the call sign wwpw at 104.3 fm from 2010 to 2012 see wayi . wwpw city atlanta georgia broadcast area metro atlanta branding power 96.1 slogan atlanta s 1 hit music station frequency 96.1 mhz also on hd radio translator s 92.3 w222af marietta relays hd3 repeater s wann cd 29 dtv 32.23 first air date 1960 as wgaa fm format top 40 chr analog hd1 spanish reggaeton mia 92.3 hd3 erp 99 000 watts 1 haat 300 m 984 ft class c0 facility id 11275 transmitter coordinates 33 48 27.00 n 84 20 26.00 w 33.8075000 n 84.3405556 w 33.8075000 ; 84.3405556 callsign meaning w w power current branding former callsigns wgaa fm 1960 wkls 1961 1977 wkls fm 1977 1989 weoa 1989 wkls 1989 2012 affiliations premium choice owner iheartmedia citicasters licenses inc. sister stations wbzy wgst wrda wrdg wubl webcast listen live listen live hd3 website power961.iheart.com mia923.iheart.com hd3 wwpw fm 96.1 branded power 96 1 is a commercial top 40 chr radio station licensed to atlanta georgia . owned by iheartmedia the station serves the atlanta metropolitan area . besides a standard analog transmission wwpw broadcasts over three hd radio channels and is available online via iheartradio . 2 the station operates from studios located at the peachtree palisades building in the brookwood hills district of atlanta . the station transmits from the west tower at the north druid hills site along briarcliff road just west of emory university and clifton road . according to fcc records for coordinates and height it shares its main radio antenna with wubl fm 94.9 and wwpw s low power backup antenna about 25 meters 82 ft lower is also the backup for wyay fm 106.7 . the main wwpw wubl antenna has a permit to move to the east tower . there are also several other stations on these towers . contents 1 history 1.1 96 rock 1974 2006 1.2 project 9 6 1 2006 12 1.3 power 96.1 2012 present 1.4 ratings 1.5 current on air schedule 1.6 weekend mixshows and syndicated programming 2 digital 3 references 4 external links history edit the 96.1 frequency was originally wgaa fm in cedartown georgia the fm counterpart to wgaa am 1340 . wkls s callsign stands for the initials of the founding owners don kennedy james lathom and arthur swan k l and s . they formed the station in 1960 with a 25 000 investment selling it ten years later for 750 000 . in its first 12 years or so the station played an easy listening format ; in its first five or six years all voice tracking was recorded by kennedy who now hosts and syndicates big band jump nationwide . by 1972 wkls was more of a then am style middle of the road outlet with live djs ; its main slogan by then was wkls ... that s klass . wkls changed to a rock music format in 1974 and was renamed 96 rock the branding it retained until november 2006 . wkls also had an am daytimer from 1977 well into the mid 1980s on the station that is now wniv am 970 . while that station was wkls the fm side had callsign wkls fm until may 1988 . the following year the federal communications commission fcc database shows it as having callsign weoa for a month from november to december however this may be a mistake . 96 rock 1974 2006 edit between 1974 and 2012 wkls featured rock music though the focus had changed somewhat over time . in the 1970s the station played what was then known as album oriented rock aor ; songs from that period are known in the radio business as classic rock today . for a time in 1977 disc jockey skinny bobby harper who was the inspiration for dr. johnny fever of the television sitcom wkrp in cincinnati graced wkls . citation needed in the early 1980s 96 rock cultivated a somewhat macho image . citation needed the station often mocked competing stations which played top 40 hits as wimp rock . wkls began to play more and more heavy metal which was increasing in popularity especially among teenaged boys . however a backlash began to develop among the station s more mature listeners . in 1985 the station modified its playlist to a mix of older and new rock . 96 rock continued to play a mixture of classic rock and new rock for the next 19 years . wkls finally became exclusively a classic rock station in 2004 . the 2004 change occurred when competing atlanta station z 93 wzgc fm 92.9 became dave fm switching from classic rock to a broader rock pop alternative format . this did not cause a dramatic change in 96 rock s playlist however . even before officially declaring itself a classic rock station most of its songs in fact fit that category already ; only a few new songs were played an hour . citation needed wkls s longevity as 96 rock allowed it to claim to have the longest running format on an fm station in the atlanta media market . the station has honored its history and tradition on several occasions . in 1984 the station recognized its 10th anniversary by airing a labor day countdown of the top 296 songs from 1974 to 1984 . the station s 30th anniversary was recognized in 2004 with several promotions ; one such promotion encouraged listeners to write to the station and reminisce about events in their lives in which 96 rock played a memorable role . some of this correspondence was read on the air and posted on the station s website . in april 2004 long time morning show hosts the regular guys larry wachs and eric von haessler were fired for airing graphic sexual language with porn star devin lane as the content bled through