WPTI
Encyclopedia
WRKA is a radio station
broadcasting a Classic Country
music format. Licensed to Louisville, Kentucky
, USA, the station serves the greater Louisville area. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio, Inc.
. The call letters were later changed to WXLN and played Contemporary Christian music.
After dropping Christian music in 1990, 103.9 had a history of short-lived and rapidly changing call letters and formats (usually failed attempts to challenge other more dominant stations in the market), with the station typically changing formats every two to four years between 1990 and 2008.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
broadcasting a Classic Country
Classic country
Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades.This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators and artists from country music's Golden...
music format. Licensed to Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, USA, the station serves the greater Louisville area. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio, Inc.
History
In January, 1975, the station first came on the air as WFIA-FM. It was a sister station to WFIA-AMWFIA
WFIA is a Christian Talk radio station in the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area. It is owned by Salem Communications.-External links:*...
. The call letters were later changed to WXLN and played Contemporary Christian music.
After dropping Christian music in 1990, 103.9 had a history of short-lived and rapidly changing call letters and formats (usually failed attempts to challenge other more dominant stations in the market), with the station typically changing formats every two to four years between 1990 and 2008.
- July 5, 1990-March 19, 1992: WZKS “Kiss 104” (CHRContemporary hit radioContemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
)- The station's first post Christian format was intended to challenge WDJXWDJXWDJX is a Contemporary Hit Radio radio station located in Louisville, Kentucky. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast on 99.7 FM with a effective radiated power of 24 kW.-Station history:...
. The format ended in January 1992, after WZKS signed a LMALocal marketing agreementIn U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
with WDJX, preventing the two stations from competing with each other. After several weeks simulcasting WDJX, the station began stunting, by playing music from Garth BrooksGarth BrooksTroyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
. On March 23, 1992, the station switched to satellite fed Country as "Hot Country 103.9", but kept the old WZKS call letters.
- The station's first post Christian format was intended to challenge WDJX
- March 23, 1992--May 24, 1994: WZKS “Hot Country 103.9”, WHKW “103.9 The Hawk”:
- During this period, 103.9 became the first FM station in the market intended to challenge longtime country leaderWAMZWAMZWAMZ is a country music-formatted radio station located in Louisville, Kentucky. The station broadcasts on 97.5 FM with an ERP of 100 kW.-Station history:Experimental W9XEK began on July 22, 1944 at 45.5 MHz...
. Initially, the station was known as "Hot Country 103.9", which, unlike WAMZ, had no local content, instead relying on Dial Global'sDial GlobalDial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
Hot Country satellite network for programming. On March 30, 1993, the station was revamped as 103.9 The Hawk, and added local programming. It also changed its call letters to WHKW. The format, call letters, and "The Hawk" branding moved to its more powerful sister station on 107.7 (now WSFRWSFRWSFR is a classic hits radio station licensed to the community of Corydon, Indiana, USA. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio and serves the greater Louisville, Kentucky, area.-History:...
) on May 24, 1994, and again to 98.9 (now WNRW) in May of 1996.
- During this period, 103.9 became the first FM station in the market intended to challenge longtime country leaderWAMZ
- May 24, 1994-June 3, 1996: WQLL “Cool 103.9”
- After “The Hawk” moved to 107.7, 103.9 adopted an oldies format, intended to challenge future sister station WRKA (then on 103.1). The call letters changed to WQLL on June 6.
- May 1996-May 29, 1998: WSJW “Smooth Jazz 103.9”
- The station changed its format to Smooth Jazz in May 1996, and a month later changed it's call letters to WSJW. This format lasted two years.
- May 29, 1998-November 2000: WMHX “Mix 103.9”:
- This format was basically a revival of the AC format dropped by then-WLRS, now WXMAWXMAWXMA, also known as "102.3 The Max", is a Hot Adult Contemporary station located in Louisville, Kentucky. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast on 102.3 FM with a effective radiated power of 6 kW....
, a year earlier. Like the others, this format lasted two years.
- This format was basically a revival of the AC format dropped by then-WLRS, now WXMA
- November 2000- October 2004: “103.9 The Point”:
- After the station was purchased by Cox Radio in 1999, and adopted the company's all 80's The Point branding in November 2000. The call letters were switched to WPTK on November 24, then a month later, on December 20, to WPTI.
- October 2004-July 23, 2008: WPTI “New Country 103.9”
- Like its previous attempts at country music as “Hot Country” and “The Hawk”, the format was intended to challenge WAMZ.
- July 23-2008-Present: WRKA "Country Legends 103.9"
- The call letters were changed to WRKA on July 18, and changed its format to Classic Country on July 23. The old format moved to its more powerful sister station, WQNU (which piror to this used the WRKA call letters).