Technical Profile: WQLS

FM Technical Profile: WQLS

Station Name:: The Q - The People's Station
Frequency:: 90.5
Format:: Black Gospel, Adult R&B, Blues
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] South of Camden on AL-265 at Bo Diddly Road.
Power (ERP):: 400 watts
Antenna:: Omnidirectional
Antenna HAAT:: 420 feet
Other Information:: 60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.
More Information:: [FCC]; [FCCdata]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]
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Owner:: Wilcox Broadcast Communications
History:: This station goes back to 2008 as a construction permit issued to TBTA Ministries, for a facility Wilcox County with 11 kW and a slightly directional antenna, but over time the owners were unable to fund construction. As the expiration date approached, the owners (at that point, Alabama Christian Radio) filed a changed in November 2011 for minimum power just to get the facility on-air. They got it on air by New Year's Day 2012, running black gospel music. If the WQLS calls sound familiar, that's because they had a home over in Montgomery for years on what is now WTXK.; Despite being a non-commercial station, it is reported they run full-on adverts during some programming. The station started out running Black Gospel music, but has reported to be running more secular music, including R&B and Blues. In the spring of 2012 the station was sold by Alabama Christian Broadcasters to Townsend Broadcasting Enterprise, along with the construction permit for WVPL in Dozier. In the fall of 2012 they started broadcasting in stereo.

In April 2012 the station received a construction permit to relocate to a nearby tower, increase power to 8.5 kW and employ a directional antenna. That permit expired, unbuilt, in 2015

The station's license was transferred from Townsend Broadcasting to a consortium of the station's DJs and staff in May of 2016, for $2800. The new ownership group is named Wilcox Broadcast Communications.

The station announced on the air in September 2018 that they would be shutting down at the end of the month, although as of the first week of October, that has not happened. It appears the station did finally go off the air sometime around the start of 2019, but was reported back on in late February 2019.

The station's ownership failed to file a renewal in January 2020, and in April 2020 the FCC cancelled the license. It's currently unknown if the station is still operating or not.