 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Capital District |
| Frequency | 100.9MHz |
| Branding | 100.9/107.1 The Cat |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WAJZ,WFLY,WINU,WROW,WYJB | |
| History | |
First air date | 1972 (as WWOM) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "K-Lite" (former format) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 4682 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 6,000 watts |
| HAAT | 91 meters (299 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°43′55.1″N73°52′55.1″W / 42.731972°N 73.881972°W /42.731972; -73.881972 |
| Repeater | 107.1 WKBE (Corinth) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WKLI-FM (100.9MHz, "100.9/107.1 The Cat") is acommercial radio station,licensed toAlbany, New York, and serving theCapital District, includingSchenectady andTroy. The station is owned byPamal Broadcasting and broadcasts acountry musicradio format. Its programming is simulcast onWKBE (107.1 FM) inCorinth.
WKLI-FM has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 6,000 watts. Itstransmitter is off Kings Road near theNew York State Thruway inGuilderland near the boundary ofColonie andSchenectady, adjacent to the station's former radio studios.[2] WKLI-FM now has its studios and offices in the Pamal Broadcasting facility on Johnson Road inLatham near Crossroads Plaza.[3]
The 100.9 frequency signed on in 1972 as WWOM (Wonderful World of Music), aneasy listening station going against up establishedbeautiful music outlets 95.5WROW-FM and 103.1WHRL. Unable to make headway, the station quickly gave up easy listening and went through a variation of formats, including several variants ofadult contemporary (mid-1970s and again starting in 1980),soft rock (1977–78), and thenalbum-oriented rock. Briefly in late 1978/early 1979, it identified itself as "WWOM-Albany NY's Best Rock" in its legal ID, putting it into direct competition with 103.9WQBK-FM.
With thedisco craze catching on, the station abruptly flipped todisco music early in the spring of 1979, and then tosoft AC in the summer of 1980. During this period, the station struggled in both ratings and revenue.
In 1984, local businessman William Sellwood bought WWOM as a companion toWABY (then on 1400 AM). Two years later, Sellwood relaunched the station as "K-Lite 101" with the WKLI calls coming into use. With no FM competition for mainstream adult contemporary music, the station quickly became a success and spent several years in the Top 5 stations (12+) in the market with severalArbitron ratings books as the No. 1 in some demographics and time periods, a rarity for a lower powered signal in the Albany market. In 1990, Paul Bendat purchased the station. After WROW-FM flipped toWYJB in early 1994, WKLI's ratings underwent a decline as listeners flocked to the far stronger signal of WYJB for adult contemporary music.
On January 12, 1996,WKBE (100.3 FM) joined WKLI in a simulcast of "K-Lite" (without the '101' brand); however, the format ended just over two months later when WKLI and WKBE flipped to aTop 40/CHR format as "K-100" at 3 p.m. on March 18.[4] With the flip, the station became one of the charter affiliates of the syndication attempt of theScott & Todd morning show fromWPLJ in New York City, which the station played as a homecoming of sorts forTodd Pettengill (an alum of rivalWFLY). ThoughK-100 stayed competitive with WFLY andWRVE, changes in the format and the end of syndication of Scott & Todd in October 1998 marked a quick decline for the station which, by the end of 1998, was seeing ratings not seen in 3 decades.[5]
In February 1999, Paul Bendat sold his stations to Tele-Media, Inc., which relaunched the "K-100" format three months later asmodern adult contemporary "The Point" gaining the new calls of WCPT; the WKLI calls and the old "K-Lite" name moved down to 94.5 FM (nowWYKV). The station struggled to find an audience over the next two years amid staff and management changes as well as corporate problems on Tele-Media's end. Tele-Media sold WCPT and WKBE to Pamal Broadcasting in August 2001 with the sale closing in late October. While WKBE kept a modified version of the "Point" format, WCPT becameadult standards/soft adult contemporary under the "Magic" name with the WKLI calls returning soon thereafter. Under this format, the station was always one of the top rated stations in the Albany market. AsMagic, the station would play Christmas music from mid-November to Christmas Day each year (starting in 2005 and until 2009, the last Christmas season under the format).
Pamal announced on February 8, 2010, that "Magic" would move to sister stationWROW, with WKLI-FM adopting a new format after a brief simulcast period.[6][7] After two weeks of simulcasting WROW, and a brief stunt withChristmas music andcountry, the station flipped to avariety hits format as100.9 The Bridge on February 24, 2010, with "Under the Bridge" byRed Hot Chili Peppers being the first (and final) song of the format.[8] However, the variety hits format failed to compete with dominantWRVE and would also take ratings away from sister WYJB, and the station saw its lowest ratings in over a decade. After 18 months under theBridge format, WKLI-FM would return to a rock format for the first time since 1979 with a flip toactive rock at noon on September 2, 2011, with "Wicked Garden" byStone Temple Pilots being the first song played, putting the station in competition with WQBK-FM once again and, to a lesser extent,WPYX.[9] By late 2013, the station had gone for more of aclassic rock format in order to compete with dominant classic rock station WPYX.
At Noon on October 10, 2013, WKLI changed their format tocountry, branded as "The Cat", simulcasting sister stationWZMR until December 13, when WZMR began stunting with sound effects of a man hiking until Midnight on December 14, 2013, when it flipped to AAA as "104.9 the Peak".[10]
In 2018, with the demise of sister stationWINU's sports format, WKLI-FM and sister station WROW added play-by-play of theNew York Mets andNew England Patriots. WKLI played Patriots games during conflicts with Mets baseball on WROW (which were slated to move to WKLI only starting 2019, however this did not take place due toMets radio network realignments). The Patriots also left WKLI after the 2018 season, leaving the Albany metro area without Patriots radio broadcasts.
On March 21, 2023, WKLI's Saratoga area sister stationWKBE flipped to a simulcast of The Cat, as "100.9/107.1 The Cat".[11]