WLND


WLND is a radio station serving the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. The station is owned by Entercom and is licensed to serve Signal Mountain, Tennessee, United States.

History

This station first went on the air in 1990 at 97.3 FM with the call letters WKXJ. The station played a Rhythmic Contemporary format and was branded as "97 Kicks". By 1997, "Kicks FM" was adult contemporary and simulcasting on 103.1 FM. In 1998, Cumulus Media began operating WKXJ under a local marketing agreement, later completing the $3 million purchase from Marston Broadcasting in 1999. WZST "Star 98", a Top 40 Mainstream station at 98.1 FM, took the WKXJ letters and relaunched as "98.1 KISS-FM". The 97.3 frequency switched to rhythmic oldies as WLOV-FM. WKXJ did well during its six and a half years as KISS-FM.
In 2000, Cumulus announced it would buy 11 radio stations in 4 markets from iHeartMedia in exchange for 25 radio stations in 5 markets plus cash as a part of that company's merger with AMFM Incorporated.
On June 13, 2007 at 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time WKXJ flipped to a classic country-formatted station, which moved from WNGA following a sale of that station to 3 Daughters Media. Shortly after the change, the station changed call letters to WLND to match the "Legend" branding.
On November 17, 2008, the format switched to Christmas music. There was word that there might be a format change after that ended, but the station returned to its classic country format after the holiday format concluded. On September 4, 2009, WLND's former Top 40 format and "KISS-FM" branding returned to the Chattanooga airwaves, this time at sister station WURV.
On November 1, 2009, the format again switched to Christmas music as "Chattanooga's Christmas Station". At around 11:45 P.M. on December 25, 2009, after playing "Happy Xmas " by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the station switched to a hot AC format, with the branding "Your Life, Your Music, 98.1 LND". The first song on LND was "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses.
On September 2, 2010, WLND rebranded as "My 98.1".
On September 2, 2011, at Noon, WLND relaunched as adult hits "98.1 The Lake".
On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia announced that WLND, along with all of their sister stations in Chattanooga and Richmond, will be sold to Entercom due to that company's merger with CBS Radio. The sale was completed on December 19, 2017.