WLND (98.1 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

licensed A license (or licence) 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 party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Signal Mountain, Tennessee Signal Mountain is a town in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The town is a suburb of Chattanooga and is located on Walden Ridge. "Signal Mountain" is used as a colloquial name for the part of Walden Ridge close to the town. The town ...

, and serving the

Chattanooga metropolitan area The Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of six counties – three in southeast Tennessee (Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie) and three in nort ...

. The station is owned by

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

, and broadcasts an Adult Hits

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

, using the moniker "98.1 The Lake - We Play Anything!" As with many Adult Hits stations owned by Audacy, WLND operates with no

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

s. The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

s and offices are on Old Lee Road in Chattanooga. WLND 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 hav ...

(ERP) of 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of 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 quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s, compared with several other FM stations in the Chattanooga area powered at 100,000 watts. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is on Skillet Gap Road in Chattanooga.

History

WKXJ and WZST

This station first went on the air in 1990 at 97.3 FM with the call letters WKXJ. The station played a

Rhythmic Contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as 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 hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

format and was branded as "97 Kicks". By 1997, "Kicks FM" was

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 ...

and simulcasting on 103.1 FM. In 1998,

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

began operating WKXJ under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

, later completing the $3 million purchase from Marson Broadcasting in 1999. WZST "Star 98", a

Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

station at 98.1 FM, took the WKXJ letters and relaunched as "98.1 KISS-FM". The 97.3 frequency switched to

rhythmic oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic ...

WLOV-FM WLOV-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, and serving the Daytona Beach area. The station is owned by Southern Stone Communications and broadcasts a classic hits radio format as "Love 99.5, Da ...

. WKXJ did well during its six and a half years as KISS-FM.

Cumulus Ownership

In 2000, Cumulus announced it would buy 11 radio stations in 4 markets from Clear Channel Communications (now

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

) in exchange for 25 radio stations in 5 markets plus cash as a part of that company's merger with AMFM Incorporated. On June 13, 2007, at 10 a.m., WKXJ flipped to 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 ...

-formatted station, which moved from WNGA following a sale of that station to 3 Daughters Media. Shortly after the change, the station changed call letters to WLND to match the "Legend" branding. On November 17, 2008, the format switched to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

. There was word that there might be a format change after that ended, but the station returned to its classic country format after the holiday format concluded. On September 4, 2009, WLND's former Top 40 format and "KISS-FM" branding returned to the Chattanooga airwaves, this time at sister station WURV (now

WKXJ WKXJ (103.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Walden, Tennessee, United States, and serving the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area. The station operates a Top 40 (CHR) music format and is branded as "''103.7 KISS FM''." It is owned by Audacy, Inc. ...

Hot AC

On November 1, 2009, the format again switched to Christmas music as "Chattanooga's Christmas Station". At around 11:45 P.M. on December 25, 2009, after playing "

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reach ...

" by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

, the station switched to a

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 ...

format, with the branding "Your Life, Your Music, 98.1 LND". The first song on LND was "

Sweet Child o' Mine "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction''. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the ''Billboard'' ...

" by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

. On September 2, 2010, WLND rebranded as "My 98.1".

The Lake

On September 2, 2011, at Noon, WLND relaunched as adult hits "98.1 The Lake". On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia announced that WLND, along with all

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 ...

s in Chattanooga and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, would be sold to

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

as part of that company's merger with

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

. The sale was completed on December 19, 2017.

References

External links

* {{Entercom LND LND Adult hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Tennessee Audacy, Inc. radio stations