WWLS FM 98.1

A commercial sports radio station broadcasting on 98.1 MHz, licensed to The Village, Oklahoma, and serving the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Owned by Cumulus Media, the station operates under the brand "The Sports Animal" and serves as the flagship radio outlet for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Studios and offices are located on NW 64th Street in northwest Oklahoma City, with the transmitter situated on the northeast side of the city on Ridgeway Road near NE 78th Street. The station's programming is simulcast on WKY in Oklahoma City, and many shows are also carried on affiliated "Sports Animal" stations in Tulsa (FM 99.9 and AM 1550), Muskogee (FM 97.1 and AM 1490), Elk City (AM 1240), and Woodward (AM 1450). Local hosts appear on weekday mornings, afternoons, and evenings, as well as on weekends. The station has a long history under various call signs and formats. It signed on June 28, 1962, as KWHP, named after owner William Haydon Payne, broadcasting on 97.7 MHz from Edmond, Oklahoma at just 410 watts. The station passed through several owners and identities over subsequent decades, including KCFX, KKLR, and KTNT, before Citadel Broadcasting acquired it and converted it to sports radio under the WWLS brand. The current 98.1 frequency was reached through channel changes over the station's history, as was its relocation from Edmond to its current licensed community of The Village.