 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Western New York |
| Frequency | 107.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 107.7 & 104.7 The Wolf |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Country music |
| Subchannels | HD2:Christmas music "Star 102.5" |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | June 6, 1948 (1948-06-06) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Lake Erie |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 9250 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 17,000 watts |
| HAAT | 258 meters (846 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°37′23″N78°17′17″W / 42.623°N 78.288°W /42.623; -78.288 |
| Translator | 104.7 W284AP (Buffalo) |
| Repeater | 98.5 WKSE-HD2 (Niagara Falls) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
|
| Website | |
WLKK (107.7FM) is an American radio station located inWethersfield, New York. The station is owned byAudacy, Inc. It operates from studios at Audacy'sBuffalo offices inAmherst, New York, with its transmitter located nearWarsaw, 35 miles southeast of Buffalo (For legal purposes, WLKK's official studio was shared withWCJW in Warsaw, alegal fiction which ended with the elimination of the Main Studio Rule by theFCC in 2017).[2]
WLKK has had a long history of frequent format changes, with formats changing every four to seven years. Its owners have typically used the signal as a pass-through for other national format trends in its portfolio. Its current format and brand ofcountry music as The Wolf is set to end in February 2026 as it begins carrying a simulcast of itssports radio sister stationWGR.
The FM station on 107.7 at Wethersfield originally started broadcasting June 6, 1948 as WFNF, a member of theRural Radio Network based inIthaca.[3]
The network changed ownership three times in the 1960s, and was most notable between 1969 and 1981 for being upstate New York's arm ofPat Robertson's originalChristian Broadcasting Network as WBIV.
In November 1981, Robertson dismantled the CBN radio division and sold WBIV for roughly $350,000 to a coalition led by Ron Chmiel, a dentist based in Williamsville; John Bunkfeldt, who owned radio stations in Utica; Bob Allen, a local program director; and Allen's parents and aunt. Chmiel held a majority stake of roughly 60%,[4] while Bunkfeldt and the Allen family each held 20%. Allen, then age 32, had either left or been fired from six radio stations in the previous 12 years, and by buying a minority stake in the station, Allen believed he was untouchable, no matter what he did.[5][4]
WUWU began as an effort to reviveprogressive/underground rock radio, by then a nearly extinct format, with personnel who had previously been involved with the city's previous progressive station from 12 years prior, WPHD, and withWZIR, a short-lived progressive station that operated in 1980 and 1981. WUWU was the first incarnation of the station explicitly marketed as a rimshot to the Buffalo market, establishing a studio inWest Seneca that would continue to be used for the next two decades. Eighteen months after the purchase and format flip, tensions between Allen and Chmiel had reached a breaking point: Allen had allegedly used his talkback programThe Town Crier to spew obscenities (which Allen denied), and Allen had increasingly tried to force WUWU to adopt aheavy metal format over the objections of Chmiel, advertisers and the board of directors. Quoth Allen: "He can't fire me. I don't fill teeth, and he doesn't know how to run a radio station."[6] Allen had also developed paranoid delusions of Chmiel attempting to sell the then money-losing station to another buyer at a steep profit, which Chmiel denied.[5] Chmiel fired Allen on May 21, 1983,[4] only for Allen to refuse to accept the firing and show up to work the next day with an armed guard. When Chmiel himself hired two armed guards to keep Allen out of the WUWU studios, on May 27, 1983, Allen, Bunkfeldt and two accomplices drove equipment forremote broadcasting out to the Wethersfield transmitter site andhijacked the signal, where he declared an "emergency broadcast" and began playing heavy metal untilWyoming County sheriffs surrounded the transmitter site and arrested them; the hijacking lasted roughly one hour.[6] The arrest also did not deter Allen, who again hijacked the station in early July; this incident was somewhat more successful, lasting nine hours throughout the overnight before being accosted by police.
