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Published on Sunday, 06 May 2012 19:30
Not one, but
TWO Alternative Rock radio stations launched almost simultaneously this evening. WJJG-AM flipped to a simulcast of the Q101.com Internet radio station after 6:00pm. About one hour later, WKQX-LP started up its new station Q87.7 five hours early and it is now all Alt-Rock.
WJJG-AM, which had been airing syndicated talk shows, with Mancow in the morning & afternoon and Michael Savage in the middays, along with "Best Of" bits from Steve Dahl's Dahlcast. For the foreseeable future, the suburban AM station will now be an alternative rocker, using the classic Q101 branding & imaging. General Manger Matt Dubiel tells CRM: "I figure...If news is on FM... Chicago's Alternative Q101 can play Everything Alternative on AM."
Mancow Muller's morning show will remain on the air on WJJG-AM/Q101. Mancow was previously on Q101 as its morning show host, when it was located on 101.1 FM from 1998-2006.
The new home for Q101 can be heard at AM 1530. For those out of the broadcast range, or to hear the music in full stereo sound, it can be streamed at
1530WJJG.com and
Q101.com. (WJJG-AM's website has not reflected the change in programming.)
Perhaps due to pressure from WJJG-AM's flip, or perhaps just because they like to be ahead of schedule, Merlin Media went ahead and launched its new Alternative station on WKQX-LP just after 7:00pm. It was previously
scheduled to debut on Monday morning. On its
Twitter account, also just launched, it said "Yep, we just birthed this bitch. WKQX and Alternative are back in Chicago on 87.7FM!" (Even though at the time it had only one follower: it's new Operations Manager Jim Richards.)
The station is using the branding of "Q87.7. Underground. Alternative." The music being played is not truly "underground," though. The station will be playing a mix of mainstream Alternative rock acts from the 90's through current acts & releases.
A new Facebook is live at
Facebook.com/Q877Chicago.
The new alt-rock Q87.7 is now heard over the airwaves on 87.7 FM, on analog television sets on channel 6, on digital TV channel 61.2, and on local cable television on Comcast/Xfinity channel 877.
UPDATE: For the few that have HD radios, Q87.7 will also be heard on WIQI 101.1 HD-3.
The station is not yet streaming on the Internet, but expects to have that up anytime now. A website is still under construction, but a main page, with the "Listen Live" link can be found at
UndergroundQ.com.
