WIQI - Station History - Alternative Ends As Merlin Takes Over

Alternative Ends As Merlin Takes Over

On June 21, 2011, Emmis announced that it would sell WKQX, sister station WLUP-FM, and a New York City station to Merlin Media, a group whose CEO is former Tribune Company executive Randy Michaels. Emmis, who would retain a minority stake in Merlin Media, would grant Merlin a local marketing agreement to operate WKQX and WLUP-FM from July 15 until the sale officially closed on September 1. A format flip for WKQX, from alternative rock to all-news, was rumored after the sale was announced (Michaels was on record as saying that "my favorite format has always been spoken radio" and that it should have a place on FM, "the band most people use").

The Staff of Q101, who had been dismissed by Merlin Media, would write on their Facebook page on July 14, 2011 that "Regardless of what happens to Q101 at 101.1FM, know that Q101 will live on at Q101.com. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you'll still be able to hear Chicago's Alternative, Q101 at Q101.com". That same night, it was announced that Broadcast Barter Radio Networks had purchased the Q101 brand and all related intellectual properties (including the Q101.com web domain), which were not part of the sale to Merlin Media. The internet Q101 initially would have the same music programming as Emmis' alternative station in Austin, KROX-FM, but commercial-free and with no DJs; the plan in the future is to relaunch the station as a locally-focused-and-programmed alternative rock internet station.

Q101's final on-air staffed show, Local 101, concluded at approximately 1:01 AM on July 15, 2011; the program ended with The Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight", The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love" (the first song played at Q101's 1992 inception as an alternative station), and formal goodbyes by Chris Payne, Pogo, and other Q101 staffers. Q101 would continue without on-air staffing until midnight on July 19, 2011, after "Closing Time" by Semisonic had played; afterwards, WKQX switched from alternative rock to a stunt of adult contemporary music under the temporary branding "101.1 FM New", which featured former "Murphy in the Morning" host Robert Murphy, who returned to the 101.1FM frequency after 19 years to man the 5–10 AM shift until the full format switch took place. The "New" stunting also included hourly news updates using an assortment of newsreader combinations, a harbinger of the new format to come.

The end of Q101 would not entirely be the end of alternative rock on Chicagoland terrestrial radio, however: On the evening of May 6, 2012 (10 months after Q101's end), Merlin Media would return the format to low-power analog TV station WKQX-LP (Channel 6, or 87.75 FM), under the branding of "Q87.7" ("Underground. Alternative"). WKQX-LP, though owned by Venture Technologies Group, LLC, is operated by Merlin through a local marketing agreement; Merlin took over operations of the station on April 30, 2012, one day after the station ended a smooth jazz music format under the WLFM-LP call sign. (A simulcast of "FM News 101.1" aired on the station in the interim week before "Q87.7" premiered.) "Q87.7" was later added as a simulcast on the 3rd HD Radio subchannel of WIQI. To counter the move on WKQX-LP (whose move to alternative rock had been rumored since the LMA with Merlin was announced), Elmhurst-based radio station WJJG (1530 AM) picked up a partial simulcast of the online Q101 earlier on May 6, a move that likely forced Merlin to launch Q87.7 a day earlier than they had originally hoped.