WPFQ
City | Sylvester, Georgia |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Albany, Georgia |
Frequency | 102.1 MHz |
Branding | Retro FM 102.1 |
Programming | |
Format | Classic hits |
Ownership | |
Owner | Tripp Morgan (Pretoria Fields Collective Media, LLC) |
Operator | JetStream Media |
History | |
First air date | 1999 (as WWSG at 101.7) |
Former call signs | WWSG (1999-2002) WZBN (2002-2006) WQVE (2006) WNUQ (2006-2019) |
Former frequencies | 101.7 MHz (1999-2006) |
Call sign meaning | Pretoria Fields |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 66942 |
Class | A |
ERP | 6,000 watts |
HAAT | 79 meters |
Transmitter coordinates | 31°31′40″N 83°50′22″W / 31.52778°N 83.83944°W |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | retrofmalbany.com |
WPFQ (branded as "Retro FM 102.1") is a radio station serving Albany, Georgia and surrounding cities. This station broadcasts on FM frequency 102.1 MHz and is under ownership of Pretoria Fields Collective Media, LLC.
History[]
From its official launch in March 1999 through most of 2006, WPFQ was on 101.7 MHz and was known as Q101. The entire time it was broadcasting as "Q101" it did so under a single program director Jason/J.B. Savage. From 2006 to 2014, the station switched to a Top 40/CHR format and branded itself as "Q102" to coincide with moving to its current frequency 102.1 MHz.
On August 15, 2014, at 3 PM, the then-WNUQ flipped to country, becoming one of the first "Nash Icon" affiliates as "102.1 Nash Icon".[1]
On March 27, 2018, WNUQ and three other Cumulus stations (KJMO, WPCK, and WTOD) were placed into the Cumulus Reorganization Divestiture Trust for a future sale.[2]
On October 17, 2019, Cumulus announced that WNUQ would be sold to Trey Morgan's organization, Pretoria Fields Collective Media for $90,000 from the divestiture trust.[3]
On November 20, it was announced through The Albany Herald that the station would rebrand as "Q102 The Queen Bee" under new callsign WPFQ upon closure of the sale; new station manager Tara Dyer Stoyle reported that the plan is to relaunch the station on January 6, 2020, from new studios at Morgan's Pretoria Fields brewery in downtown Albany.
On November 26, 2019, The Mainstay Trust closed on the sale for WNUQ from Cumulus Media while changing call letters to WPFQ with a format yet to be disclosed.[4]
The Queen Bee was eventually launched on January 27, 2020, with a AAA format. Stoyle described it as "a culmination of hundreds of hours of selecting and loading thousands of songs that were each hand-picked for the listeners." She also listed additional airstaffers as including Kenny Mitchell (formerly of WJAD), Nikki Miller (local dj), Carlton Fletcher (a fellow Albany Herald columnist), as well as members of local bands BoDean, The Poachers, and This Solid Ground.[5][6]
On July 1, 2021, Pretoria Fields Collective Media entered into a Local Marketing Agreement with JetStream Media to operate WPFQ. JetStream took Q102 The Queen Bee off the air on July 1, 2021, to make adjustments to the equipment at the WPFQ tower site. On July 2, 2021, at noon, JetStream Media launched WPFQ as a classic hits station, branded as "Retro FM 102.1".[7]
Previous logo[]
References[]
- ^ "Nash Icon Launches Across The Country". Radio Insight. August 15, 2014. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Cumulus Files Reorganization Plan With FCC; To Divest Four Stations". Radio Insight. March 27, 2018. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Cumulus Spinoff Trust Sells Two; Mapleton Sells San Francisco AM". All Access. October 17, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Illinois FM Changes Hands". All Access. November 27, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Q102 The Queen Bee To Launch in Albany, GA". Radio Insight. November 20, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020.
- ^ "TARA DYER STOYLE: 2020 will be Year of The Queen Bee". The Albany Herald. November 2, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020.
- ^ WPFQ Goes Retro Radioinsight - July 5, 2021
External links[]
- WPFQ official website
- WPFQ in the FCC FM station database
- WPFQ on Radio-Locator
- WPFQ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
Coordinates: 31°31′41″N 83°50′20″W / 31.528°N 83.839°W
- Radio stations in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Classic hits radio stations in the United States
- Radio stations established in 2000
- 2000 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Georgia (U.S. state) radio station stubs