WSSQ

WSSQ
City Sterling, Illinois
Broadcast area Rock River Valley
Branding Q105.5
Slogan "#1 Hit Music"
Frequency 105.5 MHz
First air date October 22, 1966 (as WJVM at 94.3)
Format Adult contemporary
ERP 6,000 watts
HAAT 94 meters
Class A
Facility ID 37208
Transmitter coordinates 41°51′8.00″N 89°42′35.00″W / 41.8522222°N 89.7097222°W / 41.8522222; -89.7097222
Callsign meaning Seith Serafin Quality
Former callsigns WJVM (1966–88)
Former frequencies 94.3 MHz (1966-2018)
Owner Fletcher M. Ford
(Virden Broadcasting Corp.)
Sister stations WSDR, WZZT
Website WSSQ Online

WSSQ (105.5 FM) – branded as Q105.5 – is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Sterling, Illinois, United States, serving primarily Whiteside and Lee counties in the Rock River Valley. Owned by Fletcher M. Ford, through licensee Virden Broadcasting Corp., WSSQ serves as the local affiliate for the Chicago Bulls Radio Network. WSSQ also broadcasts Chicago Cubs baseball games.

History

WSSQ launched as WJVM at 94.3 MHz on October 22, 1966; as of 1968, the station was transmitting at 3,000 watts.[1] It was assigned the WSSQ call letters on August 8, 1988.[2] The station was then owned by Seith-Serafin of Sterling, Illiniois,[3] and the station callsign was chosen as an acronym for "Seith Serafin Quality".[4] In July 1993, it was announced that WSSQ and its AM sister station WSDR were sold to LH&S Communications, a company owned by Larry Sales and Howard Murphy which owned radio properties throughout the state of Illinois.[5][6] In 1998, WSSQ was acquired by Withers Broadcasting.[7]

Effective July 28, 2017, Withers Broadcasting sold WSSQ, WSDR, and WZZT to Fletcher M. Ford's Virden Broadcasting Corp. for $400,000. As of January 24, 2018, WSSQ had a construction permit to change frequency to 105.5 MHz, which took place on June 25, 2018.[8]

Current programming

Radio personality Brian Zschiesche is employed by WSSQ, as well as sister stations WSDR and WZZT.[9] In addition to its adult contemporary music format, WSSQ is a member of the Chicago Bulls Radio Network;[10] WSSQ is one of the nearest network affiliates for the Quad Cities region.[11]

(WSSQ's logo under previous 94.3 frequency)

References

  1. ↑ "Illinois AM, FM stations" (PDF), 1968 Broadcasting Yearbook via AmericanRadioHistory.com, Broadcasting & Cable, 74 (YB-33), p. B-55, January 1, 1968
  2. ↑ "Call Sign History: WSSQ". Licensing.FCC.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ Feder, Robert (September 14, 1988). "Linda Yu to anchor cruise tour of China". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 15, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (Subscription required (help)). ... with additional support from WSDR-AM and WSSQ-FM, two stations owned by Seith-Serafin in Sterling, Ill.
  4. ↑ Nelson, Bob (2016). "Call Letter Origins: Key and Listing". Nelson.OldRadio.com/Origins.html. Bob Nelson. Archived from the original on February 18, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016. WSSQ (FM) Sterling, IL... S)eith S)erafin Q)uality...
  5. ↑ Feder, Robert (July 13, 1993). "Sex Talk Matures On 'Private Lives' ". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 15, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (Subscription required (help)). Seith's WSDR-AM and WSSQ-FM in Sterling and WZZT-FM in Morrison will be acquired by LH&S Communications...
  6. ↑ "Radio News Network Sold to Missouri Company". Wisconsin State Journal. February 28, 1996. Retrieved May 15, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (Subscription required (help)). LH&S Communications, which is owned by Larry Sales and Howard Murphy, purchased WRN in September of 1994. LH&S also owns the Illinois Radio Network and radio stations WSDR, WSSQ and WZZT, which are all in Illinois.
  7. ↑ "Broadcasting Pioneer W. Russell Withers, Jr. Passes Away". WDTV.com. Withers Broadcasting Company of West Virginia. January 17, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2015. Withers Broadcasting Companies key milestones include the existing acquisitions: ... 1998 - WSSQ 94.3 FM, Sterling, IL...
  8. ↑ Upper Midwest Broadcasting
  9. ↑ Staff report (April 11, 2015). "Pie auction set to help fight cancer". SaukValley.com. Shaw Media. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2015. Brian Zschiesche from WSDR, WSSQ, and WZZT will host the benefit.
  10. ↑ "Chicago Bulls Radio Network". NBA.com/Bulls. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. 2016. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  11. ↑ Booker, Roy (February 18, 2016). "Ask the Times: 1973 plane crash claimed 6 lives". QCTimes.com. Quad-City Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016. The Bulls do not currently have a radio affiliate in the Quad-Cities. The nearest stations to the metro area that are part of their network are WAIK (1590 AM) in Galesburg, WSSQ (94.3 FM) in Sterling, and WZOE (1490 AM) in Princeton.
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