WWLK-FM

WWLK-FM (101.5 FM) is an American licensed radio station with studios located in Bow, New Hampshire. The station is owned by Dirk Nadon, through licensee Lakes Media, LLC. WWLK-FM is licensed to serve the community of Meredith, New Hampshire, and has coverage of central New Hampshire, particularly the Lakes Region area. WWLK-FM broadcasts a soft adult contemporary format.

WWLK-FM
CityMeredith, New Hampshire
Broadcast areaCentral New Hampshire
Frequency101.5 MHz
BrandingLakes 101.5
SloganRelax
Programming
FormatSoft adult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerDirk Nadon
(Lakes Media, LLC)
WLKZ
History
First air date
November 16, 1988 (1988-11-16)[1]
Former call signs
WMRQ (1988–1990)
WWSS (1990–1994)
WBHG (1994–2005)
WWHQ (2005–2012)
WZEI (2012–2020)
Call sign meaning
LaKes
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID73216
ClassA
ERP6,000 watts
HAAT100 meters (330 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
43.596°N 71.498°W / 43.596; -71.498 (WWLK-FM)
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.lakes1015.com

History
Logos as WZEI

The station signed on November 16, 1988, owned by Latchkey Broadcasting and airing an adult album-oriented rock format under the WMRQ call sign.[2] The station was founded by Dirk Nadon and his stepfather Bill Forbes; in a 2018 interview with The Laconia Daily Sun, Nadon recalled that, "At the time, it was the only rock station north of Manchester," with that city's WGIR-FM being the nearest rock station and most Lakes Region stations programming adult contemporary formats.[3] In May 1990, WMRQ itself moved to an adult contemporary format as "Sunny 101.5";[4] it changed its call sign to WWSS on May 1.[5]

The death of Bill Forbes and the economic impact of a banking crisis eventually forced Nadon to sell the station.[3] In 1992, under a local marketing agreement, WWSS came under common management with WLNH AM-FM in Laconia;[6] in 1994, Latchkey sold the station to WLNH's owner, Sconnix Broadcasting, for $80,000.[7] WWSS had been slated to be acquired by Gary W. Hammond in a $185,000 deal a year earlier;[8] Hammond ultimately purchased WLNH (AM) from Sconnix.[9] Ahead of the sale, WWSS temporarily went silent in January 1994;[10] on February 28, it changed its call sign to WBHG[5] in connection to its relaunch as classic rock station "Big 101.5".[11]

Sconnix sold its Lakes Region stations — WBHG, WLNH-FM, and WEMJ (1490 AM) — to Nassau Broadcasting Partners for $5 million in 2004; the three stations were the last to be held by Sconnix.[12] On February 4, 2005, Nassau relaunched the station as WWHQ,[5] "101.5 the Hawk"; under the new identity, the station was operated jointly with WOTX-FM (102.3) in Concord,[13] which soon became WWHK.[14] In March 2008, WWHQ shifted from classic rock to a more mainstream rock format. WWHQ's simulcast with WWHK ended on August 22, 2008, after Nassau Broadcasting Partners was forced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to end its joint sales agreement with WWHK owner Capitol Broadcasting.[15]

On April 27, 2009, it was announced that WWHQ and WNNH (99.1 FM) in Henniker would be spun off into a divestiture trust and sold as part of a debt-for-equity restructuring of Nassau Broadcasting in which Goldman Sachs became 85% owner of the company. The new ownership structure ended Nassau's grandfathered status with respect to how many stations in the Concord (Lakes Region) NH market it could own. On November 4, 2009, WWHQ began stunting while its "Hawk"-branded classic rock format moved to WLKZ (104.9 FM) in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The station went silent on March 1, 2010 due to power failure; at that time, it did not intend to return until the completion of the transfer of ownership.[16] However in February 2011, WWHQ resumed broadcasting as a simulcast of Nassau's WBACH network of classical music stations in Maine.

