WGGL-FM

WGGL-FM (91.1 FM) is an NPR member station in Houghton, Michigan. It first began broadcasting in 1968 and has been owned and operated by Minnesota Public Radio since 1982. It carries a mix of classical music and NPR news-talk programming, running a schedule similar to what MPR ran before its 1991 split into a two-channel network. WGGL began operations on March 28, 1968, as a ten-watt station owned and operated by Michigan Technological University. The initial programming schedule ran for only five hours a day (4 to 9 p.m.) five days a week (soon expanded to six with the addition of Sunday programming). It shut down during summer vacations and school holidays. Programming was an entirely locally originating hybrid of classical, jazz and folk music along with local interest programming. WGGL increased power to 250 watts in late 1969 and then to 100,000 watts in 1971; by then, the station had affiliated with the then-fledgling NPR. WGGL attracted a fairly loyal following, although it served a very small market; there were just barely enough listeners for it to be viable as a standalone NPR station. However, by the start of the 1980s, WGGL was on the verge of being shut down due to budget cuts. Bill Kling of Minnesota Public Radio stepped in to buy the station from Michigan Tech i... ()