WLS-FM is back!

(Courtesy of Citadel broadcasting)

An old name from the past is resurfacing.

With the tentative date of June 26, Citadel Broadcasting plans to change the call letters of its True Oldies outlet from WZZN-FM back to WLS-FM, with FCC approval. Many message board posters have been suggesting this move for the last three years, since it flipped to True Oldies.

The WZZN call letters are a leftover from the station’s days as an eighties outlet and later with an alternative/active rock format. Known as “The Zone”, the station floundered until September 26, 2005, when the station flipped to Scott Shannon’s True Oldies format.

The station’s last stint as WLS-FM was in 1991, when the station flipped from contemporary hit radio (known as WYTZ-FM, or “Z95”) to a simulcast of all-talk WLS-AM, and spun-off its own talk radio format shortly thereafter. The call letters changed again in 1996 when it became WKXK with a country format, and again in 1997 as classic rock WXCD, lasting until 2000 when WZZN and “The Zone” took over (the call letters actually changed in January 2001.).

For a complete look at WLS-FM’s history (and WLS-AM’s as well), scroll down to The Museum (it’s on the sidebar to the right) and click on Scott Childers’ or Jeff Roteman’s WLS tribute sites.