View source for WQOK

{{For|the radio station in Greenville, South Carolina|WGVL}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WQOK
| logo             =
| city             = [[Carrboro, North Carolina]]
| country          = US
| area             = {{ubl|[[Raleigh–Durham]]|[[Research Triangle]]}}
| branding         = ''"K97.5"''
| airdate          = October 1, [[1960 in radio|1960]]
| frequency        = 97.5 [[Megahertz|MHz]] {{HD Radio}}
| format           = [[Urban contemporary]]
| power            =
| erp              = 50,000 [[watt]]s
| haat             = {{convert|146|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class            = C2
| facility_id      = 69559
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| coordinates      = {{coord|35|58|39.5|N|78|48|57|W|type:landmark_region:US-NC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning =
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WHLF-FM (1960–1973)|WJLC-FM (1973–1987)}}
| affiliations     =
| owner            = [[Urban One]]
| licensee         = Radio One Licenses, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WFXC]], [[WFXC|WFXK]], [[WNNL]]
| webcast          = [http://hiphopnc.com/?get-streaming-audio-player=1 Listen Live]
| website          = [http://www.hiphopnc.com/ hiphopnc.com]
}}
'''WQOK''' (97.5 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[radio station]] [[city of license|licensed]] to [[Carrboro, North Carolina]], and serving the [[Raleigh–Durham]] [[media market|radio market]]. WQOK is owned and operated by [[Urban One]] and airs a [[hip hop]]-leaning [[urban contemporary]] [[radio format]]. Its studios and offices are located on Creedmoor Road in [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]].<ref>[https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-profile/wqok PublicFiles.FCC.gov/WQOK]</ref> Its [[transmitter]] tower is in [[Oak Grove, Durham County, North Carolina|Oak Grove]], just east of [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WQOK-FM Radio-Locator.com/WQOK]</ref>
Each weekday, WQOK carries the "Headkrack Morning Show", [[radio syndication|syndicated]] from [[Atlanta]]. Local [[disc jockey|DJ]]s are heard the rest of the day. WQOK broadcasts in the [[HD Radio|HD]] radio format.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=91 |title=HD Radio station guide for Raleigh–Durham, NC |access-date=July 1, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009062703/https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=91 |archive-date=October 9, 2014 }}</ref>
==History==
===WHLF-FM and WJLC===
WQOK is considered a "move in" station, having begun its history in [[Virginia]], about {{convert|40|mi|km}} north of Raleigh, before it moved into the [[Research Triangle]] of [[North Carolina]]. On October 1, 1960, the station [[sign-on|signed on]] as WHLF-FM in [[South Boston, Virginia]].<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1961-62/Section%20B%202%20Radio%20%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201961-1962-10.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-1962 page B-180]</ref>   It was the FM counterpart to WHLF (1400 AM; now [[WAJL]]), with the two stations [[simulcast]]ing their programming. WHLF-FM effective radiated power was 2,400 [[watt]]s, limiting its coverage to just South Boston and adjacent communities.
In the 1970s, it changed its [[call sign]] to WJLC-FM, airing an [[automation|automated]] [[contemporary hit radio|Top 40]] format separate from the co-owned AM station. The power was increased to 29,000 watts but only using a {{convert|250|ft|m|adj=on|sp=us}} tower, so it still did not cover the Raleigh-Durham market. In the 1980s, it switched to a [[soft adult contemporary]]/[[middle of the road (music)|MOR]] format, but the power and antenna height remained the same.
===Moving to Raleigh===
In 1987, radio entrepreneur and syndicated morning radio host [[Tom Joyner]] purchased the station, under the corporate name "Power Broadcasting".<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1988/B-Radio-Neb-Terr-1988-YB.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1988 page B-207]</ref> The format was switched to urban contemporary, using the call letters WQOK, and rebranded as "K-Power 97.5". Joyner moved the transmitter tower closer to Raleigh, boosting it to {{convert|1020|ft|m}} in [[height above average terrain]] (HAAT). He also upgraded WQOK's [[effective radiated power]] to 100,000 watts, the maximum power permitted by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC), although the [[city of license]] remained as South Boston.
The new tower and coverage area gave WQOK a "city grade" signal over South Boston as required by the FCC, and also put a strong signal around the Triangle as well. Closing down the original South Boston studios, the station signed on from brand new facilities in Raleigh. By winter 1991, WQOK claimed the number one spot in the [[Nielsen ratings|Arbitron ratings]].<ref>Bob Langford, "AM stations, WQOK-FM make big gains," ''The News & Observer'', May 4, 1991.</ref>
===Sale to Clear Channel===
In 1989, Joyner sold the station to Four Chiefs, Inc., owned by noted African-American broadcast executive Ragan Henry.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1990/B-Radio-NE-Terr-BC-YB-1990.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1990 page B-229]</ref> Henry owned the station for seven years and sold it to [[Clear Channel Communications]] in May 1996.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1997/B-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1997.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1997 page B-330]</ref>
In 2000, as a result of a merger between Clear Channel and another owner of radio stations, AMFM, the new larger company wanted to spin off some of its stations. WQOK was sold to Radio One (now called [[Urban One]]), along with current [[sister station]]s 107.1 [[WFXC]], 104.3 [[WFXK]], and 103.9 [[WNNL]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2000/03/13/daily2.html|title=Clear Channel to sell 4 Triangle stations|work=[[Triangle Business Journal]]|date=March 13, 2000|access-date=November 3, 2011}}</ref> The sale meant that once again, the station is under African-American ownership.
===Changing the city of license===
[[File:WQOK-FM 2009.PNG|thumb|Former logo]]
In 2007, WQOK asked the FCC to move its city of license to Carrboro, put the transmitter on a tower in Durham and decrease from [[List of North American broadcast station classes|Class C1]] to C2.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vartv.com/archives07a.htm|title=More radio station proposed moves|publisher=VARTV.com|date=January 28, 2007|access-date=September 29, 2016}}</ref> This dropped the power from 100,000 watts to 50,000 watts and all but eliminated coverage of Virginia. It reduced a short-spacing issue with [[WWWV]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], which also broadcasts on 97.5&nbsp;MHz.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} The station's new tower is shared with WFXC.<ref>http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=750311&formid=301&q_num=5310{{dead link|date=November 2011}}</ref>
WQOK had carried the syndicated [[Russ Parr]] Morning Show. In January 2016, Parr was replaced by The [[Rickey Smiley]] Morning Show, which is syndicated by parent company Urban One.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.hiphopnc.com/ K-97.5 Online]
*{{FM station data|69559|WQOK}}
{{Raleigh Radio}}
{{Urban Radio Stations in North Carolina}}
{{Radio One}}
[[Category:Urban One stations]]
[[Category:Radio stations in the Research Triangle|QOK]]
[[Category:Urban contemporary radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1960]]
[[Category:1960 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Mass media in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina]]