WQLK

WQLK
City	Richmond, Indiana
Branding	Kicks 96
Slogan	"The Best Country, The Most Fun"
Frequency	96.1 (MHz)
Format	Country
ERP	50,000 Watts
HAAT	150 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	6749
Transmitter coordinates	39°53′33″N 84°56′09″W / 39.89250°N 84.93583°W / 39.89250; -84.93583
Former callsigns	WGLM
Owner	Brewer Broadcasting Corp.
Sister stations	WHON
Website	http://www.kicks96.com

WQLK (96.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Richmond, Indiana, located at 96.1 MHz on the FM dial. WQLK broadcasts at an effective radiated power of 50,000 Watts with its studios, offices, and tower located east of US 35 on Tingler Road just north of Richmond.

Programming

WQLK plays Country music, mainly from the 1990s and today. It is also broadcasts Indiana University Men's basketball

The station used to broadcast Richmond High School football and boys basketball broadcasts until 2000. Those broadcasts have since moved to sister station, 1017 The Point. WHON AM-FM

History

WQLK is Richmond's oldest FM radio signal. The station signed on as WGLM, featuring a Jazz format. This format continued until 1970 when the station adopted a Country format. Jazz remained a fixture on the station, however. WQLK continued to broadcast a Sunday morning jazz program until 1992 when the station became "Kicks 96". By 1974, the station changed its call sign to WQLK and adopted an Easy listening format and briefly returned to country before flip-flopping formats with its AM sister station, WHON in 1979 to become Top 40 as K-96.

Throughout the early- and mid-1980s, WQLK saw quite a bit of success as a Top 40. What made K-96 stand out from stations in nearby Dayton, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati was that it leaned more to toward the Rock side of the genre. This "Rock 40" format gave artists such as The Police, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, for example, more exposure than heard on a conventional Top 40. K-96 did play some Rhythmic music, but mainly those from bands that were considered to be new wave music. By today's standards, "Rock 40" would be termed as a Modern Rock format.

By the end of the 1980s, WQLK became a classic hits station featuring mainly 1970s rock. The format quickly morphed into classic rock by 1990 and then album oriented rock by the early 1990s. The station retained the "K-96" moniker and the koala mascot throughout these format tweaks. In the spring of 1992, and with rumors of a format change in the air, their playlist began to shift slightly incorporating songs by Mary Chapin Carpenter (Passionate Kisses), Restless Heart (When She Cries) and even country crooner Vince Gill (I Still Believe In You) into their playlists right alongside format regulars Led Zeppelin, Boston and John Mellencamp. Popular air personalities from this time period include The Captain, Jim Rhodes, The Buddha and Mike Fox.

Finally in July 1992, the "K-96" era of the station came to an end. At 5pm on the Friday before the format change, the radio station began playing the song "Kicks" by Paul Revere & the Raiders continuously all weekend. The following Monday at 5am, morning show hosts J.R. & The Buddha premiered the radio station's new contemporary Country format as, "Kicks 96." J.R. & The Buddha remained as the radio station's morning show until J.R. was replaced by Buzz Cannon in 1995. At this time Buzz also took over as the station's Program Director. The Buzz & Buddha morning show remained an integral part of the station's success until Buzz's departure in 1999. Upon Buzz's departure from the station, Buddha took over as Program Director and evening air personality Angie Fox was promoted to mornings. Buddha was replaced as Program Director in 2001 by afternoon air-personality Steve Baker who remained the station's P.D. until October 31, 2008. Baker was replaced by Phil O'Reilly on November 1, 2008. The radio station's General Manager Dave Strycker has remained the station's G.M. since 1978. Angie & The Buddha have won numerous awards from The Indiana Broadcasters Association as have Steve Baker, News Director Jeff Lane and Production Director Joe Winters. Though the station has tweaked itself slightly over the years to include older songs and has changed their positioning statement from Hot Country Kicks 96 to The Best Country & The Most Fun, Kicks 96, their county format remains relatively the same to this day. Key air-personalities since 1993 include: Mark Brim, Buzz Cannon, The Buddha, Angie Fox, Allen Rantz, Paul Partezana, Dave McKay, Steve Baker, and Randy Klemme/Big R.

External links

Radio stations in the Muncie-Marion, Indiana market

By FM frequency	88.3 90.7 91.3 92.1 93.5 96.1 96.7 97.9 98.7 99.1 99.3 101.7 102.5 104.1 104.9 106.9

By AM frequency	700 860 990 1070 1190 1240 1340 1400 1450 1470

By callsign	WBAT WBKQ WBST WCJC WFNI WGNR WGNR-FM WHBU WJPB-LP WERK WIKL WKMV WKPW WLBC-FM WLW WLYV WMDH-FM WMDH WMRI WMXQ WOWO WQLK WQME WRFM WWHI WXFN WXXC

Defunct	WWDS 90.5 FM

Nearby radio markets Dayton Ft. Wayne Indianapolis Lafayette Lima South Bend See also List of radio stations in Indiana

Country radio stations in the state of Indiana

By AM frequency	1330 1460 1550 1560

By FM frequency	92.9 93.3 93.5 94.3 95.3 95.5 95.7 95.9 95.9 95.9 96.1 96.7 96.7 96.9 97.1 98.1 98.5 99.3 99.9 100.1 100.3 100.5 100.9 100.9 101.5 101.7 101.9 102.3 102.7 103.1 103.5 103.7 103.9 105.1 105.1 105.3 105.3 105.5 105.5 105.7 106.3 106.5

By callsign	WARU-FM – Roann WAWC – Syracuse WBDC – Huntingburg WBKQ – Alexandria WBTU – Kendallville WBYT – Elkhart WCBK-FM – Martinsville WCDQ – Crawfordsville WCJC – Van Buren WCOE – La Porte WDKE – Seelyville WDWQ – Terre Haute WFLQ – French Lick WFMS – Fishers WHCC – Ellettsville WHZR – Royal Center WIFE-FM – Rushville WIVR – Kentland WJCP – North Vernon WKID – Vevay WKKG – Columbus WKLO – Hardinsburg WKOA – Lafayette WKZS – Covington WKUZ – Wabash WLFW – Chandler WLHK – Shelbyville WLJE – Valparaíso WMDH-FM – New Castle WMPI – Scottsburg WNDI – Sullivan WNDI-FM – Sullivan WPGW-FM – Portland WQHK-FM – Decatur WQKZ – Ferdinand WQLK – Richmond WRAY-FM – Princeton WRBI – Batesville WRIN – Rensselaer WSCH – Aurora WTHD – Lagrange WTHI-FM – Terre Haute WTRE – Greensburg WUZR – Bicknell WWBL – Washington WWKI – Kokomo WXKU-FM – Austin WYCM – Attica WYGB – Edinburgh

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Indiana

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