WLLS (99.3 FM) 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 ...

Beulah, Michigan Beulah is a village and the county seat of Benzie County, Michigan. The population was 342 at the 2010 census. It is located in Benzonia Township at the southeast end of Crystal Lake, about one mile (1.6 km) north of Benzonia on U.S. Hig ...

. The station, which began broadcasting in 1979, is owned by Traverse City broadcaster Roy E. Henderson under the "Fort Bend Broadcasting" banner and has long been the primary local station for the Frankfort area and

Benzie County Benzie County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 17,970. The county seat is Beulah. The county was initially set off in 1863 and organized in 1869.

. It was formerly simulcast on WCUZ 100.1 FM licensed to

Bear Lake, Michigan Bear Lake is a village in Manistee County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 286 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Bear Lake Township. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a tot ...

, which now airs a

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

format as Talk Radio 1340 WMTE (although the actual WMTE-AM 1340 remains silent as of July 2012). WLLS's coverage area does not extend far east of

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 ...

and

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

to protect co-channel

WATZ-FM WATZ-FM (99.3 FM, "99.3 WATZ") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. The station is licensed to the city of Alpena. WATZ has been assigned the same call sign since it signed on in the late 1960s. The station, along with si ...

in Alpena, but the station can be heard across Lake Michigan in parts of northeastern Wisconsin.

History

The station was originally WBNZ, which aired some kind of

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

music format for many years (and continues to do so on 92.3 FM). WBNZ was also heavily involved in the Frankfort/Benzie County community, with local news and high-school sports coverage. In July 2009, the WBNZ call sign moved to 92.3 (formerly WOUF 92.1) and the 99.3 allotment became WOUF 99.3 The Wolf, which aired a Mainstream Rock format mixing New and Classic Rock. The station's competition included Northern Radio's Classic Rocker

WKLT WKLT 97.5 Kalkaska (Traverse City), WBCM 93.5 Boyne City (Petoskey) and WRGZ 96.7 Rogers City (Alpena) are classic rock-leaning mainstream rock stations simulcasting as "KLT The Rock Station". The stations serve all of northern lower Michig ...

(which Henderson founded but sold off in the 1980s) and Northern Star Broadcasting's classic rock

WGFN WGFN (98.1 MHz) is a radio station in Northern Michigan that airs a classic rock format under the branding of "The Bear", and is currently owned by Black Diamond Broadcast Holdings, LLC. WGFN is based out of Glen Arbor, Michigan, airing at 98 ...

"The Bear" and mainstream rocker WJZJ ("Real Rock"). WOUF retained its city of license of Beulah with the move to 99.3, and WBNZ retained its city of license of Frankfort with the move to 92.3. On January 21, 2015, WOUF went silent. On January 26, 2017, WOUF returned to the air with a simulcast of adult contemporary-formatted

WLDR-FM WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City, Michigan is a radio station owned by broadcaster Roy Henderson, who is WLDR's third owner in its 53-year history. History WLDR-FM signed on in 1966 by Rod Maxson, a well-known businessman in Traverse City along with ...

as "The Bay". On September 30, 2018, WOUF changed its call sign to WQAN. On October 1, 2018, WQAN switched from a simulcast of WLDR-FM to a simulcast of album-oriented rock-formatted

WQON WQON (100.3 FM, "Q 100.3") is a radio station broadcasting an album-oriented rock (AOR) format. Licensed to Grayling, Michigan, the seat of government in Crawford County, it first began broadcasting in 1978. The station brands itself as ''Q-100'' ...

100.3 FM Grayling. In October 2019, WQAN went silent (off the air). WQAN was found broadcasting from an unauthorized location. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-358715A1.pdf On October 1, 2020, WQAN changed their call letters to WLLS.FCC Call Sign Changes
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References

WBNZ is Back! Popular radio station will focus on local news, events and sports
from ''The Grand Traverse Insider'' (4 August 2008)

External links

* {{coord, 44.611, N, 86.161, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title LLS Radio stations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Michigan