WQKL

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WQKL, known on the air as Ann Arbor's 107one, is a radio station broadcasting from Ann Arbor, Michigan, which features an Adult Album Alternative (or "Triple A") music format, the only commercial station of its kind in the state. Formerly known as "Kool 107" with a gold-based adult contemporary format, the station adopted its current format in June 2004 and has since become one of the most popular radio stations in the Ann Arbor market.

WQKL is a Clear Channel Communications radio station, co-owned with country WWWW-FM 102.9, sports WTKA-AM 1050, and liberal talker WLBY-AM 1290. Although the station broadcasts with only 3,000 watts of power, it can be heard quite easily in many of the western Detroit suburbs.

Contents 1 WPAG-FM 2 Mix 107 and Kool 107 3 Ann Arbor's 107One 4 Management 5 On-Air Lineup 6 Specialty Programming. 7 Ratings

[edit] WPAG-FM

What is now WQKL can be traced back to WPAG-FM, the FM arm of AM 1050, which is now sports-talk WTKA. WPAG-FM originally operated at 98.7 FM during the 1950s but was off the air by the end of the decade. WPAG was granted a license to resurrect its FM station at the current 107.1 frequency in 1967, but it was not until 1969 that the station finally went on the air. Through the end of the 1970s, WPAG-FM 107.1 simulcast the middle of the road format of WPAG-AM during the day but separated programming during the evening hours. Originally WPAG-FM aired folk and rock music from 7 p.m. to midnight; this was changed in 1972 to an eclectic country format including bluegrass, folk, and old Western music. By the mid-1970s, WPAG-FM was also playing beautiful music on weekends.

By 1980, the population of Ann Arbor had topped 100,000, and due to FCC rules, 107.1 FM would have to come up with a new format to truly distinguish itself from its AM sister. The first decision was to convert the eclectic country shows on WPAG-FM into a full-time format, but after a few months the country format was ditched in favor of automated Top 40. This format was also a failure, and by the mid-1980s, WPAG-FM was playing easy listening music full time.

[edit] Mix 107 and Kool 107

In 1989, WPAG-FM was acquired by Domino's Pizza mogul Tom Monaghan. The station changed its calls to WAMX and became Mix 107 FM, Ann Arbor's Adult Choice, playing a mixture of smooth jazz, new age music, and soft pop and soul vocals. Interestingly, WPAG-AM's calls were changed to "WPZA" (meaning "pizza," as in "Domino's"). Three years later, the station was acquired by MW Blue Partnership, and the calls and format changed once again, to WQKL as Kool 107, Ann Arbor's Official Oldies Station. One of Kool 107's most memorable on-air liners declared, "Kool 107 plays great oldies because today's music... sucks!" Local radio icon Lucy Ann Lance hosted Kool 107's morning show.

In the fall of 1998, Kool 107 dropped virtually all of the pre-1965 music on its playlist and began to supplement the oldies format with 1970s and 1980s hits, from artists like Barbra Streisand, Huey Lewis & The News, Toto and The Pointer Sisters. The new music mix was tagged "Adult Contemporary Gold," although the station retained the "Kool 107" moniker. By 1999 Cumulus Media owned the station, and took a further step toward evolving the format to AC by adding Delilah's syndicated love-songs show for the evening hours. In 2000, Clear Channel Communications acquired the station from Cumulus Media. Clear Channel slowly evolved WQKL's format closer and closer to AC over the next several years, and by 2003 the station was playing some current AC chart hits despite remaining primarily oldies-based. Yet the station continued to flounder in the local ratings, with its Arbitron showings ranging from mediocre to awful, and Kool 107 was regularly defeated in the Ann Arbor market by its own Detroit-based Clear Channel AC sister station, WNIC. Kool 107 also lost Lucy Ann Lance around this time; she eventually surfaced doing the morning show at talk-formatted competitor WAAM.

[edit] Ann Arbor's 107One

Clear Channel decided it was time to give Kool 107 a major makeover, and so on June 26, 2004, Ann Arbor's 107one was born. WQKL's ratings have seen a good deal of improvement since. In the Spring 2006 Arbitron report, the station was ranked third overall in the market, behind Detroit's WJR and country music sister station WWWW-FM, and it is also the second most popular commercial Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti/Washtenaw County signal (second to WWWW). It appears much of WQKL's ratings growth came at the expense of Detroit public radio station WDET after WDET dropped all of its daytime adult-alternative music programming in favor of NPR news and talk, leaving WQKL as the only terrestrial radio station for Triple A listeners to hear the music they love. In addition, current 107one morning show host Martin Bandyke is a longtime veteran of WDET who was let go from the Wayne State University-owned station as part of the programming changes.

