City of license | Lexington, North Carolina |
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Broadcast area | Piedmont Triad |
Branding | K-Love |
Slogan | Positive and Encouraging |
Frequency | 94.1 MHz |
First air date | 1960s |
Format | Contemporary Christian |
Power | 100,000 watts |
HAAT | 309 meters |
Class | C |
Facility ID | 15839 |
Callsign meaning | LoVe - in reference to K-LOVE |
Former callsigns | WTHZ (12/26/2000 - 03/25/2010) WWGL (04/04/1988 - 12/26/2000) WKOQ (04/01/1985-04/04/1988) [1] |
Affiliations | K-LOVE |
Owner | Davidson County Broadcasting (operated by Educational Media Foundation under outsourcing agreement) |
Sister stations | WLXN |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | klove.com |
WWLV (94.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Lexington, North Carolina, and serving the Piedmont Triad metropolitan area. The station is an affiliate of K-LOVE.
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94.1 began in the early 1940s as WBUY by Davidson County Broadcasting as a simulcast partner of their AM station WBUY at 1440 on the dial. By the early 70's separate calls of WLXN were acquired for the FM station but it remained simulcast with WBUY until 1976, when the station would break away from the simulcast at certain times during the day to air Christian programming. WLXN's programming had become largely separate from that of WBUY by late 1983. On January 1, 1984, the Christian programming and WLXN call letters were transferred to the AM station and the WBUY call letters came to the FM, which then initiated a Country format. In April 1985 WBUY-FM changed call letters to WKOQ[1] "Q-94" and continued the Country format, increasing its power to cover the entire Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point market. In 1988 WKOQ became WWGL[1] ("We Witness God's Love"), a Christian radio station which emphasized Southern gospel music and later Contemporary Christian.[2][3] Another signal boost was made several years later when WWGL built a new, taller tower north of Lexington, which it would eventually share with WFDD.[4]
In 2000, the station began calling itself WTHZ "Hitz 94", playing mostly 80s music. The station eventually evolved to a Hot AC format, still using the "Hitz 94" name, with the slogan "The 80s, 90s, and Now."
The station began the Oldies format (music from roughly 1964-1984) in November 2006 after local Entercom Oldies outlet WMQX flipped to Country music. First calling itself "Your Station for the Oldies", then "the Best of the 60's 70's and 80's", Majic 94.1 later used "The Carolinas' Greatest Hits" with a very large playlist primarily of the 1960`s to 1980's top 40 songs.
On March 14, 2010; the station began leasing its frequency to K-LOVE. Station owner Gig Hilton said advertisers were unwilling to buy time on the station because it attracted an older demographic, and the big companies who owned several stations could offer cheaper advertising rates. The recession made the deal from Educational Media Foundation very attractive. Hilton did say switching back to oldies would be considered if the situation changed or if he was able to move the transmitter closer to Charlotte (see below). He also said that many listeners had complained.[5] The station's call letters were changed to WWLV to better reflect its new format in late March 2010.
Due to its location in Lexington, roughly halfway between Charlotte and Greensboro, WWLV's signal covers roughly three-fourths of both the Charlotte and Triad markets. It easily covers the northern portion of the Charlotte market (including Statesville, Mooresville, Kannapolis and Albemarle), and provides at least grade B coverage of most of Charlotte itself. As WTHZ, it acquired a fairly loyal following in the northern portion of the Charlotte market, which hasn't had a full-market oldies station since WWMG-FM (Magic 96.1) flipped to CHR as WIBT.
For many years, Davidson County Broadcasting has been trying to build a tower in western Rowan County, which is part of the Charlotte market. It also applied to move its city of license to Faith, North Carolina.[6] This location would significantly improve its coverage in Charlotte, but it would presumably still be reckoned as a Triad-market station.
Almost two years after Rowan County denied a conditional use permit in November 2005, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the June 2006 Superior Court ruling which agreed with the county. Miller Air Park pilots and a state aviation official said the proposed 1,350-foot (410 m) tower five miles (8 km) east of Mooresville would cause problems for the airplanes landing and taking off, while the Federal Aviation Administration found "determination of no hazard"; the FAA only had authority over public airports. Station president Gig Hilton claimed that the private airport was given more favorable treatment than a public airport.[7]
Richard L. and Dorcas Parker, owners of the property where the tower would be located, offered free space on the tower for county emergency communications, but in February 2009 county telecommunications director Rob Robinson said the tower would not give the area the coverage needed. Planning director Ed Muire said the communications equipment would not exempt the tower from the usual zoning procedures.[8] On May 19, the county zoning board of adjustment ruled Muire was correct.[9]
The Parkers requested that 18 acres (73,000 m2) of their farm be annexed by Mooresville, which declined on March 1, 2010 to do so. However, most of the county commissioners who turned down a conditional use permit in 2005 were replaced,[10] and Hilton decided to try again. This time, he was requesting a 1,200-foot (370 m) tower, which Davidson County Broadcasting intended to show has been declared "no hazard" by the FAA.[11] After three days of hearings in August 2011, county commissioners approved the tower.[12] The station will have to reduce its power to 43,000 watts as a result, and its signal will favor Charlotte more than Greensboro, though according to the construction permit the license will now remain in Lexington.
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