WLTY (96.7 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 radi ...

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 ...

Cayce, South Carolina Cayce ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, along the Congaree River. The population was 12,528 at the 2010 census and rose to 13,789 in the 2020 United States Census, and it is the third-most populated municipality in Lexington Coun ...

, and serving the Columbia metropolitan area. It airs a variety 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 was compelle ...

, known as Steve FM and is owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. 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 ...

The radio studios are on Greystone Boulevard in Columbia, near Interstate 126 and Riverbanks Zoo. WLTY 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 h ...

(ERP) of 9,000

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 ...

s. By contrast, several Columbia FM stations run 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. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is on Short Street in Columbia, near Millwood Avenue (

U.S. Route 76 U.S. Route 76 (US 76) is an east–west U.S. highway that travels for approximately from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Route description , - , TN , 8.9 , 14.3 , - , GA , 150.7 , 242.5 , - , SC , 297.9 , 479.4 ...

). WLTY broadcasts using HD Radio technology. Its HD-2 digital subchannel carries a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

format.

History

Top 40 and Rock

On July 11, 1974, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

as WZLD. It played a mix of

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 "cont ...

and

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 ...

music. It became the number one rated station in its first Arbitron ratings book. However, in late 1977, rival AM Top 40

WNOK WNOK (104.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina, serving the Columbia metropolitan area and the Midlands of South Carolina. It broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) radio format and it's owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The c ...

1400 countered the success of WZLD by flipping its sister FM station to Top 40 as "Stereo 105"

-FM. That move would stunt WZLD's growth in the marketplace and the format was changed to

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

(AOR) as "Z-96" by 1978. The format was run live-assisted using Drake-Chenault's AOR format. In 1980, the station changed back to Top 40 and both Z-96 and WNOK-FM went head to head for the next six years for the Columbia Top 40 radio audience.

Adult Contemporary

In February 1986, Z-96 made a dramatic format change from Top 40 to

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 ...

, but keeping the name. This ratings were not good and by early 1987, the station changed back to Top 40. This time, however, the station found itself competing with not only WNOK, but with upstart WMMC (now

WOMG WOMG is a classic hits station licensed to Lexington, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast at 98.5 MHz with an ERP of ...

) as well. In February 1988, WZLD became WYYS with the "Yes 97" moniker. The format remained Top 40, this time with a lean toward

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

. The station makeover would eventually pay off as WMMC would become WPRH later in 1988 and would leave the Top 40 format altogether one year later. WNOK, however remained dominate in the Top 40 ratings and despite several attempts, could not be unseated.

Country music

In August 1991, after a brief stunt as "

Elvis Radio Since 2008, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separate services ...

", the format was changed to

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

as "Kicks 96" with the new

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

of WHKZ. This time, the station targeted longtime country outlet 97.5 WCOS-FM. Although it had some modest success at first, Kicks 96 was never able to beat WCOS-FM in the ratings. WHKZ was sold in 1994 to the owners of WCOS-FM, Benchmark Communications. Benchmark kept the country format on 96.7 as a flanker to protect WCOS-FM, but over time, the station's ratings had started to erode. By 1998, Benchmark was sold to Capstar Broadcasting. Since there was no need for two country stations under the same ownership as well as declining ratings, the decision was made to change WHKZ to a new format. Over Labor Day Weekend in 1998, WHKZ dropped the country format for brief simulcasts of Capstar sister stations WCOS-FM and

WVOC WVOC (560 AM) – branded ''News Radio 560 WVOC'' – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to serve Columbia, South Carolina. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station covers the Columbia metropolitan area. The WVOC studios and transm ...

. After the stunting, WHKZ flipped to

soft 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, quiet sto ...

music with the name "Lite 96.7" and the new call letters of WLTY.

Variety Hits

Despite the changes, Lite 96.7 never really took off in the Columbia market. After seven years of mediocre ratings against the dominant adult contemporary station, 106.7

WTCB WTCB (106.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Orangeburg, South Carolina, and serving the Columbia metropolitan area. The station, known as "B106.7," is owned by Cumulus Media and airs an adult contemporary radio format. For muc ...

, WLTY flipped on August 16, 2005 to variety hits as "Steve FM," rumored to be named for University of South Carolina college football coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier was actually affiliated with WISW. After a year, Steve-FM was able to finish in the Top 5 in the Arbitron ratings, something that has not been achieved on the signal in over a decade. On December 8, 2015, "Steve", as his namesake did weeks earlier, decided to resign from 96.7 after 11 years. Listeners were asked to choose a new name at Steve FM's website, with that name being revealed on December 14 at 8 AM. At that time, "Steve" came back out of retirement after just under a week, claiming he just needed some time off. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, which also owns

Sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

WCOS-AM,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

WCOS-FM, CHR

Urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

WXBT and

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 ...

in the Columbia radio market.

References

External links

Steve FM's website
*
WLTY on iHeartRadio
{{IHeartMedia LTY Radio stations established in 1974 IHeartMedia radio stations