WKQX
Alternative rock radio station in Chicago
WKQX (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring an alternative rock format known as "Q101". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area. WKQX's studios are located in the NBC Tower, while the station transmits from atop the John Hancock Center. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKQX broadcasts over two HD Radio channels.[4]
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| Broadcast area | Chicago metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 101.1 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Q101 |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Alternative rock |
| Subchannels | HD2: The Loop (Classic rock) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | October 13, 1948 (1948-10-13)[1][2] |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Former FM sister to WMAQ, the callsign was first used for the station's "experimental" AOR format in the 1970s |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19525 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 5,700 watts |
| HAAT | 425 meters (1,394 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°53′56.1″N 87°37′23.2″W / 41.898917°N 87.623111°W / 41.898917; -87.623111 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website |
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WKQX is best known for carrying an alternative rock format that, from 1992 until 2011 and since 2022, has used the "Q101" brand. A sale of the station to Merlin Media in August 2011 saw outgoing owner Emmis Communications sell the "Q101 Chicago" name, intellectual property and all underlying trademarks for a unrelated internet radio station bearing the same name, while WKQX itself flipped to all-news radio under Merlin Media as WWWN, then to adult contemporary as WIQI. Reverting to alternative under a long-term local marketing agreement by Cumulus Media in 2014, the station branded instead under the restored WKQX call sign until Cumulus reacquired the Q101 trademarks on May 3, 2022. A former NBC Radio owned-and-operated station, WKQX's studios were located in the Merchandise Mart from the station's 1948 launch to 2016;[1] the station relocated to the NBC Tower, the current home of onetime sister station WMAQ-TV, on August 4, 2016.[5][6]
WKQX-HD2 airs a classic rock format branded as "The Loop" that was previously heard on the former WLUP (97.9 FM), now WCKL.[7]
- ^ a b History Cards for WKQX, fcc.gov. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ 1971 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting. 1971. p. B-62. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WKQX". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "HD Radio Guide for Chicago".
- ^ "Tour Of Our New Home!", WKQX. August 4, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
- ^ Feder, Robert. "Cumulus Media moving to NBC Tower", RobertFeder.com. November 18, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
- ^ "WLUP-FM's Mancow Muller: 'The Loop Meant Something.'", Inside Radio. March 7, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
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WKQX
Alternative rock radio station in Chicago
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