WLIF (101.9 FM) is a radio station located in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is currently owned and operated by CBS Radio. Its studios are located in the Mount Washington section of Baltimore, while its transmitter is located two miles northeast in Towson, Maryland. The station broadcasts in monaural sound.

WLIF features an adult contemporary format during the week and a classic hits format on the weekends. The station in its current incarnation signed on the air as a beautiful music station, featuring programming of SRP (Stereo Music Productions [Jim Schulke]) on December 24, 1970, originally owned by Sudbrink Broadcasting, an originator of FM broadcasting nationwide and prior to that time, owned by Booth Broadcasting as a pioneer FM station, WAQE(FM), signing on in 1963.

The station's origins date back to the Beautiful music era during the late 1950s and early 1960s. At that time, the station's call letters were WTOW, later being switched by CBS to full service WFBR-AM for many years (that station was later WLIF-AM, and later WJFK-AM, simulcasting sister Washington station WJFK-FM. It is now ESPN-1300 WJZ, an all-sports station).

Over the years, WLIF was one of the highest-rated stations in Baltimore, playing mostly instrumental renditions of popular songs. Featured artists included Percy Faith, John Fox, Chet Atkins, Richard Clayderman, Frank Mills, Henry Mancini, Ray Anthony, Floyd Cramer, and many others. The station played four vocal selections per hour and they were only smooth vocal stylings of artists like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Neil Diamond, Tony Bennett, Patti Page, Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, and others. It was called "The Beautiful Place In Your Life" FM-102. On December 31, 1971, the station became known as WLIF. By the 1980s, WLIF began playing more soft rock hits, such as those by Linda Ronstadt, The Beatles, The Temptations, Elton John, along with the previously played artists. During morning and afternoon drives, the station was about half instrumental and half vocal, while other times the station continued to play one vocal every quarter hour. In the late 1980s, the station shifted to roughly half vocalists and half instrumentals. Early in 1991, WLIF shifted to a soft adult contemporary format; at this point, it also became known as "Lite 102". By 1993, WLIF began playing current product mixed in.

In 2001, the station changed nicknames again, and it is now known as "101.9 Lite FM." Today its lineup consists of soft rock hits during the day and love songs at night. On the weekends, WLIF features "The Flashback Weekend" featuring former WQSR announcers Dave Alan, John Summers and Diane Lyn