Allen escaped criminal trespass and obstruction of justice prosecution when, in December 1983, the Wethersfield town judge presiding over the May trespassing case accepted a motion for dismissal on procedural grounds. The charges for the July incident were dropped because Allen had hired the winner of the county's district attorney election that November, which would have forced the county to hire aspecial prosecutor at their expense to prosecute the case. Allen and Chmiel both sued each other.[7]
WUWU eventually shifted to a New Age and jazz format as "The Sound Future," a format that lasted until 1986.[3]
During Memorial Day weekend in 1986, the station flipped toclassic rock as "The Bear -- High Quality Rock and Roll."[8] WBYR had a brief moment of great success in the classic rock format; the heritagealbum-oriented rock station, WGRQ-FM, was at the time anadult contemporary music station known as "WRLT," and as such, WBYR was able to make inroads into the Buffalo market, including hiring WGRQ jock Slick Tom Tiberi. This, however, ended when WRLT changed back to classic rock asWGRF and hired back Tiberi. Chmiel finally gave up on the station and sold WBYR to John Casciani.[3]
In November 1988, the station flipped toSmooth jazz as "The Wave", and changed call letters to WBMW.[9] Due to continued poor ratings, the station then flipped toeasy listening on August 6, 1990 as WEZQ ("Easy 107.7"), hoping to pick up disenfranchised listeners ofWJYE, which shifted from their long-running easy listening format to adult contemporary two years prior. However, the format, which was already out of fashion by the time 107.7 adopted it, would be dropped on August 31, 1992.
On August 31, 1992, the station flipped tocountry music as WNUC. Initially branding as "New Country", WNUC would eventually be renamed "The Bullet". The station intended to compete withWYRK (and indirectly,WBEE,WPIG and many others). One of its longest-running formats, country on WNUC ran until October 2000, when Casciani sold the station to Adelphia Communications for $5,600,000.[10]
In October 2000, Adelphia flipped the station tosports radio as WNSA. This station was a relatively rare monaural FM station, unlike itsstereophonic counterparts; this was in part to increase the station's coverage area. Its initial slogan was "The Sports Authority" (from which it drew its call sign) until thesporting goods retailer of the same name levied a lawsuit against Adelphia in 2001;[11] the station modified the slogan to "Sports Paradise".
Between October 2000 and April 2004,Empire Sports Network, under VP/GM Bob Koshinski, operated the radio station, aimed at fans fromWestern New York into theFinger Lakes. The purpose of WNSA's existence was to challengeWGR, Buffalo's often antagonistic sports talk station. Howard Simon was recruited to host morning drive, longtime Buffalo sports talkerArt Wander hosted during lunch, and radio newcomer Mike Schopp launched "Sports Talk for Smart People" during the afternoon drive. Later additions would include Jim Brinson, Doug Young (who defected from WGR and is widely credited as the person who landed the interviews and guests that made WNSA so popular), and Zig Fracassi, who had been a nationally syndicated host until the dissolution of theSports Fan Radio Network.Jim Kelley,Mike Robitaille and Schopp (later replaced by Simon) hosted a two-hour show known asThe Sharpshooters prior toBuffalo Sabres games. The station affiliated with Sporting News Radio and was among the first to carry theSports USA Radio Network'sNFL coverage. WNSA carried many of the same sporting events as Empire, including Sabres andDestroyers games, and WNSA consistently outperformed WGR in the ratings for most of its run.
WNSA also held several unique promotions such as the Western New York Sports Symposium, which was a yearly, two-day event held at an event center which included participation by theBuffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres,Buffalo Bisons and most of the Buffalo area colleges. The symposium featured two days of sports talk from the event location and numerous round table discussions with dozens of notable Buffalo sports team players, coaches, alumni, announcers, and newspaper columnists.
WNSA also created a fictitious radio fantasy hockey game called Sabres Showdown that pitted the Buffalo Sabres 1975Stanley Cup finalists against the 1999 Sabres finalist squad. The game featured actual Sabres play-by-play manRick Jeanneret and analystMike Robitaille calling the action as well as staged and archival interviews with Sabres players and management from both eras. The taped broadcast was enough of a success to be rerun a year after its original broadcast. Other unique features included "Superfan," a humorous short-form serial about a Buffalo sports fan endowed with superpowers, and "Haseoke," a feature in which audiotapes allegedly from Sabres goaltenderDominik Hašek singing karaoke were played on-air (poking fun at Hašek's thick Bohemian accent).
During Empire's ownership, 107.7 added its first Buffalo-area translator, W297AB inWilliamsville, to improve the station's signal quality inBuffalo and the inner-ring suburbs. In December 2018, the translator was transferred toAM 1400, by this point a sister station.
