WDUL
 | |
| Broadcast area | Duluth-Superior |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 970kHz |
| Branding | Hot 98.1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Affiliations | Westwood One |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KDAL,KDAL-FM,KDKE,KTCO,WDSM | |
| History | |
First air date | August 10, 1959 |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies | 1320 kHz (1959–1967) |
Call signmeaning | "Duluth" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 26590 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 1,000watts(day) 26 watts (night) |
| Translator(s) | 98.1W251CD (Superior) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | hot98duluth |
WDUL(970kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationlicensedtoSuperior, Wisconsin.It airs atop 40 (CHR)radio formatand is owned and operated byMidwest Communications.Midwest's sixDuluth-Superiorradio stations share studios at 11 East Superior Street in downtownDuluth, Minnesota.
WDUL is aClass DAM station. It is powered at 1,000wattsby day, using anon-directional antenna.To avoid interference to other stations on970 AM,at night it reduces power to 26 watts.[2]Programming is also heard on 250-wattFM translatorW251CD at 98.1MHzin Superior. It uses the translator dial position in its moniker "Hot 98.1."
History
[edit]WQMN 1320
[edit]The stationsigned onthe air on August 10, 1959, as WQMN. It was a 1,000-wattdaytime-onlystation transmitting on 1320 kHz. WQMN was owned by Quality Radio, Inc. in Superior, Wisconsin.[3]
At noon on May 9, 1964, the station changed itscall signto WAKX ( "WAX" ), playing aTop 40format. Lance "Tac" Hammer was the station's first program director.[4]
WAKX 970
[edit]WAKX moved to 970 kHz, formerly the home of WIGL in Superior, on October 26, 1967. The 1320 kHz frequency in the Duluth-Superior market isno longer in use.
Owner Lew Latto purchased the facilities ofbeautiful musicstationKPIRin September 1974, and began simulcasting the format of WAKX on both 970 AM and 98.9 FM.
KXTP
[edit]In 1982, the AM station changed its call sign to KXTP and switched toadult standards,airing the "Music of Your Life"syndicatedformat. WAKX-FM remained unchanged.
In 1994, Latto sold KXTP and WAKX to Ken Beuhler and Patty McNulty, the owners ofWDSMandKZIO(currently KDKE). The FM station flipped fromclassic rocktocountry musicand becameKTCO.Later that decade, Buehler and McNulty sold their stations to Shockley Communications, which changed KXTP's format tocountry musicand thenRadio Disneynetwork in April 1998.
WGEE
[edit]It later switched tohot talk,and then tosports radio.Its call sign were WGEE. It airedESPN Radioprogramming, as well as twosyndicatedprograms,The Jim Rome ShowandLoveline.It was also the local home ofNASCARraces andESPNSunday Night Baseball.
AM 970 returned to the "Music of Your Life" adult standards format in September 2008, dropping ESPN Radio.
On March 7, 2014, WGEE changed formats from adult standards, back to sports, this time with programming fromCBS Sports Radio.
WDUL
[edit]On March 16, 2015, WGEE changed its call sign to WDUL. Even though WDUL is licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, the call letters stand for Duluth, Minnesota.
On November 4, 2020, WDUL rebranded as "970 The Game". Its weekday daytime programming originated fromWRNW97.3 FM,a sports station inMilwaukeeowned byiHeartMedia.[5]
Hot 98.1
[edit]On April 25, 2022, WDUL changed formats from sports toTop 40 (CHR),branded as "Hot 98.1" competing against Top 40 outletKBMX107.7 "Mix 108". Some programs from the prior sports format were moved tosister station710WDSM.[6]
The switch to a Top 40 (CHR) format was primarily for listeners to 98.1 FM, the station's translator outlet. This also returned the Top 40 (CHR) format to 970 AM for the first time since WAKX signed off in 1982.
Previous logo
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for WDUL".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^Radio-Locator.com/WDUL
- ^Station "History Cards"(FCC.gov)
- ^"Station Changes Format, Name",Billboard,June 6, 1964, page 14.
- ^97.3 The Game Expands Across WisconsinRadioinsight - November 4, 2020
- ^Its Getting Hot In DuluthRadioinsight - April 25, 2022
External links
[edit]- Website for Midwest Communications
- WAKX history
- WAKX survey from July 28, 1967
- Facility details for Facility ID 26590 (WDUL)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
- WDULinNielsen Audio's AM station database
- Facility details for Facility ID 152431 (W251CD)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
- W251CDat FCCdata.org
- FCC history cards for WDUL (covering WQMN/WAKX, 1958-1979)