A more than eight year quest to bring the former 96.5 KWLZ-FM Warm Springs/Bend, OR into the Portland market has finally come to an end.
KWLZ signed-on this afternoon from its new 96.3 frequency and city-of-license of West Linn with a Rock leaning Classic Hits format. Branded as “Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits”, the new 96.3 KWLZ is positioned between iHeartMedia Classic Hits “106.7 The Eagle” KLTH and the Classic Rock pair of Entercom’s 92.3 KGON and iHeart’s “105.9 The Brew” KFBW.
KWLZ-FM is owned by 3 Horizons LLC, a partnership of former owner Horizon Broadcast Group and 3 Cities Broadcasting, the owner of 96.1 KXXO Olympia WA that had to move to a new tower site in order for KWLZ-FM to make its move into the Portland market. The station is operating out of the studios of Dolphin Communications News/Talk 1360 KUIK Hillsboro at the Hillsboro Airport.
Portland’s newest radio station is Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits 96.3 KWLZ. The station signed on at 12:00 pm Friday, September 18, 2015 and is playing 25,000 Classic Hits in a row as part of its launch.
KWLZ-FM is licensed to West Linn, OR and serves the Portland-Vancouver-Salem metropolitan area (Nielsen market rank 23). The station was relocated from Warm Springs, OR to the Portland metro after an 11 year project that the included the frequency reassignment of seven radio stations in Oregon and the relocation of KXXO-FM to a new tower site at Capitol Peak in Olympia, WA. KWLZ-FM transmits from the Stonehenge Tower facility in Portland, OR.
Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits 96.3 KWLZ-FM is consulted by programming veteran Jay Kelly. The station can be heard via the internet at http://www.963kwlz.com and on the TuneIn radio app.
KWLZ-FM is licensed to 3 Horizons, LLC, a partnership between Horizon Broadcasting Group, LLC and 3 Cities, Inc. (licensee of KXXO-FM Olympia, WA). The station is being operated under a Joint Sales Agreement by Horizon Broadcasting Group, LLC of Bend, OR.