The station's fortunes would collapse when the Rigas/Adelphia Communications scandal was exposed. After filingChapter 11 bankruptcy, the new Adelphia management decided to sell off WNSA despite its solid performance. That resulted in the retirement of Art Wander, the defection of Mike Schopp to WGR and part-time work atESPN Radio. Adelphia Communications began to slash WNSA's budget to prepare it for sale. Howard Simon's show was moved to afternoon drive time, began simulcasting on Empire, and was dubbedThe SimonCast, and the other personalities, none of whom seemed to be interested in the morning drive slot, rotated the AM shift (WNSA insisted on a local morning show because the Sporting News offering,Murray in the Morning, was deemed too inappropriate for its as-stated "PG-rated" listening audience). Ratings fell below those of WGR toward the end. The end of WNSA came when the station was sold to WGR's owner,Entercom Communications, in May 2004 for $10.5 million, and announced an immediate format change. Simon's show, however, would continue onWLVL in Lockport until November 2004, when he was recruited to host WGR's morning show.[12][13]
Many WNSA staffers found jobs at WGR, while others (particularly those who had worked at both WNSA and WNUC) ended up atWYRK. Several hundred hours of WNSA's programming, including several unique specials, were archived by producer Steve Cichon and are available for purchase.[14]
After Entercom closed on the purchase, WNSA beganstunting with the sounds of crickets for a few days before flipping to a wide-rangingclassic rock format, branded as "The Lake", and changed call letters to the current WLKK. The station maintained and exceeded the number of listeners that the station had during the peak of WNSA's run. WLKK indirectly took aim at theclassic rock market and sought to create a more laid-back, relaxed atmosphere. The playlist of WLKK contained a large portion of hit songs from the 1970s and 1980s (broad enough that the station boasted it never repeated a song throughout an entire 24-hour day), less focused on hard rock and metal than most classic rock stations, but also containing the occasional deep track. In this sense, the station's format wasadult album alternative. In addition, the station used a series of bumpers with flowing water, chirping birds, and a deep voice reading the station slogan.[15]
Disc jockeys, which included Hank Dole and Lorne Hunter, occasionally told the story behind the song (sometimes from CD liner notes). They also playedWNY musicians on a regular basis and offered a local music show on Monday nights, hosted by Robbie Takac, a local music promoter and member of TheGoo Goo Dolls, a band who hails from Buffalo.
After the 2011 format change, the "Lake" format continued on WLKK'sHD2digital subchannel, and without any jocks; all of WLKK's staff was laid off in the change.[16] "The Lake" also continued to maintain its Internet stream, without commercials. The Lake on HD2 was quietly dropped in 2020; a year later, the format would resurface on non-commercial stationWBFO-HD2.
In the eastern part of the listening area south of Rochester and in the WesternFinger Lakes,WCGR-FMCanandaigua, New York is branded as 'The Lake' with a similar soft classic rock format.
On April 4, 2011, Entercom announced that WLKK would become a completesimulcast ofsister stationWBEN (AM), effective at Midnight on April 5, 2011.[17] For the first year and a half of the simulcast, WLKK was the only station carryingRush Limbaugh live in theRochester metropolitan area (Rochester affiliateWHAM carried Limbaugh on a two-hour delay at the time, and WLKK's signal is listenable in many portions of the Rochester metropolitan area); WHAM responded to WLKK's switch to talk by moving its delayed broadcast of Limbaugh up an hour, then eventually to a live slot. Despite an initial announcement that WLKK would not carry theSabres Hockey Network,[16] WBEN later reversed that decision and announced that Sabres playoff games would be heard on WBEN and WLKK in addition to their flagship station,WGR.[18]
On September 25, 2013,Entercom announced that WLKK will drop the WBEN simulcast. This was due to the low audience on theFM; in fact, according to anArbitron study, 90% of WBEN's audience continued to listen on the AM side. At Noon the following day, following "Beach And Company", WLKK changed their format toalternative rock, branded as "Alternative Buffalo 107.7".[19] The first song on "Alternative Buffalo" was "Ho Hey" byThe Lumineers. This brings the format back to the market for the first time since 2005, whenWEDG shifted to a harder-edgedactive rock format. Since the format change, there has been an increase in the number of alternative acts that have played Buffalo venues.[20][21]
Beginning in 2014, the station began holding an annual alternative music concert series called Kerfuffle. The day-long event was held at Canalside in downtown Buffalo.
