Early years On September 1, 1947, the station first
signed on as WLAG-FM. Its
city of license was
LaGrange, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta and near the
Alabama border. It was the FM counterpart to
WLAG 1240 AM, owned by the LaGrange Broadcasting Company. Both stations
simulcast a
country music format. WLAG-FM's power was 29,500 watts and the antenna height was , so it was not heard in the Atlanta area. The station changed its
call sign to WWCG in 1977 and continued with a country format. In the early 1980s, the station got a big boost in power. It increased to 100,000 watts, using a tower taller than the
Empire State Building, giving it coverage of much of the Atlanta
radio market. It began broadcasting Al Ham's
syndicated "
Music Of Your Life"
adult standards format with call signs WJYF and WJYA-FM, a simulcast partner with
WJYA (1080 AM). In 1985, it was acquired by Zapis Communications, headed by Lee Zapis. In 1987, he switched the format to
urban contemporary as WEKS, "Urban Kiss 104." Zapis then sold the station to NewCity Communications in 1989. NewCity had a plan to pair two different FM stations surrounding Atlanta to create one facility covering the market. To bring attention to the change, on June 21, WEKS went
silent. The station signed back on the air on June 28, and began
stunting with music played by local celebrities, including then-Atlanta mayor
Andrew Young. Finally, at 3 p.m. on June 30, WEKS switched back to
country music as WYAI ("Y104"), simulcasting with
WYAY FM (Y106.7) on the other side of Atlanta. The two stations began competing with long-time Atlanta country leader
WKHX. On January 1, 1994, the simulcast ended, with 104.1 flipping to a
smooth jazz format as "Jazz Flavors 104.1". In addition, the station changed calls to WJZF to match the new branding.
Cox Enterprises, owner of
WSB,
WSB-FM,
WSB-TV and two newspapers, entered into a
local marketing agreement (LMA) with WJZF.
WALR "Kiss 104" The station that would later migrate to this frequency began in 1964 in
Athens, Georgia as WDOL-FM at 104.7 MHz. At first it simulcast its AM sister station, 1370 WDOL. It later began airing separate programming, first as "Love 104," then as
"Kiss 104.7", an urban contemporary station. (This new "Kiss" on 104.7 was a resurrection of the previous incarnation from WEKS mentioned above, although it only covered the eastern suburbs of the Atlanta market, from its Athens tower.) On August 30, 2000, Cox and
Salem Communications swapped frequencies. "Kiss 104.7" migrated to the 104.1 frequency, previously a
Christian Contemporary music station known as "The Fish." The former WALR-FM at 104.7 became "104.7 the Fish"
WFSH-FM and the 104.1 frequency became
Hot Urban AC, "Kiss 104.1," taking the WALR-FM call sign. The smooth jazz format was picked up the following year by WJZZ (now
WAMJ). Also, the AM simulcast on what is now
WIFN ceased shortly after the switch although it continued to carry the WALR call sign under a changed format for some time. In Atlanta, the rights to the "
Kiss FM" brand had been grandfathered; thus
Clear Channel Communications (later iHeart), which trademarked the brand for its
Top 40 stations, heard in many U.S. cities such as Los Angeles and
Boston, did not attempt to take legal action against Cox.
Switch to urban oldies On February 21, 2003, WALR-FM switched to
Urban Oldies, while retaining the "Kiss" branding. Cox wanted to draw a distinction between "Kiss" and co-owned
WFOX (97.1 FM). At the time, WFOX experimented with a format consisting of
R&B,
hip hop and
rap music from the 1980s to present. With the format shift, WALR-FM's longtime slogan changed from ''Atlanta's R&B Station
to Atlanta's Old School R&B Station''. In late 2004, WALR switched to a new tower, closer to Atlanta. It also began broadcasting in
IBOC digital radio, using the
HD Radio system from
iBiquity. WALR-FM became the last Atlanta station owned by Cox Radio targeting the African-American audience. On August 16, 2010, co-owned WBTS flipped from
rhythmic contemporary to
WSBB-FM, a
news-talk simulcast of
WSB. Previously, co-owned WFOX had played
urban contemporary music as "97.1 Jamz" until
2006, when it flipped to
classic hits and
classic rock as
WSRV "The River."
Return to urban AC In June
2011, WALR-FM shifted back to urban AC; the station added more
contemporary R&B music and dropped some of the older titles, after spending eight years as a classic and gold-based R&B and
soul music format. This helped WALR-FM increase its listeners, especially against longtime
CBS-owned
WVEE and direct format rival
WAMJ/
WUMJ. WALR-FM's logo and slogan were modified as well from ''Atlanta's Old School R&B Station
to Atlanta's R&B''; in addition, the station's branding was shortened to simply
Kiss 104, omitting the ".1". At the same time, WALR-FM dropped all weekend mix shows, and expanded its nighttime slow jams show. As of February
2012, the station has not been listed on the
Mediabase urban AC add board. In 2017, WALR-FM changed its
city of license from LaGrange to
Palmetto, Georgia, a suburban community about 15 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta. WALR-FM had been the longtime Atlanta
affiliate for "The
Tom Joyner Morning Show" and also carried the
syndicated "
Michael Baisden Show" in afternoons. The morning
drive time show was replaced with Art Terrell and comedian
Roy Wood Jr. on November 27, 2017. Wood decided to concentrate on his TV appearances and was replaced by Cory "Zooman" Miller. Baisden's show was replaced by Sasha the Diva, who in turn was replaced by British rapper
Monie Love in afternoons. ==References==