City Green Bay, Wisconsin Frequency 98.5 MHz | Branding Star 98 First air date 1967 (as WDUZ-FM) | |
Broadcast area Green Bay-Appleton-Oshkosh Slogan "All the Hits of the 80's, 90's and Today!" | ||
WQLH (98.5 FM, "Star 98") is a Hot Adult Contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin and serving Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, and Northeast Wisconsin. The station is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. WQLH's studios are located on Victoria Street in Green Bay, while its transmitter is located near Suamico.
The station launched in 1967 as WDUZ-FM on 98.3 with 3000 watts and a minimal antenna height of 77' (and would later move to 98.5) (a sister station to WDUZ) and aired a beautiful music format until January 1990. At that time, the station shifted to a soft adult contemporary format as "Light 98.5 WQLH" (meaning "Quality Light Hits"). The format would evolve into a more modern (and more upbeat) hot adult contemporary playlist by the mid-1990s, eventually adopting the "Star 98" branding in 1999, the year the station was purchased by Cumulus Media. Star 98 begins a "Totally 80's Weekend" Friday at 5pm. They are known for playing "30 minutes commercial free" music, as well as an "All 80's Lunch".
Steve Davis & Laura McKenna comprise the morning show, which airs Monday through Friday from 5:30am to 9:00am(CST). Bill Rabeor provides the news during the morning show. Stix Franklin is the mid-day host and Jimmy Clark hosts the afternoon drive. Backtrax USA & The Amazing 80's are syndicated shows that air during the station's "Totally 80's Weekend" programming. Ron Stevens and Scottie Stick are also on the weekend line-up.
Cumulus swapped WQLH and four other Green Bay stations to Clear Channel in 2009 in exchange for two Cincinnati radio stations; however, Cumulus continued to operate the stations. In August 2013, Clear Channel reached a deal to sell the five stations back to Cumulus.