WSLQ (99.1 FM "Q99") 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 ...

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 ...

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, serving the

New River Valley The New River Valley is a region along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States. It is usually defined as the counties of Montgomery (including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg), Pulaski, Floyd, and Giles and the ...

and

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Vir ...

. The station airs 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 ...

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, ...

and is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. The studios and offices are on Electric Road in Roanoke. WSLQ's

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 Honeysuckle Road in

Bent Mountain Bent may refer to: Places * Bent, Iran, a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran * Bent District, an administrative subdivision of Iran * Bent, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Rijnwoude, the Netherlands * Bent County, Colorad ...

. WSLQ has one of the largest coverage areas of all FM radio stations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Its

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 ...

(ERP) is 200,000

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, broadcasting from a tower at 1962 feet in

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT). The Class C signal can be heard into

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and at times is picked up more than 200 miles away. The station was established in 1947,

grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

at unusually high wattage before current

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 ...

rules on FM power were set. Today, the top allowable power for FM stations is 100,000 watts. WSLQ - panoramio

History

On November 1, 1947, the station 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 ...

as WSLS-FM. It was owned by Roanoke Broadcasting, as the companion to AM 610 WSLS (now WPLY). Roanoke Broadcasting was 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 the Shenandoah Life Insurance Company and the

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 ...

stood for Shenandoah Life Stations. At first, WSLS-FM ran at 4,700 watts, a small fraction of its current power. WSLS-FM was the first FM station in the region, going on the air a year ahead of what is today 94.9

WSLC-FM WSLC-FM (94.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia and serving the New River Valley. WSLC-FM is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. It airs a country music radio format, using the moniker "94.9 Star Country." W ...

. Through its early years, WSLS-FM mostly

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 ...

WSLS, an affiliate of the

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

. In 1952, a TV station was added, Channel 10

WSLS-TV WSLS-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving the Roanoke– Lynchburg market as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Graham Media Group, the station maintains studios on Fifth Street in Roanoke, an ...

. Because the TV station was an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

affiliate, WSLS-AM-FM switched to NBC Radio. By the 1960s, WSLS-FM was operating at 21,000 watts. In 1969, WSLS-AM-FM-TV were bought by

Park Communications Roy Hampton Park (15 September 1910 – 25 October 1993) was an American media executive and entrepreneur. He is known for creating the Duncan Hines brand of packaged food products, and for his television/radio/newspaper conglomerate, Park Commun ...

for $7.5 million. Park also owned stations in

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and other large

media 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 and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

s. Park got a giant boost in coverage for WSLS-FM, raising the power to its current 200,000 watts.Broadcasting Yearbook 1971 page B-218
/ref> Due to FCC regulations against one company owning TV and radio stations in the same market, Park decided to sell the radio stations. In 1972, WSLS and WSLS-FM were bought by Bass Brothers Telecasters, Inc. As the separately-owned stations could no longer share the same callsign, Wheeler adopted the callsign WSLC-FM in August 1972, later changing to WSLQ in June 1973. Mel Wheeler, Inc. purchased the stations in 1976. WSLQ aired an

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

sound from the early 1970s until 1983. In 1983, WSLQ switched to an adult contemporary format, a sound the station has kept for several decades. WSLQ switches to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

from November 11th, 2022 to December 25th, 2022.

References

External links

Q99 Online
{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Virginia Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States SLQ Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Virginia