WDUL (970

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

AM radio station licensed to

Superior, Wisconsin Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...

. It airs a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format and is owned and operated by

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications, Inc. is a Wausau, Wisconsin–based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Il ...

. Midwest's six Duluth-Superior radio stations share studios at 11 East Superior Street in downtown

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

. WDUL is a Class D AM station. It is powered at 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s by day, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

. To avoid interference to other stations on

970 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 970 kHz: 970 AM is a regional broadcast frequency. In Argentina * LRA43 Neuquén, Neuquén * LT25 in Curuzú Cuatiá, Corrientes In Mexico * XECJ-AM in Apatzingán, Michoacán * ...

, at night it reduces power to 26 watts. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

W251CD at 98.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

in Superior. It uses the translator dial position in its moniker "Hot 98.1".

History

WQMN 1320

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on August 10, 1959, as WQMN. It was a 1,000-watt daytime-only station transmitting on 1320 kHz. WQMN was owned by Quality Radio, Inc. in Superior, Wisconsin. At noon on May 9, 1964, the station changed its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

to WAKX ("WAX"), playing a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format. Lance "Tac" Hammer was the station's first program director.

WAKX 970

WAKX moved to 970 kHz, formerly the home of WIGL in Superior, on October 26, 1967. The 1320 kHz frequency in the Duluth-Superior market is no longer in use. Owner Lew Latto purchased the facilities of beautiful music station KPIR in September 1974, and began simulcasting the format of WAKX on both 970 AM and 98.9 FM.

KXTP

In 1982, the AM station changed its call sign to KXTP and switched to

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

, airing the "

Music of Your Life Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...

" syndicated format. WAKX-FM remained unchanged. In 1994, Latto sold KXTP and WAKX to Ken Beuhler and Patty McNulty, the owners of

WDSM WDSM (710 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, serving the Duluth-Superior area of Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. WDSM is owned and operated by Midwest Communications and broadcasts a sports ...

and

KZIO KZIO (104.3 / 94.1 FM) is a radio station located in Duluth, Minnesota that serves as a satellite station to Minnesota Public Radio's AAA station KCMP, with inserts for local weather, underwriting messages, and a local music program that air ...

(currently KDKE). The FM station flipped from

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

and became

KTCO KTCO (98.9 FM broadcasting, FM, "Kat Country 98.9") is a radio station in Duluth, Minnesota, airing a country music format. KTCO is owned by Midwest Communications, which also owns KDKE, WDSM, WDUL, KDAL (AM), KDAL, and KDAL-FM in Duluth. All th ...

. Later that decade, Buehler and McNulty sold their stations to Shockley Communications, which changed KXTP's format to

and then

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

network on April 6, 1998.

WGEE

It later switched to

hot talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

, and then to

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

. Its call sign were WGEE. It aired

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

programming, as well as two syndicated programs, ''

The Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is an American sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 12pm to 3pm Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by Westwood One, and can be heard on aff ...

'' and ''

Loveline ''Loveline'' is a radio syndication, syndicated radio Talk show, call-in program in North America that features medical and relationship advice, often with guest appearances by actors and musicians. For most of its original run until ending in ...

''. It was also the local home of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

races and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Sunday Night Baseball. AM 970 returned to the "Music of Your Life" adult standards format in September 2008, dropping ESPN Radio. On March 7, 2014, WGEE changed formats from adult standards, back to sports, this time with programming from

CBS Sports Radio Infinity Sports Network is an American sports radio network. It debuted as CBS Sports Radio with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. Infinity Sports Network is programmed by Audacy, Inc ...

WDUL

On March 16, 2015, WGEE changed its call sign to WDUL. Even though WDUL is licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, the call letters stand for Duluth, Minnesota. On November 4, 2020, WDUL rebranded as "970 The Game". Its weekday daytime programming originated from

WRNW WRNW (97.3 FM) is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, known as "97.3 The Game". It airs a sports radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on West Howard Avenue in Greenfield. WRNW is a Class B FM s ...

97.3 FM, a sports station in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

Hot 98.1

On April 25, 2022, WDUL changed formats from sports to CHR, branded as "Hot 98.1" competing against Top 40 outlet KBMX 107.7 "Mix 108". Some programs from the prior sports format were moved to

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

710

.Its Getting Hot In Duluth
Radioinsight - April 25, 2022 The switch to a CHR format was primarily for listeners to 98.1 FM, the station's translator outlet. This also returned the CHR format to 970 AM for the first time since KXTP dropped the Radio Disney affiliation in 2002.

Previous logo

References

External links

Website for Midwest Communications

WAKX survey from July 28, 1967
* *
FCC history cards for WDUL (covering WQMN/WAKX, 1958-1979)
{{coord, 46, 43, 28, N, 92, 07, 11, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations in Superior, Wisconsin Radio stations established in 1959 Midwest Communications radio stations