WKQX

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WKQX 101.1 FM is a gold heavy alternative station serving Chicago's metropolitan area. They are owned by Emmis.

History

NBC owned WKQX first went on the air on New Year's Eve of 1976. WKQX was chosen as call letters because at the time they sounded "experimental". The station was positioned as an album oriented rock station that was more adventurous than WDAI but more accessible than WXRT.

Bob Pittman was the Program Director, Bob Heymann was the Assistant Program Director and Bob King was the Music Director. Bob Heymann did morning drive, Bob Pittman did middays, Mitch Michaels did afternoon drive and Lorna Ozmon did nights.

The station was an immediate success debuting with a 3.9 share 12+ in Jan-Feb Arbitron of 1977. In the spring on 1977, Chicago gained another album oriented rock station, WLUP. This meant that there were then four FM rock stations slugging it out for ratings. After almost two years of battling for ratings and in an amazing bit of timing, both WDAI and WKQX quit playing rock independently of one another at the end of 1978. WDAI became all disco and WKQX became an adult contemporary station playing Top 40 rock hits from the 1960s and adult contemporary hits of the 1970s and 1980s, along with current product. Had one or the other known about the impending switch, either WKQX or WDAI could have remained an album oriented rock station and would have made millions of dollars for their parent companies instead of wandering through various formats for years.

By the mid-1980s, the station had evolved to more of a Hot AC format, dropping the 60s music by 1988. At that point, NBC had sold their radio stations to various owners, with WKQX going to Emmis, making WKQX an Emmis station. Robert Murphy was a successful morning drive host on Q101, competing with the likes of Jonathon Brandmeier. The station's moniker in the mid-late '80's was "Today's Music". By 1989, WKQX evolved into an adult Top 40 station, and by 1991 it had evolved to a modern AC format--years before this became common, by 1993, WKQX was a pure alternative station.

As time went on, WKQX became more of a hard rock-based alternative station. They added Mancow Muller's morning show in 1998. The station helped launch the career of Chicago acts Disturbed and Fall Out Boy through Mancow as well as through the most prominent show featuring artists local to Chicagoland, Local 101.

Q101's ratings suffered when WZZN went head-to-head with them and evolved into an alternative rock format. Over the years Q101 saw some of their air talents jump to the competition. WZZN's presentation evolved to be harder edged than it's competitor, and Q101 followed suit.

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In March 2005, Q101 had a promotion in which they let an iPod set to shuffle choose the playlist for a day. The experiment was so successful that, on April 1 of that year, WKQX became completely "on shuffle." Instead of focusing on new music solely, they expanded their playlist to include classic alternative rock from the 1980s and 1990s, and even 1970s artists like Sex Pistols, Bob Marley, and The Clash. It's not uncommon to hear Sinead O'Connor followed by Sublime, Tears for Fears, A Perfect Circle, or 4 Non Blondes. The current tag line is "Now On Shuffle". In on-air liners, they even apologize for the hard rock excesses of the past. Notable artists that once enjoyed heavy airplay but are now considered an historical blemish on Q101's past include Limp Bizkit and Creed. In fact, a Q101 DJ recently took an on-air poll about "who sucks more," Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst or Creed singer Scott Stapp. However, Limp Bizkit contemporaries Linkin Park and KoRn can still be heard on the station, as well as the Creedesque Nickelback.

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On September 26, 2005, WZZN filled the oldies void in the market by changing to the format. As a result, Q101 is back to being Chicago's sole alternative rocker.

Billboardradiomonitor.com says, "While most stations likening themselves to iPods have programmed the "Bob" or "Jack" format, if WKQX's redefinition is anything like the past weekend, it will lean in a classic modern direction. Artists played over the weekend included the Police, Depeche Mode, Love & Rockets, Bob Marley, and Alanis Morissette." However, unlike many classic modern stations, Q101 continues to play harder-leaning currents and recurrents by bands like Disturbed, System of a Down, and Slipknot.

External links

FM Radio Stations in the Chicago Market

By frequency: 88.1 | 88.3 | 88.5 | 88.7 | 88.9 | 89.1 | 89.3 | 89.3 | 90.1 | 90.5 | 90.9 | 91.5 | 91.9 | 92.3 | 92.5 | 92.7 | 93.1 | 93.9 | 94.3 | 94.7 | 95.1 | 95.5 | 95.9 | 96.3 | 96.7 | 97.1/96.9 | 97.9 | 98.3 | 98.7 | 99.5 | 99.9 | 100.3 | 100.7 | 101.1 | 101.9 | 102.3 | 102.7 | 103.1/93.5 | 103.5 | 103.9 | 104.3 | 104.7 | 105.1 | 105.5 | 105.5 | 105.9 | 106.3 | 106.7 | 107.1 | 107.1 | 107.5 | 107.9

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