WQIK-FM (99.1 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. The station is owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

, and airs a

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, ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. Overnight, WQIK carries the syndicated '' CMA After Midnite Show with Cody Alan'' and the ''

Bobby Bones Bobby Bones (born Bobby Estell) is an American radio and television personality, best known for hosting the nationally syndicated ''The Bobby Bones Show'', originating at KISS-FM in Austin, TX, and for his role as a full-time mentor on ''America ...

Show'' on Sunday evenings. WQIK-FM is unusual in the radio industry as a station that has kept its original

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 ...

and format for more than half a century. The station's studios and offices are located on Central Parkway in Jacksonville's Southside section. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is off Hogan Road in the Arlington district. WQIK-FM is powered at 100,000

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 with a Class C signal. It broadcasts in the HD format, with the HD-2 subchannel carrying the

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

format, also heard on

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

W295AZ, in

Jacksonville Beach Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...

, called "Rumba 106.9."

History

Early years

In September 1964, WQIK-FM first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

. It was owned by Rowland Broadcasting Company, which also owned

AM 1280 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1280 kHz: 1280 AM is a regional North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to t ...

WQIK WQIK-FM (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a country music radio format. Overnight, WQIK carries the radio syndication, syndicat ...

. Both stations

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

ed a country music format. WQIK (AM) later moved to 1090 kHz, boosting its power to 50,000

s, covering much of Northeast Florida, but having to

sign-off A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...

at sunset. The FM allowed the station's country music to be heard around the clock for people with FM radios. WQIK-FM started with 28,500 watts, broadcasting from a 340-foot tower, so its coverage was limited to Jacksonville and its immediate suburbs. By 1970, power was boosted to 50,000 watts and several years later, it doubled to 100,000 watts, its current power today. The tower height was increased to 640 feet. The stations were affiliates of the ABC Entertainment Radio Network.

WQIK (AM)

On January 1, 1976, the AM station switched

call letters 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 ...

to WCMG, adopting a more personality-oriented

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format, while WQIK-FM had a younger, more music-intensive format. WCMG was limited as a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...

, unable to broadcast after sunset due to Class A 1090 WBAL in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

having nighttime rights to the frequency. WCMG changed back to WQIK on November 3, 1978, and was sold in 1980. The original WQIK (AM) became WROS. In 1982, Rowland Broadcasting acquired

AM 1320 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1320 kHz: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commis ...

WVOJ (now

WJNJ WJNJ (1320 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned by New Covenant Ministries, Inc., and airs an urban gospel radio format. Its schedule is a mix of contemporary gospel hits ...

), an AM station with full time rights to broadcast. That station eventually became WQIK (AM), once again airing a classic country format as a companion to WQIK-FM.

Country competition

WQIK-FM had the FM country audience in Jacksonville to itself until 1977, when competitor WCRJ-FM signed on. WQIK-FM usually topped WCRJ-FM (later WROO) in the ratings. WCRJ-FM/WROO is now

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

-formatted

WWJK WWJK (107.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Green Cove Springs, Florida, and serving the Greater Jacksonville radio market. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WWJK's radio stud ...

, a

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to WQIK-FM. In 1996, WQIK-FM got a new competitor, when

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 ...

outlet WFKS switched to a country music format as

WGNE-FM WGNE-FM (99.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Middleburg, Florida, and serving the Jacksonville metropolitan area. It is owned by Renda Broadcasting and airs a country music radio format as "99.9 Gator Country", and primarily ...

. WGNE moved to a tower in Jacksonville to better cover the

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. WQIK-FM has maintained its lead over WGNE in the Jacksonville ratings. In 2017, WQIK-FM lost ground to

WYKB WYKB (105.3 FM) is a Spanish rhythmic radio station licensed to Fernandina Beach, Florida that serves the Jacksonville, Florida area. It is owned by Norberto Sanchez's Norsan Media. History WYKB broadcast a classic country format from Octob ...

, and later to

WSOS-FM WSOS-FM (94.1 Hertz, MHz) is commercial radio station that broadcasts to the Jacksonville, Florida area. The station is licensed in Fruit Cove, Florida, Fruit Cove to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation. It is branded as Jax Country an ...

Sale to Jacor and Clear Channel

In June 1984, longtime owner Rowland Broadcasting sold WQIK-AM-FM to

Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

Communications for $4.95 million. WQIK (AM) was switched to WJGR, airing a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format. WQIK-FM continued as the top country music station in Jacksonville. In May 1999, Jacor Communications, including WQIK-FM, was acquired by Citicasters, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Clear Channel Communications.Broadcasting Yearbook 2010 page D-140
/ref> In 2014, Clear Channel Communications was renamed iHeartMedia, WQIK-FM's current owner.

References

External links

99.1 WQIK Facebook
* * * {{IHeartMedia QIK-FM Country radio stations in the United States IHeartMedia radio stations 1964 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1964