WTLZ is a radio station

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...

 licensed to Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...

 broadcasting an urban adult contemporary

Urban Adult Contemporary

Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...

 format.

WTLZ retains a strong signal south of Saginaw toward Flint, but moving eastward toward the Lapeer County area, WSAQ

WSAQ

WSAQ is a country music radio station in Port Huron, Michigan known as Q Country 107. It began broadcasting August 7, 1964 on 107.1 MHz with 6,000 watts, and remains the same today . It broadcasts from the same site as AM 1450 WHLS. Q-Country plays modern country music along with some...

 107.1 "Q Country" signal tends to overpower WTLZ as they are both on the same frequency.

History

107.1 FM signed on in October of 1969 as WWWS "W3-Soul with a ERP of 2,000 Watts. W3 Soul at the time played a mix of Jazz and R&B for the Tri -Cities. The Studios were located on South Bancroft @ East Genessee in Saginaw.

The station is the heritage African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

-oriented radio station in the market and has featured some variation of urban format for decades, first as WWWS ("W-3-Soul").

POWER 107

In September of 1988 the calls were changed to WTLZ as "Power 107" adding Disco, and Rap throughout the 1990s, then would evolve into a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio  format then totally as Mainstream Urban

Mainstream Urban

Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...

. It is around 1989 when the owners wanted to Market WTLZ towards Flint and would increase the Power to 4,900 Watts, 107.1's signal would reach from Midland to South of Flint. WTLZ had the some best ratings in the 1990's with Specialty shows such as the "Saturday Night Street Mix".

HOT 107

In December of 1998 WTL Broadcasting opted to sell the station to Connoisseur Communications which had already stations in Flint. In March of 1999 Connoisseur tweaked WTLZ from Mainstream Urban to "Today's Best R&B and Jammin Oldies" "HOT 107", cutting back on (but not totally eliminating for several years afterward) rap and hip hop product from its playlist (though hip hop was played mostly at night). Eventually the format evolved into the current Urban AC as most hip-hop was dropped from the playlist and the nighttime hip-hop programming was replaced by "slow jams" on the "Quiet Fire" (a variation of the Quiet Storm

Quiet storm

Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...

 concept).

New Ownership

WTLZ was purchased by Cumulus Media who would sell their Saginaw Stations to Next Media in 2009. 107 would undergo another change as yet another New Owner. WTLZ rebranded from Hot 107 to Kiss 107.1 in the fall of 2009, staying with its Urban AC format.

Kiss 107.1 is the Tri-Cities' outlet for the Steve Harvey

Steve Harvey

Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...

 morning show and Michael Baisden

Michael Baisden

Michael Baisden is an American author, motivational speaker, host of the TV One talk show Baisden After Dark, and host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show.-Career:...

's Love, Lust and Lies. Weekend programming includes Walt "Baby" Love

Walt Love

Rev. Walter Shaw, who goes by the on-air nickname Walt "Baby" Love, is a radio host in the United States. Having been in the business for over 35 years, Walt ‘Baby’ Love hosts three syndicated radio programs, Gospel Traxx, The Countdown and The Urban AC Countdown. All three feature, at Love's...

's nationally syndicated Urban AC countdown, gospel programs on Sunday morning, and The Flow, Your Urban Jazz

Smooth jazz

Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....

Connection, on Sunday afternoons.