WQBK-FM (105.7
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
"Q105.7/103.5") is a
commercial radio
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...
station
licensed to
Malta, New York
Malta is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The town is in the central part of the county and is south of Saratoga Springs. The population was 17,130 as of the 2020 census.
Malta, along with Stillwater, is home to the Luthe ...
, and serving the
Capital District, New York
The Capital District, also known as the Capital Region, is the metropolitan area surrounding Albany, New York, Albany, the capital (political), capital of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Capital District was first settled by th ...
. The station is owned by
Townsquare Media
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
, and
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
s a
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
with co-owned 103.5
WQSH in
Cobleskill. Its studios are on Kings Road in
Schenectady
Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...
. In morning
drive time
Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
, WQBK-FM carries the
syndicated ''
Free Beer and Hot Wings Show''. It also airs
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
games.
WQBK-FM's
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is on Bald Mountain tower, in the Town of
Brunswick, New York
Brunswick is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The municipality was originally settled in the early 18th century. During its history, it had been part of Albany County, New York, Alb ...
. WQBK-FM has an
effective radiated power
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...
(ERP) of 7,100 watts.It broadcasts using
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
technology, with its HD2
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
carrying an
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...
format branded "Hot 99.1," which feeds 250-watt
FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...
W256BU on 99.1 MHz.
History
WNYQ Queensbury
After the passage of
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
Docket 80–90 in 1983, several broadcasters considered putting a new FM station in the
Glens Falls
Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,830 at the 2020 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...
-
Lake George region. Around 1990,
WENU owner Donald Heckman successfully petitioned the FCC to grant a 25,000-watt radio station to his hometown of
Queensbury. Heckman-owned Bradmark Communications won the allocation in 1993, using the
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
WWAZ for the
construction permit
Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions.
House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...
until 1995. It was WSRQ until June 1996, when its call letters became WNYQ. The station officially
signed on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...
the air in October 1996.
Bradmark acquired the station in November 1996, one month after the sign-on. WNYQ took over the
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
format previously heard on WENU, using the branding ''Wink 105.7''. From its launch, it aired local programming from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. weekdays, with satellite programming fed from
Westwood One
Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
nights and weekends.
In 2000, Bradmark Communications was sold to Vox Media, a growing owner of radio stations in small markets throughout New York and
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. Vox ended all satellite programming and decided to take WNYQ to a
Hot AC
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...
approach, initially keeping the Wink 105.7 name. In early 2002, WNYQ rebranded as ''Q105.7'', moving closer to
Adult Top 40
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...
. Though initially successful, the station began to see its ratings decline due to competition from new rival
WKBE and several out-of-market Top 40 stations, including
WFLY
WFLY (92.3 FM, ''FLY 92.3'') is a contemporary hit radio station licensed to Troy, New York, and serving the Capital District. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and is considered the company's flagship station. The radio studios and ...
and
WZRT
WZRT (97.1 FM) is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station. Licensed to Rutland, Vermont, the station serves the Lebanon-Rutland- White River Junction area of Vermont and New Hampshire. The station is currently owned by Pamal Broadcasting.
History
The s ...
, with usable signals in WNYQ's signal area.
In 2004, Vox applied to move WNYQ's signal into the more lucrative Albany market, making it the second Bradmark/Vox station to do so. (
WYAI, formerly WHTR in
Corinth
Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...
, was the first.) In December 2004, WNYQ flipped to a satellite-fed
Classic Hits format while keeping the Q105.7 name, as Vox prepared for the station's relocation. The Classic Hits format remained on the 105.7 frequency until it signed off in May 2006, ahead of its relocation. The same format returned in September 2006 at
101.7 MHz (the former WENU, then WQYQ) in
Hudson Falls
Hudson Falls (formerly Sandy Hill) is a village located in Washington County, New York, United States. The village is in the southwest of the town of Kingsbury, on U.S. Route 4. Hudson Falls is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical ...
.
Move to Malta
The move of 105.7 into the Capital District, originally applied for in 2004, went through several complications. Originally, the station had an FCC
construction permit
Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions.
House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...
with a lease to broadcast from the
Clifton Park tower used by
WDCD-FM,
WKKF, and
WTMM-FM. When finally built, the present Bald Mountain site was selected with an upgrade to Class B1 status, even amid concerns that Bald Mountain might provide less-than-optimal coverage of some growing suburbs to the north of Albany.
When Vox sold the firm's remaining Glens Falls stations to
Pamal Broadcasting
Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio group with twenty-three stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1987 as Albany Broadcasting Company, ...
in mid-2004, initially there was a clause that would allow Pamal to get the first rights to buy the 105.7 station as a move-in. This plan was slowed down by regulatory concerns with Pamal's revenue share in the adjacent Capital District and the potential that the signal that would have been sold if purchased (
WZMR) would not able to find new ownership in the required amount of time.
Acquisition by Regent Communications
In June 2006, Regent Communications (now Townsquare Media) purchased the license of WNYQ to put it on the air.
In preparation of the move, Vox applied for the call letters WBZZ; that call sign took effect on September 21, 2006. After some delays, the station finally returned to the air from the Bald Mountain tower site on November 28, 2006, initially
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
ing WABT. It was during this time that the station began to refer to itself as ''Buzz 105.7''. For the following week, DJs were frequently heard informing listeners to "make the switch," explaining that the old 104.5 frequency would no longer broadcast the format by the coming week. The station relaunched exclusively on 105.7 on December 4, 2006, with WABT flipping to
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...
two weeks later as
WTMM-FM.
Tweak to adult contemporary
On December 6, 2007, WBZZ changed its
Hot AC
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...
format (which violated Regent-Clear Channel's non-compete agreement;
WRVE
WRVE (99.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed in Schenectady, New York, Schenectady and serving the Capital District, New York, Capital District and Upper Hudson Valley in New York (s ...
also had a Hot AC format) to
Mainstream adult contemporary. The call letters and the name ''Buzz 105.7'' remained. While most of the jingles and imaging initially stayed from the previous format, WBZZ began airing new jingles in January 2008, better suited for an Adult Contemporary station.
In August 2008, the station changed its slogan from "Bright, Fresh, and Upbeat" under the Hot AC format, to "The Best Variety from Yesterday and Today" under the new Adult Contemporary format. By the end of 2009, the station began to lean a little bit more Hot AC than
WYJB
WYJB (95.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Albany, New York, and serving the Capital District, including Schenectady and Troy. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, swit ...
but still was mostly an Adult Contemporary station.
105.7 Crush FM
On November 1, 2010, at Midnight, the station began
stunting with
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
, WBZZ had been a Christmas music station in years past, and it is not unheard of for stations to change to Christmas music as early as November 1, so it was not initially obvious that WBZZ was planning a new format. The station announced a format change about a week before the launch of ''105.7 Crush FM'' at midnight on January 3, 2011, with a 1990s hits format (similar to Clear Channel's Gen X Radio format) and the WQSH calls. The first song on "Crush FM" was "
Get the Party Started
"Get the Party Started" is a song by American singer Pink, released on October 16, 2001, as the lead single from her second album, '' Missundaztood'' (2001). The song was originally intended for Madonna's 2000 album ''Music'', but when her tea ...
" by
P!nk
Alecia Beth Moore-Hart (née Moore; born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as ), is an American singer and songwriter. She is known for her acrobatic stage presence and activism.
At the age of 15, Pink formed the shor ...
.
In early October 2011, an
FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...
on 99.1 FM, W256BU, went on the air. It began airing an
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...
format, branded "Hot 99.1," fed from the
HD-2 subchannel on 105.7.
On September 7, 2012, at 5 pm, the station flipped to an
Adult Top 40
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...
format, branded as "PopCrush 105.7."

