WWKL (106.7 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 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...

, and serving

South Central Pennsylvania Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous state in the United States. Regions of Pennsylvania include: Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley, located in eastern Pennsylvania, is named for the Lehigh River, which flows through it. It is the state's thir ...

, including

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. It is owned by

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 ...

and it broadcasts 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. The studios are on Vartan Way in Harrisburg. WWKL is a Class B FM station. It 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 14,000

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. 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 ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

is on Tower Road in Elizabethtown. It broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

technology.

History

Early years

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 April 13, 1964. Its original

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 ...

was WMSH-FM and it was based in Elizabethtown. WMSH was the

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 ...

to an AM outlet at 1600

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 ...

. FM 106.7 became WEPN-FM in 1969 and then WPDC-FM in 1971. In 1980, it switched its call letters to WRKZ and branded as "Z107" with a

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 ...

format. The

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

was moved to Hershey and the power was boosted. In 2002, call letters were changed to WCAT-FM and the station was re-branded as Cat Country 106.7. The WRKZ call letters were moved to 102.3 FM in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

and the two stations began a simulcast.

Cool Pop

On February 19, 2004, the station changed its call sign to WCPP and rebranded as ''Coolpop.'' This was after over 24 hours of stunting by playing " Pop Goes the Weasel" on a continuous loop. Many rumors circulated, trying to explain the loop. There were even rumors of a staff member taking hostages and locking him/herself in the studio and repeatedly playing the song. This proved false when a Top 40 (CHR) format was launched with "

Hey Ya! "Hey Ya!" is a song by American hip hop duo Outkast, performed by its member André 3000, who wrote and produced the song. Along with " The Way You Move", recorded by Outkast's other member Big Boi and which featured Sleepy Brown, "Hey Ya! ...

" by

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

. The original air staff of Coolpop included only one live show, "Michelle & Mitchell" in the morning. The midday and afternoon shifts were voicetracked by DJs from Citadel Broadcasting Company

WNTQ 93Q in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. By Spring 2004, a full line up of live local talent was hired. Sarah Vaughn on middays and Justin Louis on afternoons were added, along with the live Michelle & Mitchell morning show. Coolpop was marketed as "The World's First Coolpop Station", mixing a standard Mainstream CHR format along with some 1970s and 1980s "Cassette Classics" (later renamed "Coolpop Classics"). Coolpop also alternated theme weekends every other weekend. Some theme weekends included " One Hit Wonders", "

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

Doubleplays", "Coolpop Classics", and the popular 1970s-themed "Studio 106.7". In early fall 2004, Michelle & Mitchell were replaced with Ed Coffey and Amy Warner. They had been hosts of a long running morning show from Harrisburg's WTPA-FM. The pair had been fired from that station earlier in the summer.

Adult Hits and Gen X

On July 1, 2005, Coolpop was suddenly replaced with an Adult Hits format branded as ''Mix 106.7''. On April 9, 2010, Mix 106.7 was flipped to ''Channel 106.7'', and was reformatted with a 1980s and 1990s Hits/Gen X format. Citadel merged with

on September 16, 2011.

Z Country and Nash-FM

The Gen X format was dropped on January 20, 2012 at 1:06 p.m. At that point, the station became WZCY-FM "Z Country 106.7." The last song on Channel 106.7 was ''

Bye Bye Bye "Bye Bye Bye" is a song by American boy band NSYNC from their second studio album, '' No Strings Attached''. It was released on January 17, 2000, as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Kristian Lundin and Jake Sc ...

'' by *Nsync, and the first song on Z Country 106.7 was '' This Is Country Music'' by

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

. On February 3, 2014, at 12 p.m., WZCY-FM, along with nine other Cumulus-owned country music stations, made the switch to "

Nash FM Nash is a media brand owned by Cumulus Media. It covers country music-related properties owned by Cumulus, including radio stations, digital properties and publications ('' Nash Country Daily''), Nash TV (a video on-demand service operated in pa ...

" branding as ''Nash FM 106.7''. The final song on Z Country 106.7 was '' Prayin' for Daylight'' by

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

, while the first song on Nash FM 106.7 was ''

How Country Feels ''How Country Feels'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Randy Houser. It was released on January 22, 2013, through Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records. Houser wrote seven of the album's fifteen tracks. The album was ...

'' by

Randy Houser Shawn Randolph Houser (born December 18, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Houser has racked up over half a dozen hits and over 1 billion streams. His How Country Feels album topped the country radio charts with the title ...

Top 40 and Rhythmic Contemporary

On March 15, 2018, at 2PM, WZCY-FM flipped back to

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 ...

as "Hot 106.7". This was part of a format swap with WWKL "Hot 93.5" which concurrently took on the ''Nash FM'' branding and a gold-based country format. The last song on "Hot 93.5" was “ Young Dumb & Broke” by

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

, while the first song on "Hot 106.7" was "

Finesse In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents. The player a ...

" by

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

and

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

. This move was intended to reduce signal overlap and redundancy with co-owned country station

WIOV-FM WIOV-FM (105.1 MHz, "The Big I 105") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Radio License Holding CBC LLC, a part of Cumulus Media, and broadcasts a country music radio format. The statio ...

105.1 in Ephrata. WIOV-FM serves the Lancaster, York, and Reading metropolitan areas. The stronger signal on 106.7 was thought to be more competitive with

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 ...

's competing Top 40 outlet WHKF in Harrisburg. iHeartMedia subsequently responded by flipping WHKF to

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and redirecting its listeners to sister station WLAN-FM 96.9 in Lancaster. WLAN-FM similarly pivoted to serving the entire South Central Pennsylvania

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. It took advantage of WWKL's sister station 105.7 WQXA’s decision to shift from

Alternative Rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

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 ...

after WTPA-FM was sold to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

and flipped to "

K-Love K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music. As of June 2019, the network's progr ...

," the national

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

network, in January 2018. In April 2024, WWKL shifted its format from Top 40/CHR to rhythmic contemporary.Hot 106.7 Harrisburg Goes Rhythmic
Radioinsight - April 9, 2024 It continues to call itself "Hot 106.7."

Signal note

WWKL is short-spaced to four other Class B stations:

WJFK-FM WJFK-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz "106.7 The Fan") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to serve Manassas, Virginia, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. WJFK-FM airs a sports radio, sports radio format and is owned and opera ...

''106.7 The Fan'' (licensed to serve

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of ...

WWMX WWMX (106.5 FM), known on-air as Mix 106.5, is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Clarkview Road off Jones Falls ...

''Mix 106.5'' (licensed to serve

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland), WCFT-FM ''Bigfoot Country'' (licensed to serve

Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania Bloomsburg is the only incorporated town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre along ...

), and WLTW-FM ''106.7 Lite FM'' (licensed to serve

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

). WJFK-FM and WLTW-FM both operate on the same channel as WWKL. The distance between WWKL's transmitter and WJFK-FM's transmitter is 96 miles, while the distance between WWKL's transmitter and WLTW-FM's transmitter is 142 miles, as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

rules is 150 miles.

and WCFT-FM both operate on 106.5 MHz, a first adjacent channel to WWKL. The distance between WWKL's transmitter and WWMX's transmitter is 58 miles, while the distance between WWKL's transmitter and WCFT-FM's transmitter is 61 miles, as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on first adjacent channels according to current

rules is 105 miles.

References

External links

* * {{Cumulus Media WKL Rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1964 1964 establishments in Pennsylvania Hershey, Pennsylvania