WQEN
  Logos for WQEN's primary and secondary channels.  Logo for WQEN's third HD subchannel. |
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| City | Trussville, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Branding | 103.7 The Q |
| Slogan | Birmingham's #1 Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 103.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| Translator(s) | 103.1 W276BQ (Birmingham, relays HD2) 94.9 W235BS (Birmingham, relays HD3) |
| First air date | October 1966 (as WLJM-FM) |
| Format |
Top 40 (CHR) HD2: Active rock "103.1 The Vulcan" HD3: Alternative rock "Alt 94.9" |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 285 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 22997 |
| Callsign meaning | W QuEeN city (refers to Gadsden, the station's former city of license) |
| Former callsigns | WLJM-FM (1966-1975) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (Capstar TX LLC/Red Mountain Broadcasting, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WDXB, WERC, WERC-FM, WMJJ |
| Webcast |
WQEN Webstream WQEN-HD2 Webstream WQEN-HD3 Webstream |
| Website |
1037theQ.com 1031thevulcan.com (HD2) birminghamsalt949.com (HD3) |
WQEN (103.7 FM, "103.7 the Q") is a radio station licensed to serve Trussville, Alabama, USA. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. Other stations in the Birmingham market owned by iHeartMedia include WDXB (102.5 FM), WERC-FM (105.5 FM), WERC (960 AM), W276BQ, Classic Rock 94.9 FM, and WMJJ (96.5 FM). The station has studios at Beacon Ridge Tower in Birmingham (near Red Mountain) and its transmitter is on the west end of the Red Mountain range.
It broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) station to Birmingham and north-central Alabama.
In October 1966, the station that is now WQEN signed on as WLJM-FM, licensed to Gadsden. The call letters stood for Lloyd, John and Mary Faye, the three children of original owner Charlie Boman. In 1974, WJLM was sold to Charles Smithgall and Mike McDougald who operated WAAX, also in Gadsden. In 1975, the FM station took its current call letters. After a brief run as an automated easy listening radio station, WQEN became one of the first FM Top 40 stations in Alabama, known on the air as "Super Q104, WQEN", "SuperHot Q104" and "Q104 WQEN, The Southern Super Giant". For 42 years, WQEN has been a Top 40 station.
By 1976, the transmitter for WQEN was moved to Steele, some 15 miles south of Gadsden, and the power of its signal was increased to 100,000 watts. This enabled Q104 to cover Gadsden, east Alabama, and many areas of the Birmingham metropolitan area. During this time WQEN was "Super Q104, WQEN" and "Q104 WQEN, The Southern Super Giant". Except for a brief period in the late '80's when the station was known as "103.7 QFM". the station was called Q104 for over 20 years. Until the mid-1990s, Q104 was primarily focused on Gadsden, Anniston, and eastern Alabama.
In 1998, WQEN began broadcasting from a tower near Springville, enabling its signal to cover the entire Birmingham market, and began broadcasting from studios in Birmingham. The station was rebranded with its current name, "103.7 The Q", at that time. At about the same time that the station focused on the Birmingham market it began simulcasting on new WQEM (101.5 FM), licensed to Columbiana. The simulcast continued until 2002, when WQEM was sold to Glen Iris Baptist School in Birmingham, the owners of WGIB.
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