WHLF-FM and WJLC WQOK is considered a "move in" station, having begun its history in
Virginia, about north of Raleigh, before it moved into the
Research Triangle of
North Carolina. On October 1, 1960, the station
signed on as WHLF-FM in
South Boston, Virginia. It was the FM counterpart to WHLF (1400 AM; now
WAJL), with the two stations
simulcasting their programming. WHLF-FM effective radiated power was 2,400
watts, limiting its coverage to just South Boston and adjacent communities. In the 1970s, it changed its
call sign to WJLC-FM, airing an
automated Top 40 format separate from the co-owned AM station. The power was increased to 29,000 watts but only using a tower, so it still did not cover the Raleigh-Durham market. In the 1980s, it switched to a
soft adult contemporary/
MOR format, but the power and antenna height remained the same.
Moving to Raleigh In 1987, radio entrepreneur and syndicated morning radio host
Tom Joyner purchased the station, under the corporate name "Power Broadcasting". The format was switched to urban contemporary, using the call letters WQOK, and rebranded as "K-Power 97.5". Joyner moved the transmitter tower closer to Raleigh, boosting it to in
height above average terrain (HAAT). He also upgraded WQOK's
effective radiated power to 100,000 watts, the maximum power permitted by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although the
city of license remained as South Boston. The new tower and coverage area gave WQOK a "city grade" signal over South Boston as required by the FCC, and also put a strong signal around the Triangle as well. Closing down the original South Boston studios, the station signed on from brand new facilities in Raleigh. By winter 1991, WQOK claimed the number one spot in the
Arbitron ratings.
Sales to Clear Channel and Urban One In 1989, Joyner sold the station to Four Chiefs, Inc., owned by noted African-American broadcast executive Ragan Henry. Henry owned the station for seven years and sold it to
Clear Channel Communications in May 1996. In 2000, as a result of a merger between Clear Channel and another owner of radio stations, AMFM, the new larger company wanted to spin off some of its stations. WQOK was sold to Radio One (now called
Urban One), along with current
sister stations 107.1
WFXC, 104.3
WFXK, and 103.9
WNNL. The sale meant that once again, the station is under African-American ownership. WQOK had carried the
syndicated Russ Parr Morning Show. In January 2016, Parr was replaced by
The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, which is syndicated by parent company Urban One. Smiley's show was moved to
WFXC and
WFXK, and was replaced on K97.5 by
The Morning Hustle with hosts Kyle Santillian and Lore’l, also syndicated by Urban One.
Changing the city of license and tower In 2007, WQOK asked the FCC to move its
city of license to Carrboro. It would put the transmitter on a
tower in Durham, closer to the Research Triangle's population center. That would also mean a decrease from
Class C1 to C2. This dropped the power from 100,000 watts to 50,000 watts and all but eliminated coverage of Virginia. It reduced a short-spacing issue with
WWWV in
Charlottesville, Virginia, which also broadcasts on 97.5 MHz. The station's new tower is shared with WFXC. ==References==