WLOL (AM)

Infobox Radio station
name = WLOL-AM


city =
area = Twin Cities
branding = "Relevant Radio"
slogan =
airdate = 1939
frequency = 1330 kHz
format = Christian radio
power = 9,700 watts (day), 5,100 watts (night)
erp =
class = B
callsign_meaning = "W Lady Of Lourdes"
former_callsigns =
owner = Starboard Broadcasting
webcast =
website = [http://www.relevantradio.com/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=473&srcid=204 wlol.relevantradio.com]
affiliations = Relevant Radio

:"For the station at 99.5 FM in Minneapolis/St. Paul from 1981-1991, see WLOL (Defunct)"

WLOL (1330 AM) is a radio station in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. It is part of the Relevant Radio Christian network.

History

WLOL, named for the "Land Of Lakes", is one of the area's most legendary set of call letters.Fact|date=July 2007 WLOL's history is intertwined with many other local frequencies over the years. The first incarnation of WLOL signed on 1330 AM in 1939 and was a part of the Mutual Broadcasting System, a national radio network in the United States. An FM broadcast began at 101.3 MHz seven years later, lasting until about 1954. However, WLOL purchased WMIN-FM two years later, which had been broadcasting at 99.5 MHz since 1945, and shifted the call letters to the new frequency.

The AM station aired a variety of formats over the years, including Top 40 in the 1950s. country music, and a brief return to Top 40 in 1979 as WRRD, "13 Rock", which prided itself as an anti-disco station.

AM 1330 was purchased in January 1980 by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), while WLOL-FM transitioned to a pop music format before eventually being sold off to another company. The purchase of the AM station was a fallback for MPR, who had tried to buy KBEM 88.5 a year earlier to allow a split into two separate talk and classical music networks. The new station at 1330 became known as KSJN to correspond with the 91.1 FM signal the organization had at the time. On October 9, 1989, the call letters were changed to KNOW, and they became the flagship for MPR's new news and information network.

WLOL-FM kept its call sign as it was sold off, and found another owner when it was purchased by Emmis Broadcasting in 1983. The call letters enjoyed their biggest success airing a Top 40 format, from 1981 to 1991. The station remained popular until Emmis ran into financial problems in the early 1990s as a result of their purchase of baseball's Seattle Mariners. Many of Emmis' radio properties were sold off, and in 1991, 99.5 found a buyer in MPR, which turned it into the flagship of the organization's classical music network, drawing howls from pop music fans. The MPR call signs were shuffled, causing 91.1 FM to become KNOW-FM and 99.5 FM to become KSJN.

With two FM frequencies in the Twin Cities, MPR pondered other uses for 1330 AM. It eventually became the for-profit station WMNN in September 1995, and was the for-profit flagship for the Minnesota News Network. The profits of this station were fed back to MPR, to help stabilize funding by donations from the public. WMNN was sold off in 2004 to Starboard Broadcasting, who turned it into a Relevant Radio station and soon restored the original WLOL call sign.

Between 1991 and 2004, the WLOL name was used by several other stations, including 1470 (now KLBP), 100.3 (KTLK-FM), and 105.3 (WGVY). The call sign returned to the original 1330 AM frequency in 2004 (this time, however, it supposedly stands for "Lady of Lourdes", reflecting Relevant Radio's Catholic mission).

ee also

*KDWB
*KSJN
*WGVY
*KZTG
*KTLK-FM

External links

* [http://www.relevantradio.com/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=473&srcid=204 Relevant Radio 1330 AM]
* [http://www.nebraskaradio.com/99.htm 99 1/2 WLOL Minneapolis/St. Paul tribute page]
* [http://www.radiotapes.com/ Radiotapes.com] Historic Minneapolis/St. Paul airchecks dating back to 1924 including airchecks of WLOL-AM, WLOL-FM and other Twin Cities radio stations.
* [http://www.TwinCitiesRadioAirchecks.com TwinCitiesRadioAirchecks.com] A site for airchecks of WLOL and many Twin Cities stations from the 60'sand 70's.
* [http://www.clicksilverconsulting.com/RHS62/memories06.htm A late-1950s top hits list]
*AMQ|WLOL
*AML|WLOL

References

*Retrieved from [http://www.dxing.com/dxr/dxld4017.htm Glen Hauser's Shortwave/DX Report, January 29, 2004] on January 18, 2005
**(January 23, 2004). Minnesota Public Radio selling some operations. Associated Press.
**Nicole Garrison-Sprenger and Benno Groeneveld (January 19, 2004). MPR sells WMNN, Minnesota News Network for $10 million; Donor is disappointed. "The Business Journal" (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
**(January 24, 2004). Starboard does big: Buys major Twin Cities AM station from Minnesota Public Radio for $7 million.