Branding 94.3 The Dude Frequency 94.3 MHz | Slogan "Undivided Country" First air date 2004 | |
City Forest Acres, South Carolina Broadcast area Columbia, South Carolina | ||
WWNQ is a radio station licensed to Forest Acres, South Carolina, serving the Columbia, South Carolina market. Owned by Midlands Media Group LLC, the station broadcasts a country music format branded as 94.3 The Dude.
History
The frequency for 94.3 was allocated to Forest Acres by the FCC in the fall of 1996. In order to make way for the new station, WPUB, located in nearby Camden, South Carolina, changed its frequency from 94.3 to 102.7 in 1998.
After several years of planning and delays, WWNQ finally signed on under test authority in the fall of 2004 with a mixture of various songs from different genes of music in order to not tip off other stations in the market the true format for the new station. After testing was completed, the station signed on in November with the Classic Country format.
The station was Classic Country until late November 2008, when it was abruptly dropped for an all-Christmas format, a style that has not been done since former AC WLTY flipped its format to Adult Hits.
On December 30, 2008, after stunting with full-length movies, the station flipped to Classic Hits as "Flashback 94.3." The first song was "Let the Good Times Roll" by The Cars. Artists included Billy Joel, Queen, The Beatles, Tom Petty, and Electric Light Orchestra.
On July 30, 2010 WWNQ rebranded as "94.3 The River", taking the station off the satellite and programmed locally, playing the top 40 hits of the rock era. Local on-air personalities were Mike Lockaby mornings, Lona Steele middays and Marty Hall afternoons. WWNQ promoted "Columbia's Most-Music Mornings" weekday mornings with 94 minutes of commercial-free Classic Hits. WWNQ also featured a locally produced Beatles specialty program, "The Beatles Radio Magazine," hosted by Marty Hall Sunday mornings at 10 A.M.
On June 28, 2011 at 3 pm WWNQ began stunting with a ticking clock. On June 29, 2011 at 6 am WWNQ changed their format to contemporary hits, branded as "Q94.3", which turned out to be a stunt. On June 30, 2011 at 6 pm WWNQ resumed stunting with a ticking clock and changed their format to classic country, branded as "Country Legends 94.3" at 12 noon on Friday, July 1, 2011.
In 2012, Hometown Columbia bought WWNQ and WWNU from Double O Radio. Minor changes were planned, but Kirk Litton of Hometown Columbia said Carolina Country would play "the hall of fame legends" instead of "bubblegum country"; the focus would be the 1980s and 1990s. Also, "Good Morning Columbia", hosted by Doug Enlow, Bill Benton and Charlie Benton, moved from WWNU July 5; the show moved from WISW earlier in the year. WWNQ began airing Sprint Cup Series races as well.
In early 2013, the station began to stunt again as 94.3 George, 94.3 Kenny and 94.3 Garth Brooks, before re-branding as 94.3 The Dude on February 7, 2013, with no change in format.
On March 31, 2016, Hometown Columbia owner Thomas Davis transferred WWNQ's license to Hometown Columbia's parent company, Davis Media, LLC. Effective August 3, 2016, Davis Media sold the station to Midlands Media Group LLC for $900,000.