WQNU

WQNU

Office in Louisville
Lyndon, Kentucky
Broadcast area	Louisville metropolitan area
Frequency	103.1MHz
Branding	New Country Q103.1
Programming
Format	Country
Affiliations	Compass Media Networks
Ownership
Owner	SummitMedia (SM-WQNU, LLC)
Sister stations	WRKA,WSFR,WVEZ
History
First air date	October 19, 1966(October 19, 1966)(as WSTMSt. Matthews)
Former call signs	WSTM (1966–1978) WNUU (1978–1980) WRKA (1980–2008)
Call signmeaning	Q103.1 New(NU)Country
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	20332
Class	C2
ERP	23,000watts
HAAT	169 meters (554 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	38°19′28.20″N85°33′0.10″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	qlouisville

WQNU(103.1FM,"New Country Q103.1" ) is acommercialradio stationbroadcasting acountry musicformat.LicensedtoLyndon, Kentucky,it serves theLouisville metropolitan area.It is owned bySummitMedia.The studios are at Chestnut Centre on South 4th Street indowntown Louisville.

WQNU is aClass C2station. It has aneffective radiated power(ERP) of 23,000watts.Thetransmitteris on Hitt Road in Louisville, off Riverside Expressway (Interstate 71).

History

WSTM, WNUU, WRKA

The stationsigned onthe air on October 19, 1966(October 19, 1966).The originalcall signwas WSTM, with the letters referring to the originalcity of license,St. Matthews, Kentucky.It was a Class A station, powered at 2,950 watts, a fraction of its current output. It was owned by J. W. Dunavent and was sold four times in its first 10 years of broadcasting. In the late 1970s, it aired adisco musicformat.

The station switched its call letters to WNUU on August 28, 1978. On New Year's Day, 1980, the station changed its call sign to WRKA. As WRKA, it aired anadult contemporary musicformat.

In 1982, WRKA tried a short-livedTop 40format. Two years later, in 1984, it returned to its adult contemporary format. Radio personalityGlenn Beckwas the morningdrive timehost at one point. In January 1989, the station adopted anoldiesformat.

WQNU

On July 18, 2008, at 2:30 p.m., after playingHello, GoodbyebyThe Beatles,it broadcast a farewell message from the station's program director going into a commercial break. WRKA then aired a montage of station moments themed toAmerican PiebyDon McLeanthat ended on the lyricThe day the music died,which was followed by one lastjingle.After a minute of static (through which the ending ofBeginningsbyChicagocould be faintly heard), the station beganstuntingby introducing a "new" format asNews/Talk103.1 WRKA,complete with fake reports before playing a fake "BreakingFox NewsAlert "report ofpower outagesaround the state.

That led into the introduction of "New Country Q103.1" at 3 p.m., launching withKid Rock’s "All Summer Long".The same day, the station changed call letters to the current WQNU.The former WRKA call sign is now used on asister stationin the Louisville market.

On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio, Inc. announced the sale of WQNU and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.Summit Media has continued to broadcast a country music format on WQNU, competing with 97.5WAMZ,owned byiHeartMedia.

Notable alumni

• Glenn Beck

Previous Logos

• 
  Previous Logo (1989–2008)
• 
  Previous Logo (2008–2021)

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID 20332 (WQNU)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
• WQNUinNielsen Audio's FM station database
• FCC History Cards for WQNU
• Footage of WRKA changing formats