In December 1990, the AM station branched off from its FM sister. WAYL's call letters and format remained on 980 AM, before completely giving up on beautiful music and switching to a simulcast of the FM station. In 1987, WAYL-FM finally dropped easy listening and switched to classic hits as KLXK. While it had long been a strong ratings draw across the country, advertisers began to shun the older demographics of its listeners.
By this time, the two stations were owned by a larger company, Entertainment Communications, later known as Entercom.Īs the mid-1980s approached, the easy listening format was fading rapidly in popularity. The AM station's somewhat eclectic format was unsuccessful and it returned to simulcasting WAYL by 1984. WAYL (whose mascot was a whale) simulcast easy listening music on both 93.7 FM and 980 AM until 1982, when they briefly switched the AM station to lite rock, first as KKSS, and then to adult standards as KMFY. The following Monday, 980 AM came back on the air as WAYL. U100 signed off for the last time at midnight on Wednesday, September 15, 1976. Doubleday Broadcasting, owner of KDWB, wasn't actively seeking an FM station at the time but offered to buy 101.3 FM in February 1976 after they were offered a rather generous deal for $750,000 that included WYOO-FM and the building in Eagan that housed both stations. Since one company could not own more than one AM or more than one FM station in the same market at the time, they needed to find a buyer for the FM station, and sought out the owners of various AM stations in the area. The owner of easy listening ( beautiful music) station WAYL was interested in the AM operation, to simulcast WAYL's signal and expand coverage in parts of the metro area. In early 1976, Fairchild Industries decided to put both stations on the market. As an added advantage, U100 was the first Twin Cities top 40 station to broadcast on the FM dial in stereo (in addition to 980 AM). Competition was fierce in rock 40 radio at the time, and compared to U100, WDGY, KDWB and KSTP seemed a bit tame in their on-air presentation. The new U100 quickly became the topic of conversation throughout the area with its rowdy, outrageous mix of Top 40 and hard rock.ĭuring the next two years, U100 quickly became the most talked-about radio station in town. The changeover occurred on Augduring a remote broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair. The dial position was promoted similarly by WPBC, as "near 10 or 100 on AM or FM". Management reasoned that back then, all radios were analog, and it seemed like the only number shown on that part of the dial was a big "100", so it was close enough to 980 and 101.3, close enough to "100" as far as they were concerned. The AM broadcast at 980, and the FM at 101.3. After being rebuffed in their planned use of "Y100" as the station's moniker, the new station was christened "U100." An interesting note was the placement on the dial. They kept the WYOO call letters, to avoid the hassle and long process of changing call letters with the FCC.
The decision was made to change to a Top 40/ hard rock format, in contrast to what they saw as the rigid, bland presentation of other similar stations in town.
The general manager and program director, both hired from established Top 40 station KDWB, felt a major change needed to be made. Fairchild contemplated selling the station. When the oldies format of WYOO started to slide in the ratings, more MOR music was added, but ratings slid even further.
A few days later, WPBC-FM became WRAH and programmed an automated album oriented rock format. On November 3, 1972, the AM station was relaunched as WYOO, picking up an oldies format (with rock and roll included). Fairchild subsequently dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. The Stewarts sold the station in 1972 to Fairchild Industries for $1.5 million.
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The station in the early years played a variety of middle of the road pop music and standards, and was even considered an innovator in the concept of singing jingles.Īs they were limited by their then-daytime only license at 980 AM, they started up WPBC-FM at 101.3 MHz in August 1959, simulcasting the AM station. In contrast to WCCO and KSTP, WPBC carried no network programming, and were live and local all day. The station was owned by the People's Broadcasting Company, founded by former WCCO announcer Bill Stewart and his wife Becky Ann. After two years of wrangling and obtaining start-up funds, WPBC officially signed on the air on October 18, 1949.