WQMZ (95.1 FM) is an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

formatted

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

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 to

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

, serving

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

and

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...

. WQMZ is owned and operated by the Charlottesville Radio Group subsidiary of Saga Communications.

History

Charlottesville Broadcasting Corporation signed on WINA-FM as the city's first FM radio station in October 1954. The station began on 95.3 MHz and was a 24-hour relay of co-owned

WINA WINA (1070 AM) is a news/talk/sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. WINA is owned and operated by the Charleston Radio Group subsidiary of Saga ...

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

programming and middle-of-the-road music. In the late 1960s, the

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 jurisdiction ...

began scrutinizing the practice of a co-owned AM-FM pair broadcasting a common programming day. In 1964, such simulcasting was limited to half of the broadcast day. WINA-FM was initially exempt because the rule only applied to markets with a population of over 100,000. However, when Charlottesville Broadcasting was sold to new owner Laurence G. Richardson in 1969, the FCC made adherence to the programming separation rule a condition of the sale. Accordingly, on March 15, 1971, the station flipped to a new format broadly described as light

. At the time, this was closer to what is now considered

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

: soft pop music,

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

show tunes A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

, and an evening block of light music. This was followed in May by a callsign change to WQMC. Simulcasting with WINA continued during morning drive until 1984. The station adopted the current WQMZ callsign in December 1987, and moved to 95.1 MHz in order to proceed with a power upgrade the following year. The station remained its light adult contemporary format for 20 years. In the early 1990s, the station changed its format to

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

, and was rebranded as "Heat 95" or "95 FM The Heat". Later in the decade, it changed its branding to "Lite Rock Z95" and its format to

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

. The "Z95" branding was renamed "Z95.1" in 2003, and would later upgrade its format to its current adult contemporary format. WQMZ is currently owned by Saga Communications. Saga purchased WQMZ, WINA and

WWWV WWWV (97.5 FM) is a classic rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, and serves Central Virginia and the Central Shenandoah Valley. WWWV is owned and operated by the Charlottesville Radio Group subsidiary ...

from Eure Communications, which merged with Charlottesville Broadcasting in 1998.

References

Previous logos

External links

z951.com
* QMZ Radio stations established in 1954 Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Mass media in Charlottesville, Virginia {{Virginia-radio-station-stub