WQZS

WQZS is an oldies and classic rock station that broadcasts from Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. WQZS also airs many oldtime radio shows. The station is 100 percent owned by Roger Wahl, a Larimer Township Supervisor, doing business as Target Broadcasting, Inc.

WQZS
CityMeyersdale, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaSouthern Somerset County, PA
Frequency93.3 MHz
Branding"QZ-93"
Slogan"Top of the Rock"
Programming
FormatOldies/Classic rock
AffiliationsCBS Radio News
Ownership
OwnerRoger Wahl
(dba Target Broadcasting, Inc.)
History
First air dateOctober 26, 1992
Technical information
Facility ID57424
ClassA
ERP630 watts
HAAT294 meters

The station covers Somerset County and the surrounding area, as well as nearby Cumberland, Frostburg, and Oakland, Maryland; the station identification states that it can be heard in sixteen counties.

WQZS bears the distinction of being one of the few small-market stations in southwestern Pennsylvania with a live, local, real-time airstaff. WQZS is also the sole standalone FM radio station in Somerset County.

Roger Wahl serves as the station's general manager and host of the morning show, where he is known as "The Commander".

History

The station was founded by Roger Wahl, a Somerset County native who worked in the Altoona radio market during the early and mid-1970s. He gave up working in radio to care for an ailing family member in the late 70s, and returned to the Meyersdale area as a result. He was working as a regional sales manager for a Maryland beer distributor when he began planning WQZS.

One of Wahl's customers on his account list owned a radio station, and the two men struck up a friendship which frequently included radio shop talk. One day, the conversation led to Wahl's client informing him of a window of new FM applications, including a drop-in frequency at 93.3 mHz in Meyersdale.

Wahl applied for the license on August 8, 1988, but the FCC would not approve the paperwork until 1991. The WQZS call letters were issued in 1990. However, WQZS wouldn't go on the air for the first time until October 26, 1992. A series of interviews for on-air and sales staff was held at the Holiday Inn at Somerset in the summer of 1991, drawing hundreds of applicants thanks to an intensive advertising campaign and a sudden glut of on-air talent displaced by new FCC ownership regulations, which had station owners pairing up FMs in the same market. At this time, it was speculated that WQZS would go on the air with a soft adult contemporary format in response to research conducted in the Somerset County area.

When the station did go on the air, instead of soft adult contemporary, the station went on the air with an oldies format, and that format, though very slightly modified over the years, remains today. WQZS still operates literally unchanged since going on the air, having the same owner, format, and studio location at 128 Hunsrick Road in Summit Township, about five miles (8 km) south of Meyersdale and in the foothills of the Meyersdale Wind Energy Center. WQZS transmits from North Wolf Rock Road atop Mount Davis. It also maintains its same news affiliation agreement with the CBS radio network.

Arrest

Wahl was arrested in September 2019 amid accusations that he created a fake dating profile and used it to solicit men to rape a 61-year-old woman known to him. Wahl was further accused of placing a trail camera in the woman's bathroom without her knowledge or consent. The victim also obtained a PFA order against Wahl. Wahl waived his right to a preliminary hearing in November 2019 and faces a trial in Somerset County Court in the summer of 2020.

In March 2020, Wahl filed an application to transfer control of WQZS to his daughter, Wendy Sipple. The FCC approved the transfer on June 1, 2020.

Sources
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