The original construction permit for the station was granted on July 1, 1983,[1] and the WLKZ call letters were assigned on October 11;[2] it took to the air on February 1, 1985,[3] and a license to cover was granted on June 4, 1985.[4]
Former logo under the "Oldies 105" branding
During the 1980s, WLKZ offered an adult contemporary format;[3] by 1996, it was offering an oldies format.[5] Initially, the station aired the format on its own; however, in 2000, original owner Jay Williams sold the station to Tele-Media, owner of similarly-formatted WNNH in the nearby Concord market.[6] Tele-Media sold WLKZ, WNNH, and Nashua-based WHOB to Nassau Broadcasting Partners in 2004.[7] Nevertheless, WLKZ continued to be programmed and branded separately from WNNH until 2007, when Nassau consolidated the two stations into a simulcast. That December, the stations shifted to Nassau's Frank FMclassic hits format as a result of an unsuccessful attempt to convert WWHQ and WWHK (the then-homes for the "Hawk" classic rock format) to sports radio programming from WEEI.[8][9]
After a corporate reorganization required Nassau to spin off WWHQ and WNNH,[10] WLKZ discontinued the simulcast with WNNH, and dropped classic hits in favor of WWHQ's prior classic rock format on November 4, 2009.[11] WLKZ, along with 29 other Nassau stations in northern New England, was purchased at bankruptcy auction by Carlisle Capital Corporation, a company controlled by Bill Binnie (owner of WBIN-TV in Derry), on May 22, 2012. The station, and 12 of the other stations, were then acquired by Vertical Capital Partners, controlled by Jeff Shapiro.[12][13] The deal was completed on November 30, 2012.[14] The Vertical Capital Partners stations were transferred to Shapiro's existing Great Eastern Radio group on January 1, 2013.[15][16]
Effective August 1, 2017, Great Eastern Radio sold WLKZ, WTPL, and WZEI (the former WWHQ) to Dirk Nadon's Lakes Media, LLC for $2.6 million.
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