WKLI-FM

WKLI-FM (100.9 FM, "100.9 The Cat") is a country music station, licensed to Albany, New York and serving the Capital District of New York. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a location near the boundary of Colonie and Schenectady adjacent to the station's former studios (which are now vacant as of November 2010).

WKLI-FM
CityAlbany, New York
Broadcast areaCapital District
Frequency100.9 MHz
Branding100.9 The Cat
Slogan#1 For New Country
Programming
FormatCountry
Ownership
OwnerPamal Broadcasting
(6 Johnson Road Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stationsWAJZ, WFLY, WROW, WYJB, WINU
History
First air date1972 (as WWOM)
Former call signsWWOM (1972–1981)
WWOM-FM (1981–1986)
WKLI (1986–1999)
WCPT (1999–2002)
Call sign meaningW K-LIte (former name for the station)
Technical information
Facility ID4682
ClassA
ERP6,000 watts
HAAT91 meters
Transmitter coordinates42°43′54.00″N 73°52′56.00″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.1009thecat.com

History

The 100.9 frequency signed on in 1972 as WWOM (Wonderful World of Music), an easy listening station going against up WROW-FM and WHRL. With two somewhat established rivals, the station quickly left the format and went through a variation of formats, including several variants of adult contemporary (mid-1970s and again starting in 1980), soft rock (1977–78), and then album-oriented rock, briefly in late 1978/early 1979, identifying itself as "WWOM-Albany NY's Best Rock" in its legal ID, putting it into direct competition with WQBK-FM. The station then abruptly flipped to disco early in the spring of 1979, and then to Soft 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 to WABY (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 adult contemporary music, the station quickly became a success and spent several years in the Top 5 stations (12+) in the market with many 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 to WYJB in early 1994, WKLI's ratings underwent a decline as listeners flocked to the far stronger signal of WYJB.

On January 12, 1996, WKBE 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 in Warrensburg, New York joined together and flipped to a Top 40/CHR genre as "K-100" at 3 p.m. on March 18.[1] With the flip, the station became one of the charter affiliates of the syndication attempt of the Scott and Todd show from WPLJ in New York City which the station played as a homecoming of sorts for Todd Pettengill (an alum of rival WFLY). Though K-100 stayed competitive with WFLY and WRVE, 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.[2]

In February 1999, Paul Bendat sold his stations to Tele-Media, Inc., which relaunched the "K-100" format three months later as modern 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 (now WYKV). 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 which remains to this day, WCPT became adult 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. As Magic, 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 station WROW, with WKLI-FM adopting a new format after a brief simulcast period.[3][4] After two weeks of simulcasting WROW, and a brief stunt with Christmas music and country, the station flipped to a variety hits format as 100.9 The Bridge on February 24, 2010, with "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers being the first (and final) song of the format.[5] However, the variety hits format failed to compete with dominant WRVE and would also take ratings away from sister WYJB, and the station saw its lowest ratings in over a decade. After 18 months under the Bridge format, WKLI-FM would return to a rock format for the first time since 1979 with a flip to active rock at noon on September 2, 2011 with "Wicked Garden" by Stone Temple Pilots being the first song played, putting the station in competition with WQBK-FM once again and, to a lesser extent, WPYX.[6] By late 2013, the station had gone for more of a classic rock format in order to compete with dominant classic rock station WPYX.

At Noon on October 10, 2013, WKLI changed their format to country, branded as "The Cat", simulcasting sister station WZMR 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".[7]

In 2018, with the demise of sister station WINU's sports format, 100.9 The Cat and sister station WROW 590 added play-by-play of the New York Mets and New 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 to Mets radio network realignments). The Patriots also left WKLI after the 2018 season, leaving the Albany metro area without Patriots radio broadcasts.

Former logos
  • 100.9 The Bridge
  • Rock 100.9
gollark: Rotate at 2π radHz.
gollark: Maybe everyone knows wrong.
gollark: Because ngircd logs are apioid.
gollark: It would be annoying to thing.
gollark: Okay, I don't care enough to.

References
  1. http://formatchange.com/1009-wkli1003-wkbe-become-k100/
  2. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1998/RR-1998-10-02.pdf
  3. Kim, Michelle (February 8, 2010). "Albany Broadcasting to ditch WROW news talk program". WRGB CBS 6 Albany. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  4. Churchill, Chris (February 8, 2010). "WROW abandons talk radio programming". Albany Times Union. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  5. "Albany Broadcast to offer adult hits format". The Business Review. American City Business Journals. February 24, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  6. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/netgnomes/53240/the-bridge-to-rock-in-albany/
  7. http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/85351/104-9-the-cat-albany-on-the-move/
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