In May 2014,Family Life Ministries agreed to sell translator W284AP (on 104.7 FM) to Entercom Communications for $125,000. The translator rebroadcastWTSS-HD2, which switched to a simulcast of WLKK on May 11, 2015.[22][23]
On September 13, 2020, WLKK/W284AP quietly rebranded as "Alt 107.7/104.7", as part of a systemic "revamping" of Entercom's alternative rock stations.[24][25] As part of the change, Entercom let go of all local on-air personalities from WLKK (except for midday jock Brandi), and began simulcastingWNYL, Entercom's alternative station in New York City, for much of the day.[26]
At 5 p.m. on June 30, 2021, after playing "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" byGreen Day, WLKK/W284AP flipped tocountry, branded as "107.7 & 104.7 The Wolf", bringing the format back to the 107.7 FM frequency for the first time since the run as WNUC ended in 2000. As with the later months of the alternative format, the country format on WLKK is largely driven by the national business model of the former Entercom, which rebranded itself as Audacy earlier in the year; the stated reason for making the flip was that Audacy saw "an opportunity to add country" to the Buffalo cluster.[27] Liz Mantel, who had spent six of the previous eight years atWYRK, was the first local personality hired for the station, becoming the morning host in September 2021.[28] WLKK continued to carry an alternative-formatted "New Arrivals" format on its HD2 channel until February 2023, when Audacy began to phase out its HD Radio-exclusive subchannels (by which pointWBFO-HD2 andWEDG had both adopted alternative formats of their own).[29]
In October 2024, WLKK shifted to a more gold-focused country format, while maintaining "The Wolf" branding with the slogan "Buffalo's Real Country".
Signs of another format change emerged in late October 2025, when Audacy registered domain names tied to a potential revival of its "Star" hot adult contemporary format (at the time airing on WLKK-HD2, after having aired onthe former WTSS on FM 102.5 for over 20 years prior to Audacy selling that signal) and unveiled a "Star 107.7" logo on that format's still-active Web site and social media; the revelation was timed shortly before Star traditionally flipped to its highly successful all-Christmas format for the season.[30] Ultimately, this format flip never occurred and Star remained exclusive to HD2.
On February 3, 2026, concurrent with the announcement that theBuffalo Bills (and, eventually, theSabres as well) would leave their flagship stationWGR (also owned by Audacy) and affiliate withGood Karma Brands (a station group that has no owned-and-operated stations in Buffalo) for its radio broadcasts, multiple Buffalo news outlets began reporting that Audacy would soon begin simulcasting WGR on 107.7 and its translator on 104.7. Audacy had introduced FM simulcasts in a majority of major markets where it operated AM sports stations, most notably launching a simulcast onWSCR-FM inChicago just a day before.[31]
In February, Audacy applied to the FCC to have WLKK's call letters changed to WGR-FM effective February 19, 2026. It would be the second such station to hold the call signs, asWGRF had previously held them from 1959 to 1973.[32]
In June 2023, as part of Audacy's continuing financial downsizing, Audacy moved itshot adult contemporary station, Star 102.5, to a reactivated HD2 channel on WLKK after the 102.5 license was sold toK-Love asWBKV. The maneuver was an effort to retain the intellectual properties of the station after the sale, as a countermeasure against rival broadcasterTownsquare Media acquiring theWTSS call sign that had been on 102.5 and branding the station then known as WMSX (a longstanding rival of Star's) as "The New Star 96.1." Townsquare's WTSS dropped the "Star" brand in October after discussions with Audacy;The Buffalo News media critic Alan Pergament raised the possibility that Star 102.5 would revive itsChristmas music format on WLKK-HD2 in November.[33] WLKK-HD2 flipped to Christmas music as usual on November 1, matching 96.1's flip. In April 2024, Audacy indicated plans to continue operating the digital-only "Star 102.5" when it included the channel among a suite that would begin using Super Hi-Fi AI-powered automation.[34]
On October 10, 2024, WLKK-HD2 became the first station in North America to flip to Christmas music that was not doing so as part of astunt, issuing its first social media statements since the station left analog FM.[35] It was again first in 2025, doing so on the morning of October 18.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W284AP | 104.7FM | Buffalo, New York | 9254 | 250 | D | LMS |
| ByAM frequency | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ByFM frequency |
| ||
| NOAA Weather Radio frequency | |||
| Digital radio by frequency & subchannel | |||
| Bycall sign | |||
| Defunct | |||
| |||
