WRNQ (92.1 MHz "Q92") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. WRNQ has an effective radiated power of 520 watts, transmitting from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Highland, New York to which it moved in 2000. Unlike other Class A stations on that tower, WRNQ's signal is directional to protect first adjacents 92.3 WINS-FM in New York City and 92.3 WFLY in Troy, New York. History The original construction permit for what became WRNQ was awarded in December 1985, several years after the FCC amended the table of allotments to allow for the 92.1 frequency to become active in Poughkeepsie. Around 1987, the frequency was awarded to WKIP owner Richard Novik, gained the WLMS ("Lite Music Station") calls and announced that the station would take on a format near-identical to that which hit the air. Due to potential ratings confusion with WLTW ("Lite FM") from New York City the call letters were replaced with WRNQ in 1989, a decision made by then-General Manager Don Verity. The difficulty obtaining a transmitter site in the market also was a problem and Novik eventually settled on a site in Lagrangeville, New York, east of Poughkeepsie, unlike most stations which broadcast on mountain peaks in Ulster County. WRNQ, better known as "Rockin' Easy, Q-92", hit the air on June 30, 1989, and made a splash with former WKIP morning man Van Ritshie anchoring an otherwise satellite-fed format (Unistar's "Format 41)." With no real competition in the format (WHUD was still easy listening and WKIP had changed to all-talk programming), Q-92 reached top of the ratings its first year on the air. Eventually, the station added the hugely successful "Love Songs on Q" a locally hosted evening love songs program hosted by Pete Clark (currently at WVKR and WPDH) and later by Rick Buser, formerly of WPDH. In 1996, Novik sold WRNQ, WKIP, and new sister station WNSX ("Modern Rock, The X 96.1") to Straus Media (owned by Eric Straus, heir to former owner of WMCA in New York City) who in turn replaced the satellite-fed time periods with all-local programming, much of which came from Straus stations in Ellenville and Hudson. With this, the station picked