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WlolWLOL (1330 AM) is a radio station in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. Today it is part of the Relevant Radio Christian network, but the station is historically one of the area's legendary broadcasters. It was a popular station from the 1950s until the original WLOL's lineage ended when it was sold in 1991. Since then, the name has been resurrected several times by a number of different broadcasters. The call sign returned to the original 1330 AM frequency in 2004 (this time, however, it supposedly stands for "Lady of Lourdes," reflecting Relevant Radio's Catholic mission). WLOL's history is intertwined with many other area stations. WLOL signed on in 1939 and was a part of the Mutual Broadcasting System, a fourth national radio network in the United States in the golden days of radio. An FM broadcast began at 101.3 MHz seven years later, lasting until about 1954. However, WLOL purchased WMIN-FM two years later, which had been broadcasting at 99.5 MHz since 1945. The old 101.3 frequency eventually found its way to becoming KDWB. The AM station was purchased in 1980 by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), while WLOL-FM was sold off to another company and soon transitioned to a pop music format. The purchase of the AM station was a fallback for MPR, who had tried to buy KBEM 88.5 a year earlier to allow a split into two separate talk and classical music networks. 1330 became known as KSJN to correspond with the 91.1 FM signal the organization had at the time. In 1989, it became known as KNOW, a call sign previously used by the University of Texas at Austin for 50 years. WLOL-FM kept its call sign as it was sold off, and found another owner when it was purchased by Emmis Broadcasting in 1983. The station remained popular until Emmis went through a period where several stations were sold in the early 1990s. In 1991, 99.5 was also purchased by MPR and became the flagship of the organization's classical music network, drawing howls from pop music fans. The MPR call signs were shuffled, causing 91.1 FM to become KNOW and 99.5 FM to become KSJN (KNOW is now at 91.1 FM). With two FM frequencies in the Twin Cities, MPR pondered other uses for 1330 AM. It eventually became the for-profit station WMNN in 1995, and was the flagship of the Minnesota News Network. The profits of this station were fed back to MPR, to help stabilize funding by donations from the public. WMNN was sold off in 2004 to Starboard Media, who turned it into a Relevant Radio station and soon restored the original WLOL call sign. Between 1991 and 2004, the WLOL name was used by several other stations, including 1470 (now KLBP), 100.3 (KJZI), and 105.5/105.3 (WGVY). External links References - Retrieved from Glen Hauser's Shortwave/DX Report, January 29, 2004 on January 18, 2005
- (January 23, 2004). Minnesota Public Radio selling some operations. Associated Press.
- Nicole Garrison-Sprenger and Benno Groeneveld (January 19, 2004). MPR sells WMNN, Minnesota News Network for $10 milion; Donor is disappointed. The Business Journal (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
- (January 24, 2004). Starboard does big: Buys major Twin Cities AM station from Minnesota Public Radio for $7 million.
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