The station began broadcasting February 6, 1960, as WAQE-FM, simulcasting WAQE (1570 AM).[8] In 1967, the station's call sign was changed to WTOW-FM, and the station simulcast the programming of their then-AM sister station, who changed call letters to WTOW.[9][3]
In 1970, the station's call sign was changed to WLIF.[3] The station went silent February 18, 1970,[3] and returned to the air on December 24, 1970, after Sudbrink Broadcasting bought the station. Cox Broadcasting would eventually take control of the station sometime in the 70s before selling the station on an unknown date.[10] In the 1970s and into 1980s, WLIF aired a beautiful music format.[11][12][13][14] The station featured SRP programming (Schulke Radio Productions, created by Jim Schulke).[15] WLIF was one of the highest-rated stations in Baltimore during its beautiful music years.[16]
By 1990, WLIF had shifted to a soft adult contemporary format, and began to be simulcast on AM 1300 WLIF.[17] This simulcast lasted until September 1991.[18] The station was branded Lite 102.[19] By 1993, WLIF began mixing in current material in its playlist.
Former WLIF logo (2001-2013)
In 2001, the station changed branding again, to 101.9 Lite FM. Today, its lineup consists of adult contemporary hits. In the late 2000s, the station carried the syndicated Delilah radio show to complement the popular local love songs programming that was hosted by Fran Lane (Lane left WLIF in December 2019); however, Delilah aired during the late-night hours, and this resulted in its eventual elimination from the station. On the weekends, WLIF featured "The Flashback Weekend" featuring former WQSR announcers Dave Alan, John Summers and Diane Lyn (Lyn left WLIF in July 2019) playing the greatest hits of the 1960s and 1970s. However, in recent years, these songs have been replaced by music from the 1980s, thus creating an "All-80s Weekend"; the eighties songs were mixed in with the sixties and seventies hits during the latter part of the "Flashback Weekend" era.
Mary Anne Perry Hoffman worked at WLIF from 1992 to 2004. Hoffman returned to WLIF a couple years later, only to leave again in December 2014. Mary Anne Perry Hoffman is currently a news reporter for Maryland News Network.
Mary Anne Perry Hoffman is a traffic reporter for WBAL Radio 101.5 FM and 98 Rock radio.
In addition, WLIF (along with WWIN) also played jazz music during the weekends for many years. WLIF continued to play jazz until 2004, when WSMJ became Baltimore's full-time Smooth Jazz station (that station has since changed formats, first to Alternative in 2008, then to Top-40/CHR a year later).
On December 29, 2013, at Midnight, after playing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Johnny Mathis, WLIF rebranded as Today's 101.9, with its first song being "Hey Soul Sister" by Train. Like its AC sister stations KEZK-FM in St. Louis, WDOK in Cleveland, and KVIL in Dallas, WLIF retooled its format to more hot adult contemporary-leaning fare to attract a new generation of listeners, even though it also continues to play the standard AC songs from the 1980s to present.[20] It was the last surviving "Lite FM"-branded station to be owned by CBS Radio, with the moniker having been dropped from KVIL in Dallas and WLTE in Minneapolis (with the latter station also undergoing a format change to country at the time).
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.[21] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[22][23]
Christmas music
WLIF is well known for its Christmas programming. For decades, WLIF began mixing in Christmas music the week before Thanksgiving and went to wall-to-wall Christmas music about two weeks before Christmas. They would remain all Christmas music until the middle of December 26 or later, and would keep mixing in Christmas music until New Year's Day.
Beginning in 2001, every year, starting the week before Thanksgiving, the station plays nothing but Christmas music, well into December 26 or 27. There are no advertisements all day on Christmas Day. After 2007, WLIF played wall to wall Christmas music not only before Thanksgiving, but all the way until New Year's Eve. They were the last station left playing Christmas music at New Year's. Most stations in the market that feature Christmas music continue mixing it in throughout the last week of the year, unlike many places that end abruptly on December 26. In 2010, WLIF dropped Christmas music early on December 27, but continued mixing a few songs in rather than remaining wall-to-wall until January 1. In 2014, WLIF dropped Christmas Music at midnight on December 26, drawing negative feedback from many listeners. They continued this practice through 2018. In 2019, WLIF dropped Christmas music on December 29.
HD Radio
WLIF began HD Radio broadcasts in 2006. WLIF-HD2 aired a country format, branded as New Country @ 106.1. The format began on October 25, 2013, at Noon, replacing the 1980s hits "Flashback" format that has aired since WLIF began HD Radio operations. The programming was simulcast on translator W291BA (106.1 FM), which is owned by Hope Christian Church of Marlton, and is being leased to CBS to operate it.[24] WLIF-HD3 formerly aired an oldies format, branded as The Flashback Channel, while WLIF-HD4 airs programming from "HOPE FM" as part of an agreement between CBS and Hope Christian Church where CBS will operate W291BA and another translator, W248AO (97.5 FM), which airs an alternative rock format branded as "HFS @ 97-5" (that format has since been moved to another translator owned by Hope, W285EJ (104.9 FM)).
On April 9, 2015, Radio One announced that they will assume operations of W291BA from CBS, and flipped the format to urban gospel, branded as Praise 106.1, on May 1.[25]
Translators
The following translators are licensed to Hope Christian Church of Marlton, Inc and simulcast the programming of WLIF-HD2 and WLIF-HD4:
WLIF is short-spaced to WAVT-FMT102 (licensed to serve Pottsville, Pennsylvania) as they both operate on the same channel and the distance between the stations' transmitters is 99 miles (159 km) as determined by FCC rules.[26] The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current FCC rules is 150 miles (240 km).[27]
