Legendary call letters to be “parked” in region
May 28, 2019As Cumulus Broadcasting prepares to sell a couple of major stations in their portfolio – WPLJ in New York and WRQX in Washington, D.C. – to Educational Media Foundation, Cumulus is parking a legendary set of call letters as they retain the rights to them. WRQX will be parked on AM 600 in nearby Salem, Ohio which is now WSOM. According to Radio Insight, the WSOM calls will head to DC’s 107.3 until EMF changes them to a set of letters of their choosing. WRQX morning host Jack Diamond made an announcement this morning regarding the change which takes place Friday at 7:00 p.m. Diamond also stated that the show is not going away, although he has not said where it will end up on the DC dial. It is probable that the WRQX and “Mix” moniker will end up there too.
Stations “park” letters sometimes because of their brand name appeal. CBS held on to the WBZZ call sign after B-94 went off (the first time) and although they were in use elsewhere during the second incarnation of the top-40 station, they were eventually brought back to Pittsburgh for 100.7. Meanwhile, WRQX has been on an FM station for 30 years and they are heading to an AM station. It’s possible that the call letters could be permanent for 600 in Salem given that Cumulus could bring them back as “WRQX-FM Washington”. But if Cumulus sells the brand to another company, unless another agreement is made, the new company will have the rights to the letters and 600 in Salem will switch again.
Ain’t life grand?!
Meanwhile, here’s Jack Diamond’s announcement.
It seems like the WAMO calls might have been parked this way. When they sold the station for a second time, 106.7, the calls quickly went to a small FM station east of here, according to records. When the new WAMO settled in, the calls were right back, and I\’d assumed Martz gave the small station money for them, but maybe it was another Martz station holding on to the calls for a while.