WTAD-FM went on the air in 1948, four years after having filed for its construction permit on 44.1 MHz[1]—before FM was relocated to 88–108 MHz. It was owned by Lee Enterprises as a sister to WTAD 930 AM. When Lee-owned KHQA-TV signed on in 1953, it did so from WTAD-FM's tower,[2] standing 804 feet (245 m) above the surrounding flat terrain.[3]
When New York's WBAI—also on 99.5—was sabotaged and fell off air in 1967, it borrowed a crystal from WTAD-FM in order to resume operation.[4] WTAD-FM became WQCY on December 30, 1974.[1]
Lee exited the Hannibal-Quincy market in 1986, selling KHQA-TV to Benedek Broadcasting and WTAD-WQCY radio for $1.1 million to Noble Broadcast Corporation,[5] which operated as Eastern Broadcasting. The group was purchased three years later (later known as Tele-Media Broadcasting).[6][7][8]
In 1997, Tele-Media was purchased by Citadel;[8][9] Citadel sold its Quincy cluster the next year to STARadio Corporation.[10] In 1999, the hot AC format and callsign WQCY moved to 103.9 FM, formerly WMOS;[11] programming consultant Keith Bansemer flipped the station's format to country using the "Coyote Country" slogan.
