WDWQ

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WDWQ
City of license Terre Haute, Indiana
Broadcast area Terre Haute, Indiana
Branding Q102.7
Slogan Terre Haute's new Choice for Country
Frequency 102.7 MHz
First air date 1961 (as WPFR)
Format Country
ERP 28,000 watts
HAAT 201 meters
Class B
Facility ID 6334
Transmitter coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Former callsigns WPFR (1961-1983)
WPFR-FM (1983-1991)
WLEZ (1992-2003)
WBOW-FM (2003-2012)[1]
Owner Duey E. Wright
(Midwest Communications, Inc.)
Sister stations WBOW, WDKE, WIBQ, WMGI, WPRS
Website q1027.com

WDWQ (102.7 FM, "Q102.7") is a radio station broadcasting an country music format. Licensed to Terre Haute, Indiana, it serves the Terre Haute metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1961 under the call sign WPFR. The station is currently owned by Duey E. Wright through licensee Midwest Communications, Inc.[2]

History

102.7 FM history

The station signed on in 1961 as WPFR. When its companion station AM 1300 now WIBQ adopted the WPFR-AM call sign on March 17, 1983, the call sign was changed to WPFR-FM with a Top 40/CHR format, under their nickname "WPFR, The All New Power 103". The company that owned WPFR and WPFR-AM went into bankruptcy and both stations went off the air in 1991. Bomar Broadcasting purchased the license for 102.7 FM in 1992 and changed the call sign to WLEZ on April 1, 1992. In September 1993, the station went back on the air with a beautiful music format after a new transmitter was constructed. By 1997, the format had shifted to a soft adult contemporary format which eventually was supplied by Jones Radio Network.

On May 12, 2003, the station was sold to Crossroads Communications. The call sign was changed to WBOW-FM on September 1, 2003, as "Light Rock B102-7," utilizing the legendary call sign that had been used on 1230 AM and 640 AM in the Terre Haute metropolitan area from 1927 until 2001 when 640 AM went dark. The legendary call sign was also picked up by sister station AM 1300 in 2002.[3]

John David Sell programmed the station from 1999 through 2004. Sell was released in April 2004 and replaced by RJ (no last name given intentionally), who was also the host of the morning show. RJ programmed the station for the next few months until Chris Green was brought in for OM duties. Green changed the format from Lite Rock to Hot AC, and took over the morning program. During his tenure, Gen Timms cohosted and was released, and Doug Edge, also the GM, joined the morning program, now called "The Morning Buzz." Green added the program "The Cooper Lawrence Show" based in Atlanta, Georgia, to the late night programming. Green stayed with the station until May 2007, working as a music and imaging consultant for the station through August 2007, when he accepted a position at WAZY-FM in Lafayette, Indiana.

Sketch Brumfield was then promoted from Production Director to OM and PD for the station, during which time Adam Michaels was hired following his exit from 100.7 Mix-FM (WMGI-FM) to handle production duties as well as the morning program, still under the helm of GM Doug Edge and the name "The Morning Buzz." Local meteorologist Julie Henricks was added for the midday program as well as sales duties. Also during this time, the station slogan was changed from "Your Better Mix of Music" to "The Hits That Keep You Buzzin'." Dusty Anderson was also added as a production assistant. The Cooper Lawrence Show was removed from the schedule following technical difficulties in October 2007. Brumfield was released in April 2008 due to budget concerns and replaced by Adam Michaels for programming and Matt Luecking for the afternoon drive program. Luecking was subsequently released as well as Amanda (no last name reported) from weekends.

WBOW attained some positive press in the spring of 2008 when the station raised money from listeners and area businesses to send area resident Adam Cook, the brother of 2008 American Idol champion David Cook, to Los Angeles to see his brother perform. Adam was suffering from brain cancer, and the station commissioned special medical equipment to aid Adam on the journey. (1) Adam died on May 2, 2009.

Eventually, the format was shifted to Hot AC as "B102.7 FM" until March 5, 2009, when the station started stunting, playing various formats as "Radio Roulette." Some of the branding used for the different formats include Sports-Talk "102.7 The Fan", Smooth Jazz "Smooth 102", Oldies "Gold 102.7", Dance music "102.7 The Rave", Country Rock "Crock 102.7", TV Themes "TV 103", Rock "Q 103" and Top 40 "Z-103". This was as in response to the station falling in Arbitron's Fall ratings.

The station finally settled on an Adult Contemporary format on March 13, 2009, as "102.7 WBOW." The station logo has been changed as well, now incorporating the new slogan, "Your music. Your station." The station no longer made reference to its former name, "B102.7," with all talent instead referring to the station only by its legal ID.

Adam Michaels remained Program Director, morning co-host, and Production Director. The morning program was helmed by all three local talents, including Doug Edge, Julie Henricks, and Adam Michaels, until Edge vacated his position as General Manager in order to pursue other business ventures. Julie Henricks and Adam Michaels remained, and the name of the program, "The Breakfast Club," remained as well. The Syndicated Program "Delilah" returned on March 13, 2009, and played during the evenings.

In December 2009, 102.7 WBOW adopted a new slogan, "Less Talk, More Variety" to replace its previous positioning statement. In January 2010, former morning co-host Julie Henricks left mornings to do middays from 10am-3pm; former 100.7 Mix-FM (WMGI-FM) morning co-host Jules (no last name reported intentionally) joined Adam Michaels from 6-10am for "The Breakfast Club". Adam Michaels subsequently left the station in the fall of 2010 to pursue other ventures, and Jules remained as a solo host for the morning program, still retaining the title, "The Breakfast Club," as well as the station's program director.

On September 19, 2011, WBOW hired Kyle West to handle mornings (6am-10am), with Jules now hosting middays (10am-3pm). West was a long-time night DJ on crosstown rival Top 40 WMGI-FM. In November 2011, WBOW hired Jim Osborn to replace Bernie McGee on afternoon drive. Osborn was a previous night host on WWSY-FM.

On July 1, 2012, WBOW-FM was sold by Crossroads Communications to Midwest Communications and changed its call letters to WDWQ and changed its format to Country, branded as "Q102.7."[4] The sale of WDWQ and sister station WBOW was consummated on October 26, 2012, at a purchase price of $1.3 million.

WDWQ's facilities are located at 824 S. 3rd Street in Terre Haute, Indiana.

WBOW history

WBOW was the first radio station in Terre Haute, Indiana. It began in 1927 as WRPI, a service of then Rose Polytechnic Institute. In 1932, it split from the school, went commercial, and took the call letters WBOW, which stand for Banks of the Wabash. It had at least one other frequency before receiving its assignment of 1230 kHz. For years, WBOW was a full-service news and top-40 voice, and often the leading station, in the Terre Haute area. It was long affiliated with NBC radio. In the early days of its existence, entertainer Burl Ives was a staff announcer at this radio station. In its waning years, its music had changed to adult standards and became affiliated with the ABC Information network. In 1992, WBOW moved to 640 kHz to gain a better signal and wider coverage, but shortly thereafter the station's programming became delivered entirely via satellite.

WBOW changed hands several times through the years, and ultimately went dark when Mike Rice, president of owner Contemporary Media, Inc., was convicted of four counts of forcible sodomy, six counts of deviate sexual assault in the first degree, and two counts of deviate sexual assault in the second degree and subsequently lost licenses to all his stations for lack of candor to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during an investigation.[5]

File:WBOW-FM logo.png File:WBOW-FM logo2.png

References

External links