WQTU

WQTU, known on-air as Q102, is a radio station located in Rome, Georgia.

WQTU
CityRome, Georgia
Broadcast areaRome, Georgia
Frequency102.3 (MHz)
BrandingQ102
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerRome Radio Partners
History
First air dateMay 1, 1966[1]
Former call signsWRGA-FM (1966–1977)
Technical information
ClassA
ERP1,100 watts
HAAT227 meters (745 ft)
Links
Websiteq1023.fm

History

102.3 FM began broadcasting on May 1, 1966[1] as WRGA-FM, the sister FM station to WRGA (AM 1470). It was the second time an FM counterpart had been built for WRGA; a prior WRGA-FM had operated at 106.5 MHz from 1950 until being deleted on January 17, 1955.[2] WRGA-FM initially carried a 60 percent simulcast of the AM station.[1]

In 1977, WRGA-AM-FM was sold from Mather Payne to Mike McDougald for $750,000; McDougald immediately announced his plans to change the FM station's call letters to WQTU and program it independently,[3] with the station adopting its present adult contemporary format.[4] While McDougald had reached a deal to sell the stations to the newly formed Radioactivity Broadcast Group in 1988, the company—in the midst of a $10 million buying spree—fell apart after Radioactivity owner Clyde Murchison was arrested that October in an FBI sting operation; the company's partners noticed discrepancies in his background, while he claimed to be a nephew of Clint Murchison but was not recognized by a family friend.[5] While Radioactivity was given until the end of 1988 by the equity broker in the Rome transaction to find a replacement equity partner,[6] this did not come to pass. McDougald was named the chairman of the Hospital Authority of Floyd County in 1992; as part of a special grand jury investigation into conflicts of interest at the hospital authority, it was found that his stations received more than 80 percent of the agency's radio advertising budget even though competitors WTSH and WKCX were higher-rated.[7]

McDougald would own the pair for 25 years, selling the stations in 2002 to Paul Stone's Southern Broadcasting Companies in a $1.6 million transaction.[8] Stone sold the stations and other Rome radio assets in 2009 to Rome Radio Partners, with WRGA-WQTU going for $2.65 million.[9]

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References
  1. "WRGA-FM" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1968. p. B-46 (194). Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  2. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 31, 1955. p. 86. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  3. "Broadcasting". Atlanta Constitution. August 4, 1977. p. 7-C. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  4. "WQTU(FM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1979. p. C-57 (281). Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  5. "FBI Arrests Radio Exec Murchison For Wire Fraud" (PDF). Radio & Records. November 11, 1988. pp. 1, 34. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  6. "Radioactivity working to restructure station acquisitions" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 5, 1988. p. 74. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  7. "Grand Jury Presentments". June 30, 1995. p. 9-A. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  8. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. January 11, 2002. p. 8. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  9. "Rome cluster wasn't built in a day". RBR. April 6, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2020.

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