WKKT
Encyclopedia
History
The station on 96.9 FM in Statesville, North CarolinaStatesville, North Carolina
Statesville is a city located in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States and was named an All-America City in 1997 and 2009. The population was 24,633 at the 2010 census...
began in 1967 as WDBM-FM, and was largely the simulcast partner to co-owned daytime station WDBM-AM (now with the call sign WAME
WAME
WAME is a radio station broadcasting a classic country format. Licensed to Statesville, North Carolina, USA. The station is owned by Statesville Family Radio Corporation...
). The station's original owner was Walter B. Duke, and the call letters supposedly stood for "Walter Duke's Beautiful Music" station. WDBM-FM continued to broadcast in the evenings after the AM station signed off.
The Duke family sold the stations in 1973, and the new owners separated the operations of the AM and FM, and programmed the FM station as a rock-oriented Underground
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
format, changing the call letters to WOOO and the station's slogan to "Triple-O-97".
In 1981, WOOO was sold again. The new owners increased its power to 100,000 watts and began serving the Charlotte market under the call letters WLVV and slogan "Love 97". Its initial format under these call letters was an automated system called "The FM100 Plan", but later changed to Churchill Productions' "Radio One", a soft adult contemporary format. Popular announcers on the station in those years included Phil Green, Bob Brandon, Bob Chrysler, Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas is a British musician and record producer, although he personally styled himself as a recording engineer and is popular for his unique recording techniques...
, Dick Durante and Anne Cruse.
Another ownership change and a switch to country came in 1985, along with new letters WLVK ("K-97"). In January 1989, Bill Blevins, using the on-air name Billy Buck, became the new morning host to compete with Charlotte's top DJ, Bill Dollar.
In the early 90s, the station experimented with adding southern rock such as ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, calling itself WTDR "Thunder 96.9". That experiment didn't last long, but the letters WTDR remained for a while before the name was changed to WKKT "Kat Country" in 1997. In December 1997, Paul Schadt moved to WKKT after 16 years at WSOC,
In Fall 2000, Kat Country was no. 5 in Charlotte, while former no. 1 WSOC-FM
WSOC-FM
WSOC-FM 103.7 is a country radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The station is owned by New York City-based CBS Radio. Its primary competitor in the country format is 96.9 The Kat...
was no. 12.
Jingles and sweepers
- Station voice: Emily Mcintosh, John Willyard
- Station jingles: YoungGuns Studios