WQKL tags its format as A Quality Mix of Music from Then and Now. The format includes a variety of adult pop-rock artists, such as U2, Jack Johnson, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morissette, Goo Goo Dolls, Sheryl Crow, Sting, David Gray, K.T. Tunstall, Bonnie Raitt, and Death Cab For Cutie. Classic alternative rock tracks from artists like The Cure, Peter Gabriel, The Pretenders, The Smithereens, and Depeche Mode are also a staple of the 107one music mix, as are classic acoustic-leaning rock tracks from artists like R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, and The Beatles. While some of the music heard on WQKL can be heard on Detroit-area stations such as WDVD, WCSX and CIMX, the station is also wont to throw in rare, forgotten or obscure tunes from the "107one Spice Rack," such as Gloria Jones' original version of "Tainted Love," and also plays current and recent hits from the Triple A charts.

In August 2006, it was announced that Clear Channel's radio stations in Ann Arbor and Battle Creek would be traded to Cumulus in exchange for rocker WRQK in Canton, Ohio, meaning that WQKL and its sister stations would once again be under the Cumulus umbrella. This deal apparently fell through. However, in early September 2006, WQKL gained a competitor in the Triple A format when CIDR 93.9 FM in Windsor, Ontario reverted to the "93-9 The River" moniker and the format the station had originally used from 1994 to 2000.

[edit] Management

• Owned by Clear Channel Communications
• General Manager - Bob Bolak
• Music Director - Mark Copeland
• Production Director - Satan

[edit] On-Air Lineup

6am - 10am

• Kevin O'Neill (6/04 - 9/04) - departed for WNIC in Detroit
• Tom Baker (9/04 - 3/05) - departed for WYCD in Detroit
• Paul Ichus (3/05 - 1/06)
• Martin Bandyke (1/06 - present)

10am - 3pm

• Rob Walker (6/04 - 1/06) - departed for KKWF n Seattle
• Brad Savage (1/06 - 10/06) - departed for 106.1 The Corner in Charlottesville, VA.
• Adam Ray (10/06 - present)

3pm - 7pm

• Mark Addy (6/04 - 11/04)
• Mark Copeland (11/04 - present)

7pm - 12am

• Adam Ray (6/04 - 4/06)
• John Bommarito (4/06 - present)

12am - 6am

• Crystal Harris (2/05 - 8/05) departed for WTWR in Monroe, MI
• John Bommarito (8/05 - 4/06)
• Adam Ray (4/06 - 10/06)

• Adam Ray also works for sister station WWWW-FM (W4 Country).

[edit] Specialty Programming.

The station is known for their Sunday Buffet lineup of specialty programming that includes the nationally syndicated shows eTown and Acoustic Cafe and local programming....

Acoustic Brunch (Sunday 10am - 12pm) The softer side of 107.1 with acoustic versions of songs you know, exclusive performances from Studio A2 and singer/songwriter types like Vienna Teng, David Wilcox, etc. John Bommarito hosts.

Fine Tuning (Sunday 4pm - 6pm) Former public radio host Martin Bandyke plays almost anything on his free form show, which is patterned after his days with WDET in Detroit.

Homegrown (Sunday 6pm - 7pm) Local artists like Tally Hall, Penumbrae and Steppin' In It are featured. Adam Ray hosts.

Under The Radar Radio (Sunday 7pm - 9pm) This show features a mix of indie and major label music, featuring new music and older songs that were once radio favorites. It is hosted by Mark Copeland.

Sonic Bliss (Sunday 9pm - 12am) A "chill" show patterned after a long-running but no longer airing Sunday-night show on WPLT/WDVD 96.3 FM Detroit, called Big Sonic Heaven. Sonic Bliss features mostly trip-hop and electronic music like Bjork, Portishead, Tricky, Moby, Massive Attack and Everything But The Girl, but also plays acoustic oriented music like Red House Painters, Innocence Mission and the Sundays. Even jazz-leaning music by Bebel Gilberto and Vanessa Daou is played on the show from time to time. The show is hosted by Mark Copeland.

Also on Saturday evenings, the station airs New Wave Nation with former MTV VJ Nina Blackwood from 9pm-12am, focusing on new wave and other classic alternative music of the 1980s.

[edit] Ratings

Persons 12+

• Fall 2004 2.8
• Spring 05 3.8
• Fall 2005 3.3
• Spring 06 4.8