Originally licensed in Horse Cave, Kentucky, the station's construction permit was issued under the callsign WLMK in 1991. The station's callsign was changed to WXPC in 1993, the year before the station's first air date; it first signed on the air on September 19, 1994.[2] It began broadcasting as an Oldies–formatted station.[3]
In 1997, the station, along with sister stations WHHT, WOVO, WCDS (now WWKU), along with four other stations in Kentucky, were acquired by a new business venture named Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, formed by Steve Newberry and former Kentucky governorBrereton Jones.[4] The following year, the station moved to the 103.7 MHz frequency in a frequency trade with WHHT; along with the frequency change, the station switched to its present-day classic rock format, and adopted its current callsign of WPTQ.
WPTQ's logo under the station's previous 103.7 FM frequency.
On October 22, 2012, WPTQ and its classic rock format was relocated to the Glasgow-licensed 105.3 FM frequency previously held by WOVO; that station and its adult contemporary format now holds the Horse Cave-licensed 106.3 FM frequency. The 103.7 MHz frequency has been returned to WHHT after that station wss displaced from that frequency in 1998.[5]
On February 16, 2014, WPTQ launched an active rock format on its HD2 sub channel, branded as "98.3 The Edge", which is relayed on Bowling Green-licensed FM translator W252CV, at 98.3 FM.[6]
HD digital radio
The station's HDDigital radio signal is multiplexed in the following manner.
Frequency and subchannels
Callsign
Programming
105.3 FM 105.3-1 HD
WPTQ WPTQ-HD1
Simulcast of the traditional analog FM signal / Classic rock
This station began broadcasting on February 17, 2014, as a new active rock station, branded as 98.3 The Edge. The launch of WPTQ-HD2 made WPTQ the first radio station in the Bowling Green radio market to multi-cast their HD radio signal.[7] The subchannel is simulcast over an analog low-powered FM translator W252CV to make the HD radio subchannel available to those who do not own an HD Radio set. The effective radiated power of the translator is limited to 250 watts in order to avoid interference with WQXE in nearby Elizabethtown, Kentucky, which is also run at 98.3 Megahertz.
Since February 2016, the programming of W252CV has also been simulcast at 100.1 Megahertz, on translator W261BD. That translator previously simulcast WKLX's signal. Later that year, the station also began to simulcast over translator W251BT in Glasgow over 98.1 Megahertz.
As an active rock station, the station broadcasts rock hits from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and the current decade, with only the biggest acts in rock and roll from the 1970s. The Local Show, which is now run on this station on Sunday nights at 7 p.m. Central time, is a local show showcasing local rock bands in southern Kentucky.[10]
