WROQ

WROQ is a classic rock station licensed to Anderson, South Carolina, and serving the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville and Spartanburg. The station has had a Classic Rock and Roll format since December 1, 1987. This makes it one of the oldest Classic Rock stations in the country as far as years with the same format. The Rock 101 Moniker was first used on the station from 1978-1982 and returned in 1987. The Entercom Communications outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast at 101.1 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. The station goes by the name Classic Rock 101.1 and its current slogan is "The Upstate's Only Classic Rock Station." Former slogans include "Rock 101.1- The Home of Classic Rock and Roll" and "The Upstate's Classic Rock and Roll Station". Its studios are in Greenville, and its tower is shared with WMYA-TV, located west of Fountain Inn, South Carolina.

For the Charlotte, North Carolina station, see WNKS.
WROQ
CityAnderson, South Carolina
Broadcast areaUpstate South Carolina
Frequency101.1 MHz
BrandingClassic Rock 101.1
SloganThe Upstate's Only Classic Rock Station
101% Classic Rock
Programming
FormatClassic rock
AffiliationsJohn Boy and Billy
Ownership
OwnerEntercom Communications
(Entercom License, LLC)
History
First air date1947 (as WCAC-FM)
Former call signsWCAC-FM (1947-1978)
WAIM-FM (1978-1982)
WCKN (1982-1991)
Call sign meaning"Rock" (The station's moniker)
Technical information
Facility ID318
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT296 meters
Transmitter coordinates34°38′51.00″N 82°16′13.00″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websiteclassicrock1011.com

Station history

101.1 signed on as WCAC-FM in 1947 as the sister station to WAIM/1230. It was owned by Wilton E. Hall, the publisher of the Anderson Independent and Daily Mail and one-time US Senator from South Carolina. The station is noted for being one of the earliest FM stations in the state. WCAC-FM had a "beautiful Music"/ Standards format for many years. In 1978, after the death of owner/founder Wilton E. Hall, WCAC-FM, WAIM 1230 and WAIM-TV 40 were all sold to Franklin Outlaw (the founder of the BI-LO chain of grocery stores). Frank changed the format to freeform progressive rock. The moniker became "The New Rock 101 , WCAC-FM" in early 1978. The logo was a large flaming fireball with the name Rock 101, WCAC-FM in large red letters. Rock 101 did a lot of many local live remotes. Many were held at ABC Jeans in the Belvedere Shopping Plaza in Anderson. It became WAIM-FM in September 1980, but kept the name as Rock 101. For many years the Rock 101 studios were located on the campus of Anderson College in Anderson, South Carolina. In 1986, the studios were moved about a mile down the road to a location that is going towards the Anderson Jockey Lot. The studios were moved from Anderson to Greenville in 1992. The Rock 101 name and format has been so long-lasting on the station that it has survived during four different sets of call letters beginning with the start of Rock 101 in 1978, those call letters being: WCAC-FM, WAIM-FM, WCKN and now WROQ since 1991. One of the early Rock 101 D.J.s in 1978 was Billy Love (the morning man on WRTH 103.3). Some of the Rock 101 D.J.s over the years have also included: Michael Scott "Super Shan" Shannon, Gary Jackson, Lee Rogers, Michael "The Doctor Mike" Allen, Kenny Thomas, Craig Allen, Mike Benson, Perry "Scooter" Leslie, Max Mace, Scott Summers, Billy "The Big Nightstalker" Walker, Diana Daniels, Robert (The Mad Dog) Mackney, Marc Bailey, James "Jim Spanky" Miller, K.C. and T.J. Carson, Tony Magoo, Brian Blades, The Intern, Robert Wagner, J.J. Michaels, Steve Chris, Jim Wilson, Danny Stevens, Nathan Norris, with Lisa Rollins, Danger Dan Elm, JD "Stoneman" Stone. Anne Robards, Ditti, Mark Hendrix, Chris Lee and Bill Cain among so many other Rock 101 D.J.'s.

In the Fall of 1982, WAIM-FM changed formats into a hybrid of CHR and AOR under the "Rock 40" format as WCKN a.k.a. "The All New Rock 101 FM". From the word go the station set off to do battle with then dominant Top 40 outlet WANS-FM (now WJMZ-FM). In 1984, the station licensed the "Hot Hits" format from consultant Mike Joseph and tightened up the music, playing only 20 current songs and no re-currents or oldies. This approach did not work and was dropped. In 1986, the playlist was broadened and adopted the moniker as "The New Power 101 FM, WCKN".

Despite these attempts, ratings remained in second place to WANS-FM's dominance in the CHR market. In late November 1987, the station started running promos about "giving the audience what they wanted". Then on December 1, 1987 the Rock 40 format and the Power 101 FM name was officially dropped for a fully fledged AOR format (with a strong musical lean toward Classic Rock) and Rock 101 was reborn. During this time two very popular shows on Rock 101 were, "The Rock 101's Midnight Tracker" where a random full Rock and Roll album would be played at midnight all the way through the morning, with no commercial interruption whatsoever. On Friday nights at midnight, the same concept but with six albums played all the way back to back. The D.J.s would state all of the tracks on each album and then play the album all the way through. The Friday night show was called "The Rock 101's Friday Night Six Pack". Both of these shows were very popular with listeners and continued on Rock 101 until the mid-1990s. The WCKN call letters were finally dropped for WROQ in February 1991 as the station has shifted toward Active Rock but keeping the Rock 101 moniker. This approach was successful as the station became a solid Top 5 performer in the ratings for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, eventually going to #1 on several occasions during that time.

The station was eventually acquired by Barnstable Broadcasting in 2002. Since Barnstable at the time had also owned WROQ's main competitor WTPT it was decided to shift the station towards into a fully fledged classic rock station. This move was meant to allow both stations some breathing room and ratings have strengthened since that time.

Clear Channel Communications signed on WBZT-FM in April 2002 as "96.7 The Buzzard", playing a mix of rock music from the 1960s through the present day. The move was meant to play spoiler to WROQ however the idea did not succeed very well, and the rock format was dropped at WBZT in 2007.

This current version of Rock 101 started on December 1, 1987. The Rock 101 moniker dates back to 1978 where the station was known as The New Rock 101, WCAC-FM until the early 1980s when they went to Rock 40. But then all of a sudden the iconic Rock 101 moniker was returned on December 1, 1987 and the station has had the same format since.

The station is owned by Entercom Communications, which acquired WROQ, along with WTPT-FM and WGVC-FM now WYRD-FM from Barnstable in 2005.

In February 2014 WROQ has been updated the moniker as "The New Classic Rock 101.1, WROQ".

As of August, 2020 The WROQ Weekday On-Air Lineup: 6:00 - 10:00 AM - John Boy And Billy Mornings (syndicated), 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Mark Hendrix. 12:00 - 6:00 PM Jay "Stoneman" Stone, 6:00 PM - Midnight Chris Lee

(WROQ's logo under previous "Rock 101" branding)

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References
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