Radio WBNQ-FM (Todays Best Music 101)

WBNQ (101.5 FM) is the most powerful FM radio station in McLean County, Illinois: 50,000 watts on 101.5 MHz. It has had a contemporary hit radio music format since the early 1980s.

WBNQ first signed on the air as WJBC-FM in the late 1940s. It was the practice among the early FM stations to simply add FM to the "sister" AM call letters and simulcast programming. After the call letter change to WBNQ in the 60's, the station aired a home-grown easy listening/beautiful music automated format recorded at the old studio site above the Castle Theater in downtown Bloomington. In August 1972 WBNQ became an oldies station using the Draper-Blore Olde Golde syndicated format, then changed to the Drake-Chenault Solid Gold format in 1974 and evolved to Drake-Chenault's XT-40 format, a blend of current Top 40 hits, recurrents and oldies. In the Spring 1976 Arbitron, using Drake-Chenault's XT-40 format, WBNQ attained its highest ever 12+ share of 24.3%, making it one of the highest rated FM stations in the U.S. at that time. In 1976 Denny Adkins, the Operations Director of WBNQ, joined Drake-Chenault as a programming consultant working with their client stations on format presentation, promotion and community involvement. Adkins rose through the ranks at D-C becoming President in 1985.

While WBNQ is reportedly an acronym for "We're Bloomington Normal Quality", the slogan was never used after the format change in 1972. In the early 1980s, WBNQ became a "live" operation with a contemporary hit radio station, a format that remains today.

WBNQ enjoyed #1 ratings in 2000 and had a run of consecutive number one ratings from 2001 to 2004. Despite increased competition in 2005, WBNQ has remained a top rated station with #1 or #2 12+ Arbitron rankings as of Spring of 2008.[dated info]