a honda commercial . that content which aired the previous month was intended to be played backwards to mock the fcc indecency crackdown when they came back from the break . regular guys sidekick southside steve rickman and former midday host tim rhodes took the morning time slot temporarily . a permanent replacement came in the form of the syndicated bob & tom show as rhodes and rickman moved to the afternoon slot . however wkls rehired the regular guys who returned to the airwaves on march 21 2005 and came back to 96 rock in may after a brief stint on sister am talk station wgst . on october 23 2006 however station owners iheartmedia then known as clear channel communications terminated the regular guys for good following an incident in which wachs recorded bathroom conversations between the two morning show hosts on wwva fm viva 105.7 part of the same station group while all three men were using the bathroom . the recording was played on the air a couple of days later . the wwva hosts known as yogi and panda complained to management and subsequently sued clear channel and the regular guys . wachs said a case of a humorous prank has turned into a culture clash a suppression of first amendment rights and a ridiculous smear campaign against me as well as termination of my income without due process . citation needed project 9 6 1 2006 12 edit on november 17 2006 at 9 am clear channel dropped the station s 32 year 96 rock branding in favor of project 9 6 1 a more active rock format . 3 this action made wvee fm 103.3 the new longest running format in the city . at the same time 105.3 the buzz wbzy fm ceased independent operations and began simulcasting the new format for several days until a regional mexican music format began . the new format was intended to be somewhat of a merger between 96 rock and the buzz although more personalities from the buzz were on the new station than ones from 96 rock . on july 7 2007 the atlanta journal constitution reported that the new morning show host for project 9 6 1 would be giant brian carothers morning producer and sidekick for john debella at wmgk in philadelphia . carothers was joined by co host shaffee former radio personality from wrif in detroit and the giant show debuted on october 1 2007 . on october 2 2009 it was announced that giant brian carothers would no longer be a part of the morning show and the giant show would be replaced by a show hosted by shaffee and el jefe who would later be replaced by klinger . on may 21 2011 it was revealed that shaffee and klinger would no longer be a part of the morning show . kidd chris announced on may 24 2011 that he would be joining the morning show of which he hosted until the station s discontinuation . 4 power 96.1 2012 present edit on august 29 2012 at 7 pm without warning 96.1 ended almost 4 decades as a rock station as project signed off following a farewell message from program director chris the oc williams who ended the station s 38 year rock history with free bird by lynyrd skynyrd in homage to 96 rock . the old rock format would move to its hd2 channel as project 9 6 2 . after stunting with an hour of jockless pop songs and the opening chorus to ready or not by the fugees the station flipped to top 40 branded as power 96.1 . the station launched the new format with 9 600 songs commercial free . the first song on power was party rock anthem by lmfao . 5 on september 11 2012 wkls changed call letters to wwpw to match their new power branding . the nationally syndicated program elvis duran and the morning show aired on wwpw from september 2012 until february 11 2014 . just after elvis duran s departure power 96.1 warned listeners about the change and told listeners that the elvis duran and the morning show will not be heard on atlanta radio but can be heard on the current iheartradio website and smartphone app . the station lasted over a month without a morning show playing music only in the morning known as most hit music in the morning until the station debuted a new local morning show on march 17 2014 with scotty k riley couture and bret mega . on february 29 2016 it was officially announced that power morning show hosts scotty k and bret mega were let go from the station . 6 this came as a surprise to many as the local morning show and the station as a whole have been gaining traction in the ratings . some speculations have been made about power mornings returning to a more music intensive show . 7 word of their replacement was announced on march 19 when pk formerly host of the nationally syndicated playhouse morning show from portland oregon and kkhh in houston would host mornings beginning march 21 his wife dk will also join the show while incumbent host riley couture will stay on as co host . 8 9 ratings edit for its first two years power 96.1 was consistently beat out by longtime cumulus media chr outlet wwwq . over the past year power 96.1 has grown to be one of the highest rated mainstream chr pop stations in atlanta since power 99 wapw nearly three decades ago . throughout the 1990 s and early 2000 s atlanta chrs tended to lean towards either adult top 40 or hip hop . today with its straight forward pop music approach power often ranks near the top in the 18 49 demographic just behind urban powerhouse wvee and news talk wsb respectively . as of may 2016 power ranked 4th in the atlanta market overall .