder Country'', later branded as ''Thunder 94-5''. On October 27, 2011, WTNR completely revamped the station's playlist by adding gold tracks not previously played on the station. These included songs by artists from the 1990s and early 2000s like

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo ...

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...

among others. On February 3, 2014, the station rebranded under Cumulus's

Nash FM Nash or NASH may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Nash, Buckinghamshire * Nash, London, a hamlet near Keston in the London Borough of Bromley *Nash, Newport, Wales * Nash, south Shropshire, a small village and parish in southern Shropshire * Nas ...

brand. On January 4, 2019, WTNR returned to the ''Thunder'' branding, and added a simulcast on 107.3 WBBL-FM to replace its

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format, with both stations branding as ''Thunder 94.5 & 107.3''. The simulcast would be short-lived; on January 19, 2019, WTNR dropped ''Thunder'' and flipped to

as ''The Q 94.5''. The WKLQ calls (warehoused by a co-owned AM talk radio operation in Whitehall, MI) were reinstated on February 6, 2019 to match the new branding.

References

Michiguide.com - WTNR History

External links

* * {{coord, 42.856, N, 85.963, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title KLQ (FM) Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States Holland, Michigan Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Michigan