WWLS-FM (98.1 MHz) 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 ...

to The Village, Oklahoma, and serving the

Oklahoma City metropolitan area The Oklahoma City metropolitan area is an urban region in the Southern United States. It is the largest metropolitan area in the state of Oklahoma and contains the state capital and principal city, Oklahoma City. It is often known as the Okla ...

. It is owned by

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 8 ...

and airs a

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

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 ...

, calling itself "The Sports Animal." Local hosts are heard weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings, while

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN ...

is carried nights and weekends. WWLS-FM is the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

. The

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s and offices are on NW 64th Street in Northwest Oklahoma City. 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 the Northeast side on Ridgeway Road off NE 78th Street. Programming on WWLS-FM is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

AM 930 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 930 kHz: As classified by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, 930 AM is a regional broadcast frequency. In A ...

WKY WKY (930 AM) is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, owned by Cumulus Media. It is the oldest radio station in Oklahoma and among the oldest in the nation. WKY airs a sports format which is simulcast with its sister statio ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. Many of the shows are also heard on "Sports Animal" stations in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

(FM 99.9 and AM 1550), Muskogee (FM 97.1 and AM 1490), Elk City (1240 AM) and Woodward (AM 1450).

History

Early years

On June 28, 1962, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

as KWHP. The

call letter 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 assigne ...

s came from the owner's name, William Haydon Payne. He also served as the station manager and chief engineer. KWHP broadcast on 97.7 MHz and the original

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American b ...

was

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest c ...

. The

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) was only 410 watts, a fraction of its current output. In 1964, the station moved to Kelly street. The station was put on the air in a small house on 1305 South Boulevard Street in Edmond. The radio station was in the owner's home, the transmitter in the bedroom and the studio in the garage. His wife threatened to leave unless the radio station was moved out of the house. In 1964, the station moved to Kelly street. In 1978, call letters change to KCFX, representing the change to country and the station mascot "The Fox." In 1979, Payne sold the station
PAYNE website
It later became KKLR and then KTNT. Porter Davis, whose family owned Davis Foods distributors, bought the station, switching it to

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the ...

in the early 1990s as KTNT "97.7 The Trend". In the late 1990s, the station changed.

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

purchased the station, along with "SportsRadio 640" WWLS and "Sports Talk 1340" KEBC, in 1998.

The City 97.9, and Wild 97dot9 (1999–2006)

In February 1999, the station changed its call letters to KCYI, moved to 97.9 FM, and became "The City 97.9", retaining the

format. On January 24, 2000, at Noon, KCYI dropped its smooth jazz format and began stunting with a Microsoft robotic countdown (similar to Willow Pond's text-to-speech male voice), counting down until 6:45 a.m. on January 27. At that time, KCYI flipped to

Rhythmic CHR Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, a ...

as "Wild 97dot9." The first song on "Wild" was Wild Thing by Tone Lōc.

The Sports Animal (2006–present)

On October 23, 2006, WWLS (then at 104.9 FM) switched signals with sister station KKWD and moved to the 97.9 frequency. On July 9, 2008, WWLS upgraded its signal to 31,000 watts ERP and moved from 97.9 to 98.1 FM. In addition, WWLS is the hub for the "Sports Animal Network" that simulcasts selected programming on stations throughout Oklahoma including: 930 AM

, 1550 AM KYAL and 99.9 FM in

Sapulpa Sapulpa is a city in Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 census. The population as of 2022 is 22,205. As of 2019, the estimated popul ...

and

, 97.1 FM KYAL-FM in Muskogee and Tulsa, 96.1 FM

KITO-FM KITO-FM 96.1 FM is a radio station licensed to Vinita, Oklahoma. The station broadcasts a Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills wh ...

in Vinita, 101.1 FM KEOJ in Caney and Bartlesville, 1470 AM KGND in Vinita, 1240 AM KADS and 98.1 FM in Elk City, 1450 AM KSIW in

Woodward, Oklahoma Woodward is a city in and the county seat of Woodward County, Oklahoma, Woodward County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the largest city in a nine-county area. The population was 11,975 at the United States Census, 2020, United States Census. T ...

, and 1240 AM KVSO and 107.5 FM in Ardmore. WWLS is also the radio home of

of the NBA, and the market's affiliate for

Unusual call letters

While nearly all radio and TV stations in Oklahoma have

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 ass ...

s beginning with at "K," WWLS-FM is linked to an AM station that dates from the earliest days of broadcasting, 640 KWPN. That station signed on in 1922 as WNAD in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, be ...

, owned by the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

. At that time, Oklahoma was in "W" territory. When WNAD switched call letters to WWLS, it got to keep its historic W call sign. To give WWLS an FM simulcast, 98.1 became WWLS-FM. That made WWLS-FM the only FM station in Oklahoma with a call sign starting with a W. When the owners decided to focus the local sports programming on the FM station and switch the AM station to mostly national ESPN Radio shows, the AM station's call sign flipped to KWPN, leaving WWLS-FM with its unique W call letters.

References

External links

* {{Cumulus Media µWWLS-FM Sports radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1962 CBS Sports Radio stations Oklahoma City Thunder