First air date 1954 Class AM: C, FM: A Format Community radio Call sign meaning ELY, Minnesota | Power 770 Watts (AM) HAAT FM: 100 meters City of license Ely Branding End of the Road Radio | |
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Broadcast area Boundary Waters Canoe AreaArrowhead Region Frequency AM: 1450 kHz, FM: 94.5 MHz Area Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Arrowhead Region | ||
Wely radio
WELY (1450 AM and 94.5 FM) are radio stations based in the small town of Ely, Minnesota, United States. WELY serves the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of far northern Minnesota.
Contents
These station was branded as "End of the Road Radio", offering quirky, eclectic, community-oriented programming. WELY broadcast a wide range of material, from traditional polkas to rock music to zany wilderness "shout outs" for people camping in the surrounding wilderness.
As of July 2015, WELY-FM switched to a primarily "classic rock" format, competing directly with KQDS' 106.7 signal based in Babbit. The reception has been primarily negative, leading to a dramatic decrease in market share and revenues.
The "front porch" studio is downtown, at 133 E. Chapman Street. The broadcast studio is just inside the front window. It's not unusual for visitors to just walk in, and soon find themselves on the air. Both stations share a transmitter site south of town, behind Kawishiwi Lodge and Canoe.
www radiotapes com wely am ely mn report aired on kstp tv 1987
History
WELY was owned by retired CBS broadcaster Charles Kuralt from 1995 to 1997, at which point it was purchased by Janice Nagel Erickson, a Twin Cities transplant. In 2005, it was purchased by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.