WQSH (103.5

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 ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

station licensed to Cobleskill, New York, and serving the

Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...

and the western

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

of New York. 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 broadcasts 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, ...

, simulcasting

WQBK-FM WQBK-FM (105.7 MHz "Q105.7/103.5") is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Malta, New York, and serving the Capital District, New York. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and simulcasts a classic rock radio format wit ...

(105.7). The radio studios and offices 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 ...

. WQSH 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 50,000 watts, the maximum for this section of the Northeastern United States. It transmits from a

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

on Indian Road in

Palatine, New York Palatine is a town in Montgomery County, New York, United States. It is located on the north side of the Mohawk River in the northwestern part of the county. The population was 3,189 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the Palatinate ...

History

WQSH

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 ...

in 1986 as WITU with an

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. 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 ...

was changed to WACS-FM in 1988. The next year, WACS-FM was sold to the owners of WSHZ (98.3 FM) and began

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 that station's

format, and later its

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

music, using the call letters WSHQ. The sale of WSHZ to the owners of WTRY (980 AM) in 1992 led to a return to adult contemporary music (albeit satellite fed) on 103.5 as a stop gap for the station before it was sold to then- WQBK-FM (103.9) owner Maximum Media in 1994. Maximum Media changed the call sign to WQBJ and used it to simulcast WQBK-FM's then-mainstream rock format (first ''Q-104'', then ''The Edge'' and finally ''Q103''), which would flip the next year to modern rock. Maximum Media was purchased by Radio Enterprises in 1996. Radio Enterprises was bought out by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

, which had owned a minority share of the company, in 1997. Then, in 1999, the ''Edge'' stations changed their formats to

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

, a format that remained through Clear Channel divesting the stations to Regent Communications (now Townsquare Media) in 2000. WQBJ

On July 1, 2019, WQBJ and WQBK-FM began directing listeners to WQSH (105.7 FM) as their longtime rock radio format moved to the 105.7 FM frequency. On August 1, 2019, WQBJ ended stunting and adopted WQSH's former alternative rock format as "Alt 103.5", putting the station in competition with

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, ...

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 ...

. WQBK-FM, its former simulcast partner, concurrently launched 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 as "103.9 The Breeze". The WQSH call letters were moved to 103.5 on September 18, 2019. On September 3, 2021, WQSH reverted to classic rock, this time simulcasting WQBK-FM (105.7), under the branding of "Q105.7/103.5".Alt 103.5 Albany Switches To Q105.7 Simulcast
Radioinsight - September 3, 2021

References

External links

* {{Townsquare Media QSH Radio stations established in 1988 1988 establishments in New York (state) Townsquare Media radio stations Classic rock radio stations in the United States Schoharie County, New York