WDAQ

WDAQ

Danbury, Connecticut
Broadcast area	Danbury, Connecticut
Frequency	98.3 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	98Q
Programming
Format	FM/HD1: Hot AC HD2: Alternative Rock "103.7 Rock" HD3: Country "97.9 & 107.3 The Bull"
Ownership
Owner	Berkshire Broadcasting Group
Sister stations	WAXB, WLAD
History
First air date	1948 (as WLAD-FM)
Former call signs	WLAD-FM (1948-1979)
Call sign meaning	W DAnbury Q
Technical information
Facility ID	4822
Class	A
ERP	1,300 watts
HAAT	140 meters (460 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41.374°N 73.446°W / 41.374; -73.446
Translator(s)	97.9 W250CH (New Milford, relays HD3) 103.7 W279CI (Danbury, relays HD2) 107.3 W297AN (Danbury, relays HD3)
Links
Webcast	FM/HD1: Listen Live HD2: Listen Live) HD3: Listen Live
Website	FM/HD1: www.98q.com HD2: 1037rock.com HD3: thebullct.com

WDAQ (98.3 FM), "98Q") is a Hot AC station licensed to Danbury, Connecticut and serving the immediate Danbury area. The station is owned by Berkshire Broadcasting Corp, along with sister stations WLAD and WAXB. WDAQ broadcasts on 98.3 MHz with 1.3 kW (1,300 watts) ERP (Effective Radiated Power).

History

WDAQ first signed on in 1948 as WLAD-FM, one of the first Class A FM stations to sign on in the United States and the first to sign on in the Danbury area (over a decade prior to the sign on of the higher-powered WINE-FM). Originally, the station was part of the Rural Radio Network as one of two Connecticut affiliates of the New York-based network. This programming would last until the 1950s when WLAD-FM evolved into an extension of its then daytime-only sister station, WLAD.

In the mid 1960s, spurred on by FCC regulations forcing FM stations to create formats separate from their AM sister stations, WLAD-FM upgraded to a stereo signal and flipped to an easy listening format, which was automated in 1975. In 1979, the call letters were changed to WDAQ, competing with WEZN from Bridgeport, Connecticut and WHUD from Peekskill, New York for Greater Danbury's easy listening audience. The station gradually shifted to soft adult contemporary. In 1986, the station rebranded itself as "Lite 98" and shed the easy listening instrumentals.

By the late 1980s, WDAQ faced a more crowded market of adult contemporary signals. WEBE108 FM Westport/Bridgeport, Connecticut adopted the A/C format in 1984 and then WEZN contemporized its easy listening format in 1987. Seeing an opportunity between teen formatted WKCI-FM, mainstream A/C WEBE and soft A/C WEZN, WDAQ was reborn as Hot A/C 98Q in September, 1989. The station's initial music mix relied heavily on 1970s titles that had not been played on the radio for several years. Within a year, WDAQ shot to #1 beating sister full-service WLAD and crosstown rocker WRKI.

During its more than 20 years as "98Q," the station has finished first in the majority of Danbury Arbitron market ratings surveys. The station continues to be hyper-focused on Greater Danbury as opposed to the more regional approaches of the other FM stations in the market.

On August 7, 2015, WDAQ upgraded to HD Radio, and launched a new Alternative station on 103.7 MHz, fed by its HD2 subchannel, as "103.7 Danbury's New Rock Alternative", which launched on the 10th at Noon after stunting with loops of songs that changed each hour, with songs like "Rapper's Delight" and "Drunk on a Plane". The first song on 103.7 was "Renegades" by X Ambassadors.

Musical Approach

98Q is a CHR-flavored Hot AC.

On-Air Personalities

• Rich Minor (morning drive)
• Linda G (afternoon drive)
• Mario Lopez (nights)
• HartMan (weekends)
• Tommy J (weekends)
• Cori J (weekends)
• Ryan Seacrest (American Top 40) (Sundays)

Former On-Air Personalities

• Bill Trotta (Mr. Morning) - Now at WDBY in Patterson, New York
• Donna Rev
• John Chipman
• AJ Carlisle
• Ryan Carrington
• Barbara Corbett
• Paul DiMarco (Mr. ‘70s)
• Rachel Foxx
• Dina Dessner
• Erich Bachman
• Steve Maiolo
• Charlie Michaels
• Jason Ohman
• Dave Rinelli
• Jim Sharpley
• Tony Wise
• Dennis O'Marra
• Frank Marro
• Ann Fitzgerald
• Bob Devol (WLAD-FM)

External links

• 98Q WDAQ official website

• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› WDAQ in the FCC FM station database
• WDAQ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

Translator data

• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› W250CH in the FCC FM station database
• W250CH at FCCdata.org
• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› W279CI in the FCC FM station database
• W279CI at FCCdata.org
• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› W297AN in the FCC FM station database
• W297AN at FCCdata.org