WWLS-FM
Broadcast area | Oklahoma City metropolitan area |
---|---|
Frequency | 98.1 MHz |
Branding | The Sports Animal |
Programming | |
Format | Sports |
Affiliations | ESPN Radio Oklahoma City Thunder |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
KATT-FM, KKWD, KYIS, WKY, KWPN | |
History | |
First air date | June 28, 1962 (as KWHP at 97.7) |
Former call signs | KWHP (1962–1978) KCFX (1978–1979) KKLR (1979–1988) KTNT-FM (1988–1999) KCYI (1999–2000) KKWD (2000–2006) |
Former frequencies | 97.7 MHz (1962–1999) 97.9 MHz (1999–2008) |
Call sign meaning | WW Larry Steckline (owner when station obtained this call sign in 1981)[1] |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 37435 |
Class | C1 |
ERP | 31,000 watts |
HAAT | 470 meters (1,540 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°33′37″N 97°29′7″W / 35.56028°N 97.48528°W |
Repeater(s) | 930 WKY (Oklahoma City) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | www |
WWLS-FM (98.1
The
Programming on WWLS-FM is
(AM 1450).History
Early years
On June 28, 1962, the station
The station was put on the air in a small house on 1305 South Boulevard Street in Edmond. The radio station was in the owner's home, the transmitter in the bedroom and the studio in the garage. His wife threatened to leave unless the radio station was moved out of the house. In 1964, the station moved to Kelly street. In 1978, call letters change to KCFX, representing the change to country and the station mascot "The Fox." In 1979, Payne sold the station.*PAYNE website
It later became KKLR and then KTNT. Porter Davis, whose family owned Davis Foods distributors, bought the station, switching it to
In the late 1990s, the station changed. Citadel Broadcasting purchased the station, along with "SportsRadio 640" WWLS and "Sports Talk 1340" KEBC, in 1998.
The City 97.9, and Wild 97dot9 (1999–2006)
In February 1999, the station changed its call letters to KCYI, moved to 97.9 FM, and became "The City 97.9", retaining the
On January 24, 2000, at Noon, KCYI dropped its smooth jazz format and began
The Sports Animal (2006–present)
On October 23, 2006, WWLS (then at 104.9 FM) switched signals with sister station KKWD and moved to the 97.9 frequency. On July 9, 2008, WWLS upgraded its signal to 31,000 watts ERP and moved from 97.9 to 98.1 FM.
In addition, WWLS is the hub for the "Sports Animal Network" that simulcasts selected programming on stations throughout Oklahoma including: 930 AM
WWLS is also the radio home of Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA, and the market's affiliate for ESPN Radio.[8]
Unusual call letters
While nearly all radio and TV stations in Oklahoma have call signs beginning with at "K," WWLS-FM is linked to an AM station that dates from the earliest days of broadcasting, 640 KWPN. That station signed on in 1922 as WNAD in Norman, Oklahoma, owned by the University of Oklahoma. At that time, Oklahoma was in "W" territory.
When WNAD switched call letters to WWLS, it got to keep its historic W call sign. To give WWLS an FM simulcast, 98.1 became WWLS-FM. That made WWLS-FM the only FM station in Oklahoma with a call sign starting with a W. When the owners decided to focus the local sports programming on the FM station and switch the AM station to mostly national ESPN Radio shows, the AM station's call sign flipped to KWPN, leaving WWLS-FM with its unique W call letters. Sister station WKY is the other station in the market with a "W" call sign.
References
- ^ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
- Arbitron. Summer 2009. Archivedfrom the original on September 23, 2009.
- ^ "WWLS-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ KATT.com/station-information
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WWLS-FM
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-145
- ^ ""The City 97.9" flips from Jazz/AC to Rhythmic CHR"Wild 97.9"". 27 January 2000.
- ^ Mayberry, Darnell (July 30, 2008). "NBA team reaches deal with local radio station". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
External links
- WWLS in the FCC FM station database
- WWLS in Nielsen Audio's FM station database