WLOL (Defunct)
 |
|
| City | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| Branding | Classic Hits 100 WLOL 99.5 WLOL Hitradio 99½ WLOL Musicradio 99½ WLOL WLOL 99½ FM Almost Perfect Radio Easy Rockin' FM 100 WLOL |
| Slogan |
Get Me Up, WLOL! Today's Best Music, Custom Mixed Every Hour, 99.5 WLOL Classic Hits 100 The New WLOL, It Feels Good To Be Home! |
| Frequency | 99.5 FM (MHz) (1956-1991) 100.3 FM (MHz) (1999-2002) |
| First air date | 1945 (FM) |
| Format | Classical (1945-1973) AC (1973-1981) CHR (1981-1991) CH (1999-2002) |
| Callsign meaning | Wonderful Land Of Lakes, We Love Our Listeners! |
| Former callsigns | WMIN-FM (1945-56) |
| Owner | 99.5: Emmis Communications (1983-1991) 100.3: Clear Channel Communications |
WLOL-FM was the call sign used primarily for a station at 99.5 FM, serving the Twin Cities region. Throughout the 1980s, WLOL was most known as a top-rated CHR station.
The current inhabitant of the 99.5 FM frequency is KSJN, owned by Minnesota Public Radio, which purchased the station in 1991. Since then, the WLOL call letters have been used by several AM and FM stations in the area. The WLOL call letters currently reside at 1330 AM, the original station to hold them.
The 99.5 frequency dates to 1945 when AM station WMIN started broadcasting on the new FM band. WMIN-FM was sold in 1956 to the owners of WLOL, becoming WLOL-FM, which remained its call sign until being sold to MPR in 1991.
The history of the WLOL call letters is intertwined with many other area stations. WLOL was first used in 1940 when WLOL signed on the air at 1300 AM and was a part of the Mutual Broadcasting System. The station moved to 1330 in March 1941 as required by the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) under which most American, Canadian and Mexican AM radio stations changed frequencies.
For many years, WLOL-FM had a variety of formats. The original classical music format gave way to easy listening in 1973, then later soft rock as Easy Rockin' FM 100 WLOL. The AM station was sold to MPR in 1980 and became KSJN(AM). The owner retained WLOL-FM, and on December 12, 1981, the station dumped soft rock and became "Musicradio 99½ WLOL", the only Twin Cities FM station playing Top 40 music at the time. The new WLOL became a massive success, eventually achieving a 10 share in the Arbitron ratings.
...
Wikipedia