WQLZ

Infobox Radio station
name = WQLZ


city = Taylorville, Illinois
area = Taylorville/Springfield, Illinois
branding =
slogan = The Rock Station
frequency = 92.7 MHz
repeater =
airdate = April 16, 1993 (as WQLZ}; 1967 (as WTIM-FM)
share =
share as of =
share source =
format = Active Rock
power = 11,500 Watts
erp = 11.5 kW
haat = 149m
class = B1
facility_id =
coordinates =
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = WTIM-FM (1967-1975), WEEE (1975-1984), WTJY (1984-1992)
affiliations =
owner = Mid-West Family Broadcasting
licensee = Long Nine, Inc.
sister_stations = WMAY, WLCE, WNNS
webcast =
website = http://www.wqlz.com

WQLZ (92.7 FM) is a radio station serving Taylorville, Illinois, and Spaulding, Illinois. The station plays a rock format. Its current morning show is the syndicated "The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show".

In the 1990s, WQLZ was a radio station for the central Illinois area with live DJs 24 hours a day, and featuring "Ray Lytle's Morning Disaster" hosted by Ray Lytle with his brother Bodine, Jim the photographer, Shawn Balint, Rocky, Mychelle the Weather Babe, Brando and Rich, and featuring Mikey, and others. In 2006, Balint went on to the St. Louis market, Mikey left radio, and in November 2007, Jim the Photographer died in his home. [ [http://www.legacy.com/sj%2Dr/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=98106749 Obituary] ] WQLZ is owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting in Spaulding, Illinois.

The station is built to appeal to the Springfield, Illinois market. Its estimated radiated power is 11.5 kW.

History

WQLZ went on the air in 1967 as 3,000-watt WTIM-FM, playing beautiful music and featuring local high school sports events as an extension of WTIM-AM 1410 (now WIHM) which was a daytimer. From 1975 to 1984, the station was WEEE (known as "Triple E" and later "W-3-E") with a variety of contemporary music formats, starting as adult contemporary then changing to "Rock 'n' Gold" (an AC/oldies hybrid) and then to album oriented rock. As an AOR station, the station first began to attract an audience in the Springfield market and was drawing much of its advertising revenue from there.

WEEE was sold in 1984 and the new owners changed the format to country music as WTJY. The station was sold again two years later and the format became satellite-fed AC. Ownership of WTIM and WTJY was separated in 1992, with WTJY going to Mid-West Family Broadcast Group to become part of the company's Springfield station cluster as WQLZ. The station also was granted a power increase to 11,500 watts and a tower relocation into Sangamon County to get city-grade coverage of Springfield without relinquishing city-grade coverage of Taylorville. Meanwhile, WTIM-AM later gained a new FM sister to serve Taylorville in 94.3 WMKR, and moved to its current frequency of 97.3 in the late 1990s while a Catholic religious broadcaster took over the AM 1410 signal.

WQLZ was also, in the 1980s, the former call sign of the station now known as WGFM in Cheboygan, Michigan.

References

* [http://www.dougquick.com/wtimtaylorville2.html History of 1410 AM and 92.7 FM in Taylorville]

External links

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