WSAQ (107.1 FM) is 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 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

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

, with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

of 6,000 watts. WSAQ covers

St. Clair County, Michigan St. Clair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan and bordering the west bank of the St. Clair River. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 160,383. It is the 13th-most populous county in the state. The county seat is Port ...

and

Lambton County Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cla ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

as well as portions of Macomb, Lapeer, and Sanilac counties. The station is owned by

Radio First Radio First (Liggett Communications, L.L.C.) is a privately held radio broadcasting company in Michigan owned by Victoria L. Liggett. Liggett Communications is headquartered in Port Huron where it owns five radio stations licensed to St. Clair ...

and broadcasts from studios on Huron Avenue in Downtown Port Huron.

History

In 1964, the station signed on for the first time as WHLS-FM. Featuring a simulcast of the AM station and then later a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...

format, it was soon renamed WSAQ, and adopted a country music format in spring 1982.Michiguide.com WSAQ History
/ref> In 1999, original owner John Wismer died, and both WHLS and WSAQ were sold to Liggett Communications as part of Wismer's estate. Liggett also acquired then competitor Hanson Communications, owner of 1590

WHLX WHLX (1590 AM) is an Americana radio station licensed to Marine City, Michigan, with a power output of 1,000 watts day, 102 watts night. The station is owned by Radio First and broadcasts from studios on Huron Avenue in Downtown Port Huron. I ...

, 1380

WPHM WPHM (1380 AM) is a news/talk/sports radio station licensed to Port Huron, Michigan, with a power output of 5,000 watts, covering much of The Thumb area of Michigan. The station is owned by Radio First and broadcasts from studios on Huron Avenue ...

, and 96.9

WBTI WBTI is a Top 40 radio station licensed to Lexington, Michigan at 96.9 MHz on the FM dial, with an effective radiated power of 3,000 watts. WBTI covers Sanilac County, Michigan and Lambton County, Ontario as well as portions of Lapeer and ...

. Wismer's original studios at 808 Huron Avenue in Downtown Port Huron were expanded to accommodate all five stations. All of the Port Huron Liggett stations now operate under the brand name of

. In late 2009, WSAQ started broadcasting

Radio Data System Radio Data System (RDS) is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. RDS standardizes several types of information transmitted, including time, station identificati ...

information (RDS) On December 26, 2019

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...

radio station

CHOK CHOK (1070 AM) is a Canadian radio station, licensed to Sarnia, Ontario and owned by Blackburn Radio. The station broadcasts a country format with local news, talk and sports. CHOK also has an FM translator, CHOK-1-FM, broadcasting at 103.9&nb ...

flipped back to country, giving WSAQ a local competitor.

has a focus on

Lambton, while WSAQ has a focus on

Port Huron Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

Spring Anniversary Show

Every spring in April Q Country hosts the annual Spring Anniversary Show, where the tickets are given away and won by listeners. The event is hosted by Q Country at the

McMorran Place McMorran Arena is an entertainment complex in Port Huron, Michigan consisting of a 4,800-seat multi-purpose arena and a theater. It was designed by Alden B. Dow and built in 1960 for $3.5 million (equivalent to $ million today). The exterior o ...

Arena. The event has seen people like

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

, Craig Campbell, and

Lee Brice Kenneth Mobley Brice Jr. (born June 10, 1979), known professionally as Lee Brice, is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Curb Records. Brice has released five albums with the label: '' Love Like Crazy'', '' Hard to Love'', ...

Notes

External links

* SAQ-FM Country radio stations in the United States Port Huron, Michigan St. Clair County, Michigan Radio stations established in 1964 SAQ-FM {{Michigan-radio-station-stub

History

Spring Anniversary Show

See also

Notes

External links