WTQR

WTQR

City of license	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Broadcast area	Piedmont Triad
Branding	Q104.1
Slogan	New Country
Frequency	104.1 MHz
Format	Country
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	443 meters
Class	C
Facility ID	58392
Transmitter coordinates	36°22′28″N 80°22′31″W
Callsign meaning	W T riad Quality Radio
Former callsigns	WSJS-FM (1950s-?)
Affiliations	Motor Racing Network
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WPTI, WMAG, WMKS, WVBZ
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wtqr.com

WTQR (Q104.1 FM) is a country music station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and serves the Piedmont Triad region, including Greensboro and High Point. The Clear Channel Communications outlet broadcasts at 104.1 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. They are one of three Country music outlets in the market; WPAW and WBRF are the others.

History

By 1958 WSJS-FM moved to its current frequency and became the sister station to WSJS-TV & AM.^{[citation needed]}

WSJS-FM played classical and semi-classical music after the owners of WAAA purchased WYFS, and offered an Easy listening format until 1974^{[citation needed]}.

WSJS-AM, WSJS-FM and WSJS-TV had been owned by Piedmont Publishing, owners of The Winston-Salem Journal and The Twin City Sentinel, Winston-Salem's two newspapers, until 1969. Gordon Gray, who had owned the newspapers and the broadcast stations, wanted to sell the FM station. However, Roger Stockton believed in the future of FM while most people did not. Stockton spent 22 years at WSJS and WTQR, starting by selling commercials, and was WSJS sales manager by 1969. WSJS was number one in the Triad, and manangement feared losing that status if the FM became popular. Curly Howard of WKBX told Stockton he should do country on FM, and Summit Communications president Lee Wallenhaupt and executive vice president Richard Barron supported letting Stockton take the FM station in a new direction. For one thing, country music was changing from a "twangy" sound to one based on orchestras. Stockton sold national advertising but aired it for free at first, charging advertisers once the station proved itself. By 1976, WTQR was number one in the market, though WSJS held on to the top spot among AMs. Stockton became vice president and general manager of the radio stations in 1979, staying until the stations were sold.

In January 1987, Summit Communications Inc. was in the process of selling WSJS-AM and WTQR.

In Fall 1989, WTQR was still number one as usual in the Arbitron ratings, but not by as large a margin as before.

Dale Mitchell and Aunt Eloise (revealed in 2008 to be Toby Young), morning hosts on WTQR for three years, were nominated for Country Music Association Broadcast Personality of the Year in 1990. Before discussing "everything from politics to 'possums" they would bang pots and pans. Billy Buck was Aunt Eloise's partner before moving to WBIG. "Big Paul" Franklin and Aunt Eloise, who teamed up in 1994, won the CMA Morning Show of the Year award (large markets) in 1997, and WTQR won Station of the Year (large markets) in 1998 and 2002. In March 1998, Big Paul and Aunt Eloise began airing their show on WSOC-FM in Charlotte, North Carolina. some shows were done from Winston-Salem, and some from Charlotte. The pairing lasted less than a year. Big Paul, whose real name was Paul Fuller Jr., died in a motorcycle crash May 16, 2002 on Highway 64 outside Asheboro, North Carolina. "Brother Bill" Dotson and Aunt Eloise were nominated for a CMA award in 2005. Aunt Eloise was let go in 2008, replaced by Jeff Roper and Angie Ward, who were nominated for Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association broadcast personalities of the year (large markets) in 2009. Jeff Roper in the Morning has successfully brought WTQR's audience back into the mainstream and led WTQR to beat local competitors and a nomination for 2009 CMA Radio station of the year.

NewMarket Media Corp. sold WSJS and WTQR to Radio Equity Partners of Norwalk, Connecticut, in a deal completed in April 1994 and worth in excess of $100 million, as the Connecticut company expanded into the Southeast, looking for the best stations possible. Later in 1994, Radio Equity Partners also bought WNEU, switching that station from country to modern rock. Clear Channel bought WSJS, WTQR and WSML. That company's purchase of AMFM Inc. added WMFR, WMAG and the market's other country radio station, WHSL, in 2000, though Clear Channel sold WMFR, WSJS, and WSML to Infinity Broadcasting. At the end of 2000, WHSL and WXRA traded frequencies, and WXRA became WWCC, a more classic-leaning station than WTQR; that station changed from country early in 2003. Also at the end of 2000, WTQR moved from Winston-Salem to Greensboro, the last commercial FM to do so.

In Spring 1995, although still number one with all listeners 12 and over, WTQR lost to WKZL among listeners ages 25 to 54 in the morning. A year later, WKZL did it again, this time also winning with the same age group for all daytime hours. In Fall 1996, WTQR lost to WQMG among the 25-to-54 audience. WTQR finally lost its top position (to WJMH) among all listeners in Fall 1998, for the first time since Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem became one market in the 1970s. In Spring 2008, WTQR was no longer the number one country station among all listeners, having been replaced by WPAW, which went country in October 2006.

On August 5, 2011 at exactly 1:04 PM EST, WTQR relaunched as Q104.1, with the commitment to play more contemporary country music. The station had been "under construction" for most of the summer, and a relaunch/rebranding had been in the works.

Sports programs

WTQR is a local affiliate for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series/Sprint Cup Series racing, carrying MRN programs.

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTQR
• Radio-Locator information on WTQR
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WTQR