WLKU
| City | Rock Island, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Quad Cities |
| Branding | K-LOVE |
| Slogan | Positive and Encouraging |
| Frequency | 98.9 MHz |
| First air date | October 1947 (as WHBF-FM) |
| Format | Christian contemporary |
| ERP | 39,000 watts |
| HAAT | 281 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 8590 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°19′39″N 90°22′47″W / 41.32750°N 90.37972°WCoordinates: 41°19′39″N 90°22′47″W / 41.32750°N 90.37972°W |
| Former callsigns | WHTS (7/28/95-2/08/06) WPXR-FM (3/18/87-7/28/95) WHBF-FM (10/28/47-3/18/87) |
| Affiliations | K-Love |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| Sister stations | KAIP |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Official website |
WLKU is a radio station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, with a Christian contemporary format. The station's frequency is 98.9 MHz, and broadcasts at an effective radiated power of 39,000 watts. WLKU is owned by the Educational Media Foundation and is affiliated with the K-Love network.
The Rock Island allocation of 98.9 MHz represents many milestones in Quad-Cities' radio broadcasting. First, it represents the first FM station to originate in the area, having signed on as WHBF-FM October 28, 1947. It was owned by the Rock Island Argus.
Second, WHBF-FM became the area's first radio station to broadcast in stereo, implementing the technology in 1958. Stereo multiplexing followed in 1961, with automation coming a few years later.
WHBF-FM's first home was the Harms Hotel, where it broadcast alongside sister station WHBF. As with most FM stations of the era, WHBF either duplicated the AM station's programming or used a classical music/easy listening format. WHBF-TV joined the fold in July 1950, with all three facilities housed in the Telco Building in downtown Rock Island. All three stations were owned by the Potter family of Rock Island, the same family that published the Rock Island Argus.
In the early 1970s, WHBF moved away from its classical/easy listening format, and for a short while, shared WHBF-AM's middle-of-the-road (MOR) format. When WHBF-AM began its country music format in 1974, WHBF-FM continued its MOR format for another decade.
By 1987, with tastes in radio listenership changing, the station management at WHBF-FM adopted a new "Top 40" format, in an attempt to draw a younger audience. The new station – now dubbed WPXR and known as "Power 98.9" - premiered in April 1987 and was an immediate success. The station quickly drew listeners away from the Quad Cities' market's established Top 40 station, KIIK 104, and soon became the area's No. 1 Top 40 station. Often, "Power 98.9" duked it out with country station WLLR-FM for supremacy in the market.
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