WDAQ

WDAQ

File:WDAQ Radio logo.jpg
City of license	Danbury, Connecticut
Broadcast area	Northwest Fairfield County, Connecticut
Branding	98Q
Slogan	Danbury's Hit Music Station
Frequency	98.3 MHz (also on HD Radio) 98.3-2 Alternative Rock 98.3-3 News/Talk (WLAD simulcast)
Translator(s)	103.7 W279CI (Danbury, relays HD2)
First air date	1948 (as WLAD-FM)
Format	Hot AC
ERP	1,300 watts
HAAT	140 meters
Class	A
Facility ID	4822
Callsign meaning	W DAnbury Q
Former callsigns	WLAD-FM (1948-1979)
Owner	Berkshire Broadcasting Group
Sister stations	WAXB, WLAD
Webcast	Listen Live Listen Live (HD2)
Website	98q.com 1037rock.com (HD2)

WDAQ (98.3 FM), "98Q") is a Hot AC station licensed to Danbury, Connecticut and serving the immediate Danbury area. The station is owned by Berkshire Broadcasting Corp, along with sister stations WLAD and WAXB. WDAQ broadcasts on 98.3 MHz with 1.3 KW (1300 watts) ERP (Effective Radiated Power).

History

WDAQ first signed on in 1948 as WLAD-FM, one of the first Class A FM stations to sign on in the United States and the first to sign on in the Danbury area (over a decade prior to the sign on of the higher powered WINE-FM). Originally, the station was part of the Rural Radio Network as one of two Connecticut affiliates of the New York-based network. This programming would last until the 1950s when WLAD-FM evolved into an extension of its then daytime-only sister station, WLAD-AM.

In the mid 1960s, spurred on by FCC regulations forcing FM stations to create formats separate from their AM sister stations, WLAD-FM upgraded to a stereo signal and flipped to an automated easy listening format. In 1979, the call letters were changed to WDAQ, competing with WEZN from Bridgeport and WHUD from Peekskill, NY for Greater Danbury's easy listening audience. The station gradually shifted to soft adult contemporary. In 1986, the station rebranded itself as "Lite 98" and shed the easy listening instrumentals.

By the late 1980s, WDAQ faced a more crowded market of adult contemporary signals. WEBE Westport/Bridgeport adopted the A/C format in 1984 and then WEZN contemporized its easy listening format in 1987. Seeing an opportunity between teen formatted WKCI-FM, mainstream A/C WEBE and soft A/C WEZN, WDAQ was reborn as Hot A/C 98Q in September, 1989. The station's initial music mix relied heavily on 1970s titles that had not been played on the radio for several years. Within a year, WDAQ shot to #1 beating sister full-service WLAD and crosstown rocker WRKI.

During its more than 20 years as "98Q," the station has finished first in the majority of Danbury Arbitron market ratings surveys. The station continues to be hyper-focused on Greater Danbury as opposed to the more regional approaches of the other FM stations in the market.

On August 7, 2015, WDAQ upgraded to HD Radio, and launched a new Alternative station on 103.7 MHz, fed by its HD2 subchannel, as "103.7 Danbury's New Rock Alternative", which launched on the 10th at Noon after stunting with loops of songs that changed each hour, with songs like "Rapper's Delight" and "Drunk on a Plane". The first song on 103.7 was "Renegades" by X Ambassadors.

Musical Approach

After drifting towards Adult Top 40 for a couple of years, 98Q has returned to a more straight ahead, 90's based Hot A/C presentation.

On-Air Personalities

• Rich Minor
• Nate

Former On-Air Personalities

• Bill Trotta (Mr. Morning) - Now at WDBY in Patterson, NY
• Donna Rev
• John Chipman
• Ryan Carrington
• Paul DiMarco (Mr. 70's)
• Jim Hartman
• Jim Sharply
• Dennis O'Marra
• Frank Morrow
• Ann Fitzgerald

External links

• 98Q WDAQ official website
• 98Q WDAQ @ Facebook
• 98Q WDAQ @ Twitter
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WDAQ
• Radio-Locator information on WDAQ
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WDAQ
• Query the FCC's FM station database for W279CI
• Radio-Locator information on W279CI