WLLR-FM

WLLR-FM is a radio station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, United States, whose format is modern country music. The station's frequency is 103.7 MHz and it broadcasts at a power of 100 kW.

For the East Moline, Illinois radio station which previously used the WLLR-FM callsign from 1983 to 1998, see KUUL.
WLLR-FM
CityDavenport, Iowa
Broadcast areaQuad Cities
Branding103.7 WLLR
SloganThe Quad Cities #1 Country!
Frequency103.7 MHz (HD Radio)
103.7-2 FM Alternative rock "ALT 104.5"
Translator(s)104.5 K283BV (Davenport, relays HD2)
First air date1948 (as WOC-FM)
FormatCountry
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT363 meters
ClassC0
Facility ID60361
Former call signsWOC-FM (1948-1972)
KIIK (1972-1989)
KUUL (1989-1998)
AffiliationsAfter Midnite with Blair Garner, American Country Countdown, Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, CMT Country Countdown USA
OwneriHeartMedia, Inc.
(Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stationsKCQQ, KMXG, KUUL, WFXN, WOC, KWQC-TV
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Website1037wllr.iheart.com
alt1045.iheart.com (HD2)

WLLR (commonly known as "#1 Country") is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios located in Davenport. Other stations located in the same complex are KMXG, KUUL-FM, KCQQ-FM, WFXN and WOC.

History of 103.7 MHz

The Davenport allocation for 103.7 FM – representing the second FM station in the Quad Cities – dates to October 1948, when the station signed on as WOC-FM, a companion to its AM sister station, WOC (1420 AM). The station was owned by the Palmer family, a well-known Quad Cities family that started the Palmer College of Chiropractic.

As with most FM radio stations in the 1950s and 1960s, WOC-FM played mostly easy listening and classical music.

The frequency's first major format change came in February 1972, when WOC-FM became the Quad-Cities market's first full-time FM rock station. Adopting a Top 40/CHR format, the station's call letters changed to KIIK, and was known to fans as "KIIK 104." KIIK quickly became very popular with Quad Cities-area listeners, and soon became the market's top-rated station.

By the late 1980s, with new competitor station WPXR-FM ("Power 98.9") having taken over the CHR/Top 40 gauntlet, KIIK changed to a rock oldies station. As KUUL-FM, the station played music from the 1950s through early 1970s; the first song under the new format was "Nobody but Me" by The Human Beinz. The format change became effective in May 1989, and fans soon identified the "KUUL Red Radio" (a jumbo-sized boombox replica) with the station at its live remote broadcast sites.

The most recent change to the station came in March 1998, when KUUL and WLLR (which had used a country format at 101.3 FM since 1983) swapped frequencies. KUUL's 50s and 60s format moved to 101.3 FM, while WLLR's country format took over 103.7 FM.

In December 1985, WLLR briefly gained national attention when a disc jockey played the Christmas song "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" 27 times back-to-back during the morning show. Station management was eventually able to pull the jockey off the air and suspended him. The disc jockey was reportedly depressed and upset that a co-worker had left employment at the station for an out-of-state job. [1]

Some of WLLR's best-known personalities include: Mike Kenneally, Ron Evans, Jack Carey, Andy Scott, Jack Daniels, Amy Jeffries, Pat Leuck, Dani Lynn Howe, Tim Carlson, JD Justice and Jim O'Hara.

WLLR's stage at the Mississippi Valley Fair was featured in the Music Video for "Don't Ya Just Wanna Rock and Roll" by Rodney Atkins.

In November 2013, WLLR won the CMA award for 'Small Market Station of the Year'.

Since 1989, WLLR has remained the top-rated station in the Quad Cities, maintaining audience 12+ shares between 10 and 20 for the past 20 years.

103.7 HD2

On January 1, 2014, WLLR discontinued its Classic Country on the HD2 and began broadcasting a classic rock format.

On August 21, 2015, at 1:04 p.m., WLLR-HD2 switched to an alternative rock format, branded as "ALT 104.5" (also broadcast on FM translator K283BV 104.5 FM Davenport).[2][3]

References
  1. United Press International, "Dj`s Record Effort Pulls Him Off Air," Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1985. Accessed 12-23-2017.
  2. Alt 104.5 Debuts in Quad Cities
  3. http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?realid=103 HD Radio Guide for Quad Cities, Iowa & Illinois

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