WNRQ

WNRQ

City of license	Nashville, Tennessee
Broadcast area	Nashville, Tennessee
Branding	105.9 The Rock
Slogan	Nashville's Classic Rock Station
Frequency	105.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) 105.9 HD2 for Alt 98.3 (formerly WLAC simulcast & Vinyl Vineyard)
Translator(s)	98.3 W252CM (Nashville, relays HD2)
First air date	1953 (as WLAC-FM)
Format	FM/HD1: Classic rock HD2: Alternative Rock "ALT 98.3"
ERP	98,000 watts
HAAT	376 meters
Class	C
Facility ID	34392
Callsign meaning	Nashville's RoQ (pronounced as "Rock")
Former callsigns	WLAC-FM (1953–1978) WKQB (1978–1981) WJYN (1981–1983) WLAC–FM (1983–1998)
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations	WLAC, WRVW, WSIX, WUBT
Webcast	Listen Live Listen Live (HD2)
Website	1059therock.com alt983.com (HD2)

WNRQ is an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee, broadcasting on a frequency of 105.9 MHz. It serves counties in northern middle Tennessee and southern central Kentucky. The station's studios are located in Nashville's Music Row district and the transmitter site is in Brentwood, Tennessee.

History/ownership

WNRQ has previously been adult contemporary "Star 106" WLAC-FM and WJYN, the latter reflecting a former easy listening format, "The Joy of Nashville". It has always been the partner station of the historical WLAC, through numerous ownership changes (presently held by Clear Channel Communications, Now iHeartMedia, Inc.).

In 1998, Dick Broadcasting, owner of WGFX, and SFX Broadcasting, the then-owner of WLAC-FM, agreed to trade the intellectual property of the stations. The trade, to have taken place February 2, 1998, would have moved WLAC-FM to 104.5 FM, and moved WGFX's classic rock format to 105.9 under SFX ownership. However, when the agreement fell apart, SFX decided to go ahead with launching a classic rock format anyway, and flipped WLAC-FM to WNRQ that month.

Current format

The current format features a mixture of fairly hard classic rock deemed to be primarily male-oriented; most of the station's playlist first hit middle Tennessee airwaves on the now-country-formatted WKDF during the 1970s and 1980s. It is also Nashville's broadcaster of the syndicated John Boy and Billy morning show, heard on numerous Southern stations with the same format as WNRQ. As of March 2014, the station also carries Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx.

Current disc jockeys

Weekdays

John Boy and Billy - 5am-9am
Temple - 9am-12pm
Rossi - 12pm-3pm
Wells Adams & Esseri - 3pm-7pm
Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx - 7pm-Midnight
Doc Reno - Midnight-5am

Weekends

The best of John Boy and Billy - Saturday Mornings at 5am-9am
J.T. - Saturdays at 9am-2pm & Sundays at 6pm-10pm
Rossi - Saturdays at 2pm-6pm
Dan Eidem - Saturdays at 6pm-9pm & Sundays at 2pm-6pm
Metal Works with Lonn David - Saturdays at 9pm-11pm
BMAN (John Beaulieu) - Saturdays at Midnight-6am & Sundays at Midnight-5am
Marc "The Cope" Coppola - Sundays at 6am-10am
Battle - Sundays at 10am-2pm
The Side Show with Nikki Sixx - Sundays at 10pm-Midnight

Former disc jockeys

"Moose" – currently programs WCJK, "96.3 Jack FM," Murfreesboro/Nashville.
"Proud Mary" – worked before at sister station WRVW, status now unknown.
"Big Rig" – worked nights, was at WFBQ, now at WXTB.
"Squeegie" – now at WBUZ-FM
"Riley"
"Joe Elvis" – afternoons: was the last live show on the station; let go in August 2013 for automation.
"Tyler"
"Mud" – was the programming director for the station, also worked nights then afternoons, now at WBGG-FM.
"Jimmy The K"
"Laura Steele" – Also worked at WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, Still heard on The Classic Rock Channel.

HD Radio

WNRQ also broadcasts two HD Radio stations: WNRQ-HD1 and WNRQ-HD2.

• HD1 is a simulcast of the analog station, while
• HD2 is a Alternative Rock format simulcasting sister translator station, W252CM as Alt 98.3. 98.3/105.9 HD2 will also air Vanderbilt football starting in the 2014 season.

HD2 was previously (at first) a Clear Channel Communications-provided channel called "Vinyl Vineyard", but due to technical difficulties, the simulcast of sister station 1510 WLAC then moved to the HD2 signal, replacing "Vinyl Vineyard". Then on Monday, August 25th, 2014, the new Alternative Rock format of Alt 98.3 (Simulcasting Sister Translator W252CM) made its debut, replacing the WLAC simulcast. It is unknown if the WLAC simulcast will move to HD3, or if WLAC will be an AM-only station. HD3 is still currently silent.

External links

• WNRQ official site
• WNRQ HD information
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WNRQ
• Radio-Locator information on WNRQ
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WNRQ
• Query the FCC's FM station database for W252CM