WQDR-FM
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| City | Raleigh, North Carolina |
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| Broadcast area |
Raleigh/Durham Research Triangle |
| Branding | 94.7 QDR |
| Slogan | Today's Best and Most Continuous Country |
| Frequency | 94.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) 94.7 HD-1: simulcast of WQDR 94.7 HD-2: simulcast of WPTK 94.7 HD-3: simulcast of WPTF |
| First air date | 1949 (as WPTF-FM at 94.9) |
| Format | Country |
| Audience share | 7.8 (Fa'08, R&R) |
| ERP | 95,000 watts |
| HAAT | 512 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 9076 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°40′35″N 78°32′9″W / 35.67639°N 78.53583°W |
| Callsign meaning | QuaDraphonic Rock |
| Former callsigns | WPTF-FM (1949-1972), WQDR (1972-2010) |
| Former frequencies | 94.5 MHz (1949-1950s) |
| Owner | Curtis Media Group |
| Sister stations | WKIX-FM, WBBB, WWPL, WFNL, WPTF, WPTK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 947qdr.com |
WQDR-FM (94.7 FM) is a radio station in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, broadcasting to the state's central and eastern regions, including the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, Wilson, and Goldsboro. "QDR" presents a country music format and is currently owned by Curtis Media Group.
Durham Life Insurance Company signed on WPTF-FM, then at 94.5 MHz, in 1949. The station, which would later move to 94.7 MHz, transmitted from an antenna atop one of sister station WPTF 680 AM's three towers in what is now eastern Cary, near Interstate 40 East. Both stations were based in downtown Raleigh at 410 Salisbury Street.
WPTF-FM aired a classical music format in the late 1960s and early 70s. WQDR was the brain child of Durham Life Broadcasting"s President and General Manager, Carl Venters who succeeded Richard Mason in June 1972, saw quad stereo rock as the wave of the future. (QDR stands for quadraphonic). Venters had heard of Lee Abrams, a 19-year-old broadcaster who worked for ABC radio's WRIF in Detroit. Venters convinced Abrams to come to Raleigh and create the Album Rock format he had developed but never put on the air. David Sousa was hired as program director. Sousa had worked with Lee Abrams at WMYQ in Miami, Florida. Abrams, Sousa and Robert W. Walker, who worked with Abrams, created the Album Rock music list and program structure that was later known as the "Superstars" format, the first commercial FM formatted rock station in the nation. Venters appointed David Berry as station manager and a sales team that included Doug Parsons, Pam Skidmore, Winslow Stillman, Rob Hankin, Laurel Smith, Tom Tucker Don Fowler (also a WPTF rep) among others, was trained and ready.
WQDR went on the air December 26, 1972 at midnight. The last song on WPTF-FM was "Jingle Bell Rock", while the first on WQDR was "Bitch" by the Rolling Stones.
Within a year, the station had double-digit ratings. After that first year, the format (by then named "Superstars") took off, and soon was in over 30 markets around the country. Abrams's big break came when he teamed up with veteran consultant Kent Burkhart, giving him credibility among station owners. WQDR became his first success. Abrams later developed the music formats for XM Satellite Radio.
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