WWHQ and 29 other Nassau stations in northern New England were purchased at bankruptcy auction by Carlisle Capital Corporation, a company controlled by Bill Binnie (owner of WBIN-TV in Derry and WYCN-LP in Nashua), on May 22, 2012. The station, and 12 of the other stations, was then acquired by Vertical Capital Partners, controlled by Jeff Shapiro.[17][18] The sale of WWHQ and the other 12 stations was consummated on November 30, 2012, at a purchase price of $4.4 million. After a brief silent period, the station returned to the air with a simulcast of new sister station WTPL (107.7 FM).

On December 24, 2012, the station changed its call sign to WZEI;[5] on January 4, 2013, the station switched to a sports talk format provided by the WEEI Sports Radio Network.[19] As WWHQ, the station had previously planned to join the network in January 2008,[20] but the deal between Nassau and Entercom ended up collapsing.[21] The Vertical Capital Partners stations were transferred to Shapiro's existing Great Eastern Radio group on January 1, 2013.[22][23]

Effective August 1, 2017, Great Eastern Radio sold WZEI, WLKZ, and WTPL to Dirk Nadon's Lakes Media, LLC for $2.6 million.[24] Nadon had long sought to reacquire the station; in the interim, for a time he was program director of Boston station WCGY, a forerunner to WEEI-FM,[3] and later served as the vice president of engineering for Binnie Media.[24] On July 1, 2020, WZEI replaced WEEI's programming with a soft adult contemporary format, branded "Lakes 101.5"; the call sign was changed to WWLK-FM.[25]

References
  1. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-281. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  2. The Broadcasting Yearbook 1990 (PDF). 1990. p. B-198. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  3. Drapcho, Adam. "101.5 FM marks 30 years of broadcasting". The Laconia Daily Sun. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  4. "Radio station alters call letters, format". Boston Sunday Globe. May 20, 1990. p. NH17. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  5. "Call Sign History (WWLK-FM)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  6. "Format Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. February 3, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  7. "Pyramid Raises Philly Stakes With $20 Million WJJZ Duopoly Deal" (PDF). Radio & Records. February 14, 1994. pp. 6–7. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  8. "Viacom Scores L.A. Duopoly With $40 Million Buy From WW1" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 8, 1993. pp. 6–8. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  9. "Jacor Doubles At Home With $9.5 Million For WIMJ/Cincinnati" (PDF). Radio & Records. March 25, 1994. pp. 6–10. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  10. "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). The M Street Journal. January 26, 1994. p. 2. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  11. "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). The M Street Journal. March 16, 1994. p. 2. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  12. Fybush, Scott (January 26, 2004). "Nassau Grows Again in New Hampshire". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  13. Fybush, Scott (February 7, 2005). "Qantum Buys the Cape; Cherry Creek Buys the East End; WSMN Goes Dark". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  14. Fybush, Scott (February 28, 2005). "Remembering Bruds (and Y100, too)". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  15. "FCC Denies Waiver Bid, Rules Nassau Must End JSA". Radio Ink. 2008-08-12. Archived from the original on 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  16. "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 4, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
  17. "Carlisle Capital Corp. Wins Bidding For Rest Of Nassau Stations". All Access. May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  18. Venta, Lance (May 22, 2012). "Nassau Broadcasting Auction Results". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 24, 2012. (updated May 23, 2012)
  19. "WEEI adds new affiliate to the largest sports radio network in New England" (Press release). Entercom Communications. January 3, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  20. "Nassau Broadcasting Brings A Championship To New Hampshire" (Press release). Nassau Broadcasting Partners. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  21. "Entercom-Nassau Deal Falls Through". Radio Ink. 2008-01-04. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  22. "APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGN BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE OR TO TRANSFER CONTROL OF ENTITY HOLDING BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE". CDBS Public Access. U.S. Federal Communications Commission. December 11, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  23. "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 4, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  24. Venta, Lance (May 15, 2017). "Great Eastern Radio Sells New Hampshire Trio". RadioInsight. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  25. Venta, Lance (July 2, 2020). "Soft AC Debuts In New Hampshire's Lakes Region". RadioInsight. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
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