WOQ was an American AM radio station in Kansas City, Missouri. First licensed on February 17, 1922, it was the first broadcasting station authorized in the state. WOQ was deleted in June 1934, after the Federal Radio Commission refused to renew its license.
History
The US Department of Commerce regulated radio stations in the United States from 1912 until the 1927 formation of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC). Originally there were no restrictions on which radio stations could make broadcasts intended for the general public. However, effective December 1, 1921, a regulation was adopted limiting broadcasting to stations operating under a Limited Commercial license that authorized operation on designated wavelengths of 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather reports"."Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
WOQ was first licensed on February 17, 1922, to the Western Radio Company, for operation on both wavelengths."New stations", Radio Service Bulletin, March 1, 1922, page 2. The call sign was randomly issued from a list of available call letters. Currently most stations west of the Mississippi River have call letters beginning with "K". However, prior to the January 1923 establishment of the river as the boundary, call letters beginning with "W" were generally assigned to stations east of an irregular line formed by the western state borders from North Dakota south to Texas, with calls beginning with "K" going only to stations in states west of that line."'K' Calls Are Western", The Wireless Age, April 1923, page 25. Because there was only a single "entertainment" wavelength, WOQ was required to establish a time sharing agreement with any other local stations broadcasting on 360 meters.
In November 1924, the station was relicensed to the Unity School of Christianity, on 1080 kHz."New stations", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1924, page 2. In November 1927, WOQ was reassigned to 880 kHz."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1927, page 9 . On November 11, 1928, with the implementation of the Federal Radio Commission' s General Order 40, the station was assigned to 610 kHz, sharing this frequency with the Kansas City Star station WDAF."Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time", Second annual report of the Federal Radio Commission, page 200. A year later, the station received its final frequency assignment of 1300 kHz, now sharing the frequency with KFH in Wichita, Kansas,"Alterations and corrections", Radio Serivice Bulletin, November 30, 1929, page 10. with WOQ assigned 2/7ths of the time."Full Time For WDAF" by Martin Codel, Kansas City Times, November 2, 1929, page 1.
In December 1931, WOQ's application for license renewal was denied, with the station ordered to shut down and cede its hours to timeshare partner KFH."Station WOQ Banned", Saint Joseph Gazette, December 19, 1931, page 1. Unity appealed this ruling,"The Unity School of Christianity Case", Annual report of the Federal Radio Commission fiscal year 1933, page 12. but ultimately the station was permanently shut down on June 14, 1934.
While the WOQ decision was being appealed, Unity applied for operation on 1530 kHz, one of three additional frequencies allocated by the FRC. "Six 1500–1600 Kc. Applicants Heard by Commission en Banc", Broadcasting, April 15, 1934, page 14. However, this assignment went to a competing application by First National Television."Four Get Permits On New Channels", Broadcasting, May 1, 1934, page 13.
See also List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States
References
External links "History of WOQ" by Richie Kennedy "Which Came First?—65 Years of Broadcasting in Kansas City" by William James Ryan, Missouri Historical Review, 1988, pages 408-423.