WJNL (1210 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radio ...

airing a

news-talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format, licensed to

Kingsley, Michigan Kingsley () is a Village (United States), village in southern Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,431 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The village is located with ...

and serving the

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

area. The station is owned by Mitten News LLC, and is part of a simulcast with 1110

WJML WJML (1110 AM) is a radio station licensed to Petoskey, Michigan, which is owned by John Yob, through licensee Mitten News LLC. The station airs a mixture of liberal and conservative talk, and is simulcast on WJNL 1210 in Kingsley, Michigan, WHAK ...

Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat and largest city in Emmet County. Part of Northern Michigan, Petoskey is a popular Midwestern resort town, as it sits on the shore of Little Traverse Bay, a bay of La ...

, WHAK 960 in

Rogers City, Michigan Rogers City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,827 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Presque Isle County. The city is adjacent to Rogers Township, but is politically independent. Rogers City is located on La ...

WWMN WWMN (106.3 FM) is a radio station owned by John Yob, through licensee Mitten News LLC. Licensed to Thompsonville, Michigan, the station serves the Traverse City market with a coverage area extending from the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula south t ...

106.3 in

Thompsonville, Michigan Thompsonville is a village in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 441 at the 2010 census. The village is located in the south of the county on the boundary between Weldon Township and Colfax Township. Geography Acco ...

, and

WYPV WYPV (94.5 FM) is a radio station based in Mackinaw City, Michigan, which airs an album oriented rock (AOR) format. Programming is simulcasted on 100.3 WQON in Grayling and 106.3 WWMN in Thompsonville. History The station's original call lett ...

94.5 in

Mackinaw City, Michigan Mackinaw City ( ) is a village in Emmet and Cheboygan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 846 at the 2010 census, the population increases during summertime, including an influx of tourists and seasonal workers who serve ...

. The station is also rebroadcast on 101.1 FM, through a translator in Traverse City, Michigan.

History

WKNX in Saginaw

The station began broadcasting April 17, 1947, holding the call sign WKNX, and was licensed to

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

. The station was owned by Lake Huron Broadcasting.WJNL AM 1210 Kingsley/Traverse City
Michiguide.com. Retrieved August 13, 2018. The station ran 1,000 watts, during daytime hours only. In 1960, the station's power was increased to 10,000 watts. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, the station aired a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. By 1964, the station was airing a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 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. "Top 40" or " con ...

format. The station would become an affiliate of ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

''. By the late 1970s, the station was airing a

MOR Mor or MOR may refer to: Names and titles * Mór (given name), a list of people named Mór or Mor * Mor (surname), a list of people named Mor or Mór * Mor (honorific), or Mar, in Syriac Radio and television * Middle of the road (music) genre * ...

format.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
',

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

, 1977. p. C-108. Retrieved August 13, 2018. In 1978, the station was sold to Radiocom for $600,000. By 1980, the station was again airing a top 40 format.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1980
',

, 1980. p. C-117. Retrieved August 13, 2018. By the mid 1980s, the station would begin airing an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1984
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1984. p. B-133. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1986
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1986. p. B-146. Retrieved August 13, 2018. In 1993, the station was sold to Bell Broadcasting for $270,000. Bell Broadcasting intended to take the station off the air so that 1200

WCHB WCHB (1340 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Royal Oak, Michigan, and serving the Detroit metropolitan area. It broadcasts an urban gospel radio format and is owned by Crawford Broadcasting. The station is a reporter to Billboard' ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

could increase power. In 1997, the station's oldies format and call sign were moved to 1250 WJZZ, and the station was taken silent, with its call sign changed to WJZZ. That year, the station was granted a construction permit to move to Kingsley, Michigan and increase its daytime power to 50,000 watts (2,500 watts

critical hours Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of S ...

After move to Kingsley

The station returned to the air in July 1999, after having been moved to Kingsley, Michigan, airing an

urban oldies Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format, before again being silent in November of that year. It would return to the air in October 2000, again airing an urban oldies format, but again being taken silent in January 2001. In 2001, the station was sold to Fort Bend Broadcasting for $225,000. The station returned to the air in February 2001 airing an oldies format, with its format being changed to talk in March of that year, as an affiliate of Michigan Talk Radio Network for most of the day, but airing the audio of

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...

during the afternoon drive. In August 2001, the station's call sign was changed to WLDR. In January 2002, the station's call sign was changed to WWJR, and in May 2002 it was changed back to WLDR. In 2004, the station adopted a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format. In 2007, Fort Bend Broadcasting exchanged the station for 750 WWKK in Petoskey, Michigan and $244,000 in cash, with Stone Communications taking ownership of 1210 WLDR. In April 2007, the station's call sign was changed to WJNL, and the station would begin simulcasting the talk programming of 1110 WJML in Petoskey, Michigan. In 2017, Mitten News LLC purchased the station, along with 1110 WJML, for $700,000.Company buys WJML, WJNL
, ''

Traverse City Record-Eagle The ''Traverse City Record-Eagle'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Traverse City, Michigan. It calls itself "Northern Michigan's Newspaper". and is the newspaper of record for Grand Traverse County. History The newspaper was owned by Dow ...

''. February 16, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2018.

References

External links

{{Daytime-only radio stations in Michigan News and talk radio stations in the United States JNL Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Michigan JNL