WQSO

WQSO
City Rochester, New Hampshire
Broadcast area Seacoast Region
Branding News Radio 96.7
Slogan The Seacoast's News/Talk Station
Frequency 96.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date October 21, 1979 (1979-10-21)[1] (as WWNH-FM)
Format Talk radio
HD2: Classic country
ERP 3,000 watts
HAAT 100 meters
Class A
Facility ID 53388
Transmitter coordinates 43°17′14.00″N 70°56′49.00″W / 43.2872222°N 70.9469444°W / 43.2872222; -70.9469444
Former callsigns WWNH-FM (1979–1983)
WXKZ (1983–1986)
WCYT (1986–1987)
WKOS-FM (1987–1990)
WWEM (1990–1995)
WSRI (1995–1997)
Affiliations Premiere Networks
Westwood One
TheBlaze Network
Fox News Radio
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations WERZ, WHEB, WPLA, WPKX, WTBU
Webcast Listen Live
Website newsradio967.com

WQSO (96.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Rochester, New Hampshire. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.[2] and airs a Talk radio format serving the Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester media market which also includes part of Southern Maine.

Programming

Nearly all programming heard on WQSO comes from sister station WGIR in Manchester, New Hampshire. WQSO separates from WGIR for its own local commercials and some weekend paid brokered programming. After a New Hampshire-based morning show, the rest of the weekday programming is nationally syndicated, largely from Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia. WQSO carries Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. Local news is supplied from WGIR's news staff and most hours begin with national news from Fox News Radio.

History

The station signed on in 1979 as WWNH-FM. It changed its call letters to WXKZ in 1983,[3] to WCYT in 1986,[4] to WKOS-FM on December 18, 1987, to WWEM on December 17, 1990. In March 1994, the station adjusted its format slightly from Adult Contemporary to "The Perfect Mix of Soft Rock", playing soft rock and Americana music. Calls were changed to WSRI on April 3, 1995 coinciding with a format flip to "Adult Alternative" music. The call letters were then changed to WQSO on September 29, 1997 [5] coinciding with a format flip from to Oldies, mirroring sister station WQSR in Baltimore, also owned by American Radio Systems at that time. In the two weeks prior, the station had "stunted" by simulcasting the sister stations in Boston at different times of the day. The following spring, the stations of Precision Media were sold to Capstar Broadcasting.

On April 1, 2009, Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) flipped WQSO from oldies to Talk radio while keeping the “Wave” name. Most programs heard on WQSO were previously heard on WGIP in Exeter, New Hampshire (a simulcast of WGIR in Manchester) before it was spun off by Clear Channel and became WXEX. On February 27, 2013, WQSO was rebranded as "News Radio 96.7" and began carrying a nearly identical schedule to WGIR.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-282. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ "WQSO Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 24, 1983. p. 80. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  4. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 31, 1986. p. 86. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  5. ↑ "WQSO Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  6. ↑ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/81068/wqso-rebrands-merges-with-wgir/


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