WQLR (FM)

WQLR (94.7 FM) is a non-commercial religious FM radio station licensed to Chateaugay, New York owned by the Educational Media Foundation airing the EMF's K-Love Contemporary Christian format. The station is a border blaster, predominantly serving Greater Montreal and the Seaway River Valley, including Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York.

WQLR
Broadcast areaCornwall, Ontario and Greater Montreal
Frequency94.7 MHz
BrandingK-Love
Programming
FormatContemporary Christian
AffiliationsK-Love
Ownership
OwnerEducational Media Foundation
WMWA
History
First air date
April 15, 1997 (as WYUL)
Former call signs
WXEB (1992, CP)
WEEP (1992-1993, CP)
WYUL (1993-2021)
Technical information
Facility ID69847
ClassC2
ERP11,000 watts
HAAT180 metres (590 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
44°46′56″N 74°13′09″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websiteklove.com

WQLR has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 11,000 watts. Its transmitter is on Old Hill Road in Ellenburg, New York, approximately 120 km (75 mi) southwest of Montreal.[1] Its city-grade signal reaches the southwestern portion of Greater Montreal, while its C2 class signal covers most of Montreal proper. In the eastern part of Montreal, the signal receives strong interference from co-channel CHEY-FM, Rouge FM's signal based in Trois-Rivières.

History
Previous logo under WYUL

The station was built by the Martz Communications Group, and signed on as WXEB in 1992, before changing its call letters to WEEP the same year, and then WYUL in 1993 (a nod to its listeners in Montreal; YUL is the IATA code for Montréal–Trudeau International Airport). The station was originally a simulcast of CHR/Top 40-formatted WYSX in Ogdensburg until 2002, when the station segued to its own "94.7 Hits FM" branding and format. WYUL became Montreal's first English-language contemporary hit radio station since 1991, when CHTX ("990 Hits") left the Top 40 format. Under Martz ownership, WYUL's sister stations were WVNV and WICY, both licensed to Malone.

As a U.S.-based station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, WYUL was exempt from Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulations regarding Canadian content and the language of broadcast. To that end, and because of the signal's penetration into the Montreal area, WYUL's slogan was "Montreal's Hottest Music". Though it primarily broadcast in English, this allowed the station to accept French-language advertising, which is not permitted on Canadian-licensed English-language stations. It also targeted Cornwall, Ontario. Because WYUL was not a Canadian station, BBM Canada did not measure WYUL's audience.[2]

On June 28, 2021, Martz announced that it is selling WYUL and co-owned WVNV to the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), which runs two national Christian radio music services, K-Love and Air1. This would give EMF its first entry into the Montreal radio market albeit on an American radio signal.[3][4] The last song played on "94.7 Hits FM" was "In The End" by Linkin Park on September 30, 2021.[5] The station went silent at midnight, followed by K-Love programming starting the next day. The station changed its call letters to WQLR on October 5, 2021.[1] With this move, CJFM and French-language CKOI remain as the last two contemporary hit radio stations that are able to be received in Chateaugay, New York.

The WQLR call letters had previously been in used in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1972-2007 at 106.5 FM. Owned by Fairfield Broadcasting Company from 1972-2006, the call letters remained at 106.5 upon purchase by Midwest Communications and then moved to their sister station at 1660 AM, where they remained from 2007-2020 before becoming WTOU.

References
  1. "WQLR-FM 94.7 MHz - Chateaugay, NY". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  2. Kelly, Brendan (February 16, 2014). "Bilingualism from across the border". The Gazette. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  3. "EMF Makes Cross Border Play At Montréal". RadioInsight. June 28, 2021.
  4. Faguy, Steve (June 29, 2021). "Martz Communications sells 94.7 Hits FM, Wild Country 96.5 to religious educational broadcaster". Fagstein.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Faguy, Steve (October 1, 2021). "94.7 Hits FM goes dark | Fagstein". Retrieved 2021-10-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)


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