WQZS
Encyclopedia
WQZS is an oldies
and classic rock
station that broadcasts from Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
. WQZS also airs many oldtime radio shows. The station is 100 percent owned by Roger Wahl, a Larimer Township
Supervisor, doing business as Target Broadcasting, Inc.
The station covers Somerset County
and the surrounding area, as well as nearby Cumberland
, Frostburg
, and Oakland, Maryland
; the station identification states that it can be heard in sixteen counties.
WQZS bears the distinction of being one of the few small-market stations in southwestern Pennsylvania with a live, local, real-time airstaff. WQZS is also the sole standalone FM radio station in Somerset County.
Roger Wahl serves as the station's general manager and news director. Helen Wahl serves as station program director. Their children, Rachel and Brian, also work at the station.
When the station did go on the air, instead of soft adult contemporary, the station went on the air with an oldies format, and that format, though very slightly modified over the years, remains today. WQZS still operates literally unchanged since going on the air, having the same owner, format, and studio location at 128 Hunsrick Road in Summit Township
, about five miles (8 km) south of Meyersdale and in the foothills of the Meyersdale Wind Energy Center. WQZS transmits from North Wolf Rock Road atop Mount Davis. It also maintains its same news affiliation agreement with the CBS radio network.
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
and classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
station that broadcasts from Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
Meyersdale is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, on the Casselman River, southeast of Pittsburgh. In the past, its chief industry was the mining of coal. Meyersdale was first settled as early as 1776, but the growth of the town dates from the advent of the first railroad in 1871. Coal...
. WQZS also airs many oldtime radio shows. The station is 100 percent owned by Roger Wahl, a Larimer Township
Larimer Township, Pennsylvania
Larimer Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 590 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:It is located approximately at 39.8015 by -78.9488...
Supervisor, doing business as Target Broadcasting, Inc.
The station covers Somerset County
Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 77,742. Somerset County was created on April 17, 1795, from part of Bedford County and named for Somerset, United Kingdom. Its county seat is Somerset. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania,...
and the surrounding area, as well as nearby Cumberland
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...
, Frostburg
Frostburg, Maryland
Frostburg is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States located at the head of the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,873 at the 2000 census...
, and Oakland, Maryland
Oakland, Maryland
Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 1,925 according to United States Census 2010 figures, it is the most populated community in Garrett County...
; the station identification states that it can be heard in sixteen counties.
WQZS bears the distinction of being one of the few small-market stations in southwestern Pennsylvania with a live, local, real-time airstaff. WQZS is also the sole standalone FM radio station in Somerset County.
Roger Wahl serves as the station's general manager and news director. Helen Wahl serves as station program director. Their children, Rachel and Brian, also work at the station.
History
The groundwork for WQZS was actually laid in August 1988, when the construction permit to build it was first granted. The WQZS call letters were issued two years later. However, WQZS wouldn't go on the air for the first time until the fall of 1992. A series of interviews for on-air and sales staff was held at the Holiday Inn at Somerset in the summer of 1991, drawing hundreds of applicants thanks to an intensive advertising campaign and a sudden glut of on-air talent displaced by new FCC ownership regulations, which had station owners pairing up FMs in the same market. At this time, it was speculated that WQZS would go on the air with a soft adult contemporary format in response to research conducted in the Somerset County area.When the station did go on the air, instead of soft adult contemporary, the station went on the air with an oldies format, and that format, though very slightly modified over the years, remains today. WQZS still operates literally unchanged since going on the air, having the same owner, format, and studio location at 128 Hunsrick Road in Summit Township
Summit Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Summit Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The population was 2,368 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, about five miles (8 km) south of Meyersdale and in the foothills of the Meyersdale Wind Energy Center. WQZS transmits from North Wolf Rock Road atop Mount Davis. It also maintains its same news affiliation agreement with the CBS radio network.