City | Baltimore |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Baltimore Metropolitan Area |
Branding | "92Q Jams" |
Slogan |
"92Q Jams The Most Hip Hop and R&B" "The People's Station" |
Frequency | 92.3 (MHz) |
First air date | 1960s |
Format | Mainstream Urban |
ERP | 37,000 watts |
HAAT | 174 meters |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 68827 |
Callsign meaning | WE Represent 92Q |
Owner |
Radio One (Radio One Licenses, LLC) |
Sister stations | WOLB, WWIN, WWIN-FM |
Website | www.92q.com |
WERQ-FM is a commercial radio station located in Baltimore, Maryland. It features an Urban music format and is known by its listeners as 92Q. It is operated by Radio One of Lanham, Maryland, which operates 53 radio stations in 16 metropolitan areas in the United States and is the largest broadcasting company serving African American audiences in the United States. The WERQ transmitter is located in the Park Heights section of Baltimore, and its studios are located in Woodlawn (they were previously located at Cathy Hughes Plaza in downtown Baltimore).
WERQ signed-on in the 1960s as WSID-FM, on the FCC-allocated frequency of 92.3 MHz (the FM counterpart of WSID-AM). During its first few years, WSID-FM simulcasted much of WSID's daytime-only Urban Contemporary programing in mono, and signed-off at midnight.
By September 1968, WSID-FM would break-away from the AM programs for several hours each day for a separate Underground Rock format, which was gradually expanded to full-time by the end of the year.
The call letters for the station under the new format became WLPL in the process. The WLPL call-sign was an acronym, meaning, "L"and of "P"leasant "L"istening. In 1969, WLPL expanded its operating hours to full-time, while shifting toward a mixture of Top-40 and Album Rock musical selections.
By 1972, the station had made a transition to a full-time Top 40 format and began broadcasting in stereo. WLPL was a very popular Top 40 station in the Baltimore radio listening market while under the management of its founder, United Broadcasting Company (UBC) of Bethesda, Maryland. In 1977, WLPL-FM Program Director Bill Parris was named "Major Market Top 40 Program Director of The Year" by the Billboard magazine, largely due to his work at WLPL.