Rewind 105.7
On March 4, 2015, WQSH dropped its adult CHR format and began
stunting with
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
as "Santa 105.7," using the same bumpers that had been used in 2010.
On March 12, 2015, at 7 am, the station flipped to a
Generation X
Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...
-based
classic hits format (similar to the former "Crush FM" format), branded "Rewind 105.7."
Alt 105.7

On March 16, 2018, at 5 pm, after playing "
Dancing in the Dark" by
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
, WQSH began stunting with
Irish bands as "Shamrock 105.7." The station was rumored to be planning a flip to
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
as "Alt 105.7", as the domain name Alt1057Albany.com was registered by Townsquare in mid-February.
However, at the same time that WQSH began stunting,
WINU
WINU (104.9 FM broadcasting, FM, "Big Country 104.9 & 97.9") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Altamont, New York, Altamont and serving New York's Capital District, New York, Capital District. The stati ...
flipped to the alternative format as "Alt 104.9", likely as a preemptive strike, which could require Townsquare to find a new format, or at least a different brand. However, on March 19, at midnight, WQSH still flipped to alternative, with the "Alt 105.7" branding. The first song on "Alt" was "
All Mixed Up" by
311. With the shift of WQSH to alternative, sister stations WQBK-FM and WQBJ moved to classic rock.
Starting in the 2018
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
season, WQSH began airing
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
football games whenever co-owned
WTMM-FM had a conflict due to
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
baseball. In the 2019 season, WQBK-FM became the primary
New York Jets Radio Network affiliate
Affiliation or affiliate may refer to:
* Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law
* Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship
* Affiliate marketing
* Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
in the Capital District.

Q105.7
On July 1, 2019, at noon, WQSH changed its format to mainstream rock, which moved over from WQBK-FM and WQBJ, and rebranded as "Q105.7." The "Alt" format would return a month later on WQBJ, and would rebrand as "Alt 103.5."
On August 9, 2019, WQSH changed call letters to WQBK-FM, which were used since on 103.9 FM since 1972; subsequently, the call sign for 103.9 became WPBZ-FM, reflecting its new
soft adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
format, dubbed "The Breeze." Just over a month later, WQBJ would take on the WQSH call letters. The classic rock format and "Q" branding would return to 103.5 FM on September 3, 2021, with both WQBJ and WQSH continuing to simulcast.
HD Radio
Upon WBZZ's move into the Albany market in 2006, the station was licensed for
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
operations. WQBK-FM currently operates one HD sub-channel, WQBK-HD2, which is also carried on
FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...
W256BU, at 99.1 MHz.
The translator signed on the air on March 6, 2012, first by
stunting with construction sounds, then with protest songs as "Occupy 99.1." On March 9, at Midnight, the translator debuted a
soft adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
format, branded as "Sunny 99.1." The launch was promoted with a Facebook page. However, that also turned out to be a stunt; later that day, at 3 pm, the station adopted its present
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...
format as "Hot 99.1."
References
External links
*
*
*
{{New York Jets
2000 establishments in New York (state)
Classic rock radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 2000
QBK-FM
Townsquare Media radio stations