WYLK

Infobox Radio Station
name = WYLK


area = New Orleans
branding = "Lake 94.7"
slogan = "Are You LAKING It?"
airdate = 1990s
frequency = 94.7 (MHz)
format = Hot Adult Contemporary
erp = 5,400 watts
class = A
owner = Northshore Broadcasting
website =
callsign_meaning = W Y LaKe, referencing Lake Ponchartrain

WYLK, also known as Lake 94.7, is a Hot Adult Contemporary radio station serving the St. Tammany Parish area. Owned by former Mississippi congressman C. Wayne Dowdy under the company name Northshore Broadcasting, the station is licensed to Lacombe, Louisiana, and broadcasts at 94.7 MHz with an ERP of 5.4 kW.

History

94.7 first came on the air in 1996, and the format was country. The station simulcast with 104.7 out of Folsom, as a country combo known as "94.7/104.7 the Lake". The market that both stations catered to was St. Tammany Parish; 94.7 had better coverage of areas in the southern end of the parish (Slidell, Mandeville, Lacombe), while 104.7 better covered the northern areas of the parish (Covington, Folsom, Bush, Abita Springs).

Styles Broadcasting out of Panama City bought the stations in 1999 from Charles K.& Carlie B. Winstanley ( The Radio Company), who were the founders and original owners of both station. Winstanley also owned stations WPCF-FM & WDLP-AM in Florida along with WQXY-100.7FM in Baton Rouge in the late 1960's. Winstanley also owned an interest in KCIL-FM / KJIN-AM in Houma plus interests in other radio properities in the South East. While 104.7 moved to a Smooth Jazz format as "Shore 104.7", 94.7 continued as a country station. However, it now simulcasted with 94.9 out of Reserve, as "K94"; the station was an successful country simulcast to the New Orleans market. This lasted until 2000, when 94.9 was flipped to the Smooth Jazz format itself. 104.7 was eventually divested to C. Wayne Dowdy that same year. 94.7 returned to simulcasting 94.9, albeit with the Smooth Jazz format, in January 2001.

Later in 2001, Wilks Broadcasting assumed control of the stations, eventually purchasing them in 2002. In December 2001, 94.7 and 94.9 were flipped to a Hot Talk/Active Rock format as "94.9 Extreme Radio". This format lasted until November 2002, as the loss of the syndicated Opie & Anthony show, as well as Wilks' acquisition of Modern Rocker "106.7 the End", caused the stations to flip to a Gospel format as "Praise 94.9".

Citadel purchased the combo of 94's in 2003. Only to divest them to C. Wayne Dowdy's Southeastern Broadcasting concern in early 2005. Pittman Broadcasting had announced the purchase of the combo the year before, only to back out due to concerns over tower space for 94.7 because of the state of Louisiana building an interchange for I-10 in the area where the signal is located.

Dowdy continued to broadcast the Gospel format until Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, 94.7 was shifted to "Radio Slidell", providing disaster information for the citizens of Slidell.

In November 2005, the "Praise" simulcast was officially broken up, as 94.7 switched to a commercial-free format of Hot Adult Contemporary music. This continued until December 31, 2005, when 94.7 took on the name of "Lake 94.7" and programmed a format local to St. Tammany Parish.

"Lake 94.7" is run out of Dowdy's Northshore Broadcasting concern. The programming office is located in Hammond, Louisiana and the station operates a sales office in Covington, Louisiana. The tower is located in Slidell, Louisiana, where it shares space on the tower of AM station WSLA; however, the station plans to move its signal to Lacombe, Louisiana. The current tower had been flooded by Hurricane Katrina; before the storm, the transmitter had already been prone to problems.

External links

* [http://www.lake947.com Lake 94.7's future website?]
*fmq|WYLK