HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

WKLT 97.5 Kalkaska (Traverse City), WBCM 93.5 Boyne City (Petoskey) and WRGZ 96.7
Rogers City Rogers City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of and largest city in Presque Isle County. The city had a population of 2,850 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 2,827 at the 2010 census. The city is located ...
(Alpena) are classic rock-leaning
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
stations simulcasting as "KLT The Rock Station". The stations serve all of northern lower Michigan from
Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...
to Alpena.


History

The station was started by Roy Henderson in April 1979 at 97.7, in Kalkaska, Michigan, playing a
CHR CHR or chr may refer to: Organisations * Canadians for Health Research, a national not-for-profit organisation * Centre for Human Rights, an organisation promoting human rights in Africa * Christ Church Secondary School, a government-aided school ...
/
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 as "Kilt 98". Due to its limited signal, the station found it difficult to compete with the high-powered WJML-FM and
WKHQ WKHQ-FM (105.9 MHz) is a 100,000-watt radio station licensed to Charlevoix, Michigan, with studios located on U.S. 131 South Petoskey, Michigan and US 31 Acme, Michigan. The Top 40 (CHR) station is known to listeners as '' Hits 106 KHQ, Norther ...
, and so in 1981 the station changed format to automated country as "Country 98". The station added an AM station at 1420 in 1982, which simulcasted the FM's format. The AM station, WKLT, was a 500-watt daytimer. In 1982, WKLT became the Grand Traverse region's first AOR station, when Roy Henderson moved to Texas full-time, selling WKLT to a
Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
distribution company based in
North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...
. The new AOR format was the first of its kind in northern Michigan and gave listeners an alternative to the Top 40 fare played on WJML and WKHQ. It was during this period that WKLT would be known to its listeners as "98 Rock". In 1991, WKLT moved to 97.5, boosting power to 32,000 watts and the company purchased WJML in Petoskey (which by that time had shifted to an adult contemporary format in response to competition from WKHQ and WKPK). The company spun off WJML/1110 to local broadcaster Rick Stone (who eventually sold the station to John Yob) and WKLT to the Kalkaska School system, which has since shut the station down for good. WJML-FM 98.9 became WKLZ and Double Rock KLT was born. During the 29 years the stations simulcast, they could be heard as far north as Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada, as far west as Manistique, and as far south as
Lake City Lake City may refer to: Places *Lake City, Arkansas * Lake City, California (disambiguation) *Lake City, Modoc County, California * Lake City, Nevada County, California *Lake City, Colorado *Lake City, Florida * Lake City, Georgia * Lake City, I ...
. Throughout the 1990s, the station, and Northern Broadcast, were managed by Richard Dills of Grand Rapids. Dills, former General Manager of WKLQ-FM modeled WKLT after WKLQ even going so far as to copy the KLQ logo for KLT. In 2005, Charlie Ferguson took over the GM position at Northern Broadcast after a long stint in
Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...
, Northern Radio's home city. The Double Rock slogan was changed to "The Rock Station" reflecting the long history of the station. With the change, listeners have noted that the station has become more heavily gold-based than before but that they still plays some currents as well. Mid-day personality and Program Director Terri Ray has become a Northern Michigan icon. She came to KLT in January 1984. She hosts the highly rated noon time request show "Lunch at the Leetsville Cafe" for 3 plus decades. Terri Ray is also the host of a local music feature called "KLT's Garage" that airs on Sunday nights at 9. In August 2008, a construction permit was granted for FM translator W281AY 104.1 Alpena. On February 24, 2020, WKLT switched simulcasters from WKLZ-FM (sold to Educational Media Foundation, eventually switching to EMF's
Air1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History On July 15, ...
contemporary Christian format) to WBCM 93.5 FM Boyne City (switched from a simulcast with country-formatted WTCM 103.5 FM Traverse City). This coincided with the station being acquired by Midwestern Broadcasting Company. In April 2020, sister station WRGZ began simulcasting WKLT's classic rock format after 13 years of simulcasting WATZ's country format.


Previous logo

(WKLT's logo under previous simulcast with WKLZ 98.9)


References


External links

* * * {{coord, 44.791, N, 85.239, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title KLT Classic rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1979 Radio stations established in 1984 1979 establishments in Michigan