WQLU

WQLU (90.9 FM) was a non-commercial radio station licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia, known as "90.9 The Light." It broadcast a Contemporary Christian radio format and was owned and operated by Liberty University.^[1] The station also aired Liberty University Flames athletics.

WQLU was licensed for an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 watts. The transmitter is off Candlers Mountain Road in Lynchburg.^[2] It operated from 1993 until its license was canceled in 2023.

History

Liberty University (then known as Liberty Bible College) got its first student-run radio station in 1980, on the AM dial. It was a carrier current station available on 550 AM but only covering the campus.^[3]

On October 8, 1992, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the school a construction permit to build an FM station at 100 watts on 90.9 MHz. Its original call sign was WWMC (for "Wall to Wall Music"). The station signed on the air on February 1, 1993. During off-hours, a Christian music service from Boston was broadcast, when Liberty student DJs were not available.

After a transmitter fire, the station was off the air from June to August 1993. In 1999, the station switched from its mainstream Christian contemporary sound to a more youthful, upbeat Christian Top 40 playlist. In 2003, the station began holding on-the-air fundraisers for listener support. The station changed its call sign to WQLU in the spring of 2015.

On September 29, 2023, the FCC issued an order cancelling WQLU's license to broadcast, and requiring the university to pay a fine of $10,000, after discovering that the station had been broadcasting "from a different tower and at different geographic coordinates (...) than specified in the Station’s license." The license holder was also sanctioned for making "incorrect statements" to the FCC.^[4][5]

References

External links

• 90.9 The Light Online
• WQLU in the FCC FM station database
• WQLU in Nielsen Audio's FM station database