WLND (98.1
FM) 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 ...
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
licensed to
Signal Mountain, Tennessee
Signal Mountain is a town in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The town is a suburb of Chattanooga and is located on Walden Ridge. "Signal Mountain" is used as a colloquial name for the part of Walden Ridge close to the town. The town po ...
, and serving the
Chattanooga metropolitan area
The Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of six counties – three in southeast Tennessee (Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie) and three in nor ...
. The station is owned by
Audacy, Inc.
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
, and broadcasts an
adult hits radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
, using the moniker "98.1 The Lake - We Play Anything!" As with many Adult Hits stations owned by Audacy, WLND operates with no
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
s. The
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...
s and offices are on Old Lee Road in Chattanooga.
WLND has an
effective radiated power
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...
(ERP) of 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, compared with several other FM stations in the Chattanooga area powered at 100,000 watts. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is on Skillet Gap Road in Chattanooga.
History
WKXJ and WZST
This station first went on the air in 1990 at 97.3 FM with the call letters WKXJ. The station played a
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...
format and was branded as "97 Kicks". By 1997, "Kicks FM" was
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
and simulcasting on
103.1 FM.
In 1998,
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
began operating WKXJ under a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...
, later completing the $3 million purchase from Marson Broadcasting in 1999.
WZST "Star 98", a
Top 40 Mainstream
Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...
station at 98.1 FM,
[ took the WKXJ letters and relaunched as "98.1 KISS-FM". The 97.3 frequency switched to ]rhythmic oldies
Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. The playlists spans from the 1960s through the 2000s. They depend on market conditions and may be designed for African-American or Hispani ...
as WLOV-FM
WLOV-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, and serving the Daytona Beach area. The station is owned by Southern Stone Communications and broadcasts a classic hits radio format as "Love 99.5, ...
. WKXJ did well during its six and a half years as KISS-FM.
Cumulus Ownership
In 2000, Cumulus announced it would buy 11 radio stations in 4 markets from Clear Channel Communications (now 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 ...
) in exchange for 25 radio stations in 5 markets plus cash as a part of that company's merger with AMFM Incorporated.
On June 13, 2007, at 10 a.m., WKXJ flipped to a classic country-formatted station, which moved from WNGA following a sale of that station to 3 Daughters Media. Shortly after the change, the station changed call letters to WLND to match the "Legend" branding.
On November 17, 2008, the format switched to Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
. There was word that there might be a format change after that ended, but the station returned to its classic country format after the holiday format concluded. On September 4, 2009, WLND's former Top 40 format and "KISS-FM" branding returned to the Chattanooga airwaves, this time at sister station WURV (now WKXJ
WKXJ (105.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Rossville, Georgia, United States, and serving the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area. The station operates a Top 40 (CHR) music format and is branded as "''105.5 KISS FM''." It is owned by ...
).
Hot AC
On November 1, 2009, the format again switched to Christmas music as "Chattanooga's Christmas Station". At around 11:45 P.M. on December 25, 2009, after playing " Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...
, the station switched to a hot AC
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...
format, with the branding "Your Life, Your Music, 98.1 LND".
The first song on LND was "Sweet Child o' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released on their debut studio album, '' Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). In the United States, the song was released in June 1988, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 cha ...
" by Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
. On September 2, 2010, WLND rebranded as "My 98.1".
The Lake
On September 2, 2011, at Noon, WLND relaunched as adult hits "98.1 The Lake".
On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia announced that WLND, along with all 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 ...
s in Chattanooga and Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, would be sold to Entercom
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
as part of that company's merger with CBS Radio. The sale was completed on December 19, 2017.2024 Summer Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
with tributes for Reeves’ journey and record-breaking achievement. The station reverted back to the lake on September 3.
Chattanooga Lookouts
As of April 2019, WLND is the flagship station of the Minor League Baseball AA Chattanooga Lookouts
The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...
(Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
).
References
External links
*
{{Entercom
LND
LND
Adult hits radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1994
1994 establishments in Tennessee
Audacy, Inc. radio stations