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WDUL

WDUL
Broadcast areaDuluth-Superior
Frequency970 kHz
BrandingHot 98.1
Programming
FormatTop 40 (CHR)
AffiliationsWestwood One
Ownership
Owner
KDAL, KDAL-FM, KDKE, KTCO, WDSM
History
First air date
August 10, 1959; 65 years ago (1959-08-10)
Former call signs
  • WQMN (1959–1966)
  • WAKX (1966–1982)
  • KXTP (1982–2003)
  • WGEE (2003–2015)
Former frequencies
1320 kHz (1959–1967)
Call sign meaning
"Duluth"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID26590
ClassD
Power1,000 watts (day)
26 watts (night)
Translator(s)98.1 W251CD (Superior)
Links
Public license information
Websitehot98duluth.com

WDUL (970 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Superior, Wisconsin. It airs a top 40 (CHR) radio format and is owned and operated by Midwest Communications. Midwest's six Duluth-Superior radio stations share studios at 11 East Superior Street in downtown Duluth, Minnesota.

WDUL is a Class D AM station. It is powered at 1,000 watts by day, using a non-directional antenna. To avoid interference to other stations on 970 AM, at night it reduces power to 26 watts.[2] Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator W251CD at 98.1 MHz in Superior. It uses the translator dial position in its moniker "Hot 98.1."

History

WQMN 1320

The station signed on the air on August 10, 1959, as WQMN. It was a 1,000-watt daytime-only station transmitting on 1320 kHz. WQMN was owned by Quality Radio, Inc. in Superior, Wisconsin.[3]

At noon on May 9, 1964, the station changed its call sign to WAKX ("WAX"), playing a Top 40 format. Lance "Tac" Hammer was the station's first program director.[4]

WAKX 970

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 is no longer in use.

Owner Lew Latto purchased the facilities of beautiful music station KPIR in September 1974, and began simulcasting the format of WAKX on both 970 AM and 98.9 FM.

KXTP

In 1982, the AM station changed its call sign to KXTP and switched to adult standards, airing the "Music of Your Life" syndicated format. WAKX-FM remained unchanged.

In 1994, Latto sold KXTP and WAKX to Ken Beuhler and Patty McNulty, the owners of WDSM and KZIO (currently KDKE). The FM station flipped from classic rock to country music and became KTCO. Later that decade, Buehler and McNulty sold their stations to Shockley Communications, which changed KXTP's format to country music and then Radio Disney network in April 1998.

WGEE

It later switched to hot talk, and then to sports radio. Its call sign were WGEE. It aired ESPN Radio programming, as well as two syndicated programs, The Jim Rome Show and Loveline. It was also the local home of NASCAR races and ESPN Sunday 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 from CBS Sports Radio.

WDUL

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 from WRNW 97.3 FM, a sports station in Milwaukee owned by iHeartMedia.[5]

Hot 98.1

On April 25, 2022, WDUL changed formats from sports to Top 40 (CHR), branded as "Hot 98.1" competing against Top 40 outlet KBMX 107.7 "Mix 108". Some programs from the prior sports format were moved to sister station 710 WDSM.[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.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WDUL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WDUL
  3. ^ Station "History Cards" (FCC.gov)
  4. ^ "Station Changes Format, Name", Billboard, June 6, 1964, page 14.
  5. ^ 97.3 The Game Expands Across Wisconsin Radioinsight - November 4, 2020
  6. ^ Its Getting Hot In Duluth Radioinsight - April 25, 2022

46°43′28″N 92°07′11″W / 46.72444°N 92.11972°W / 46.72444; -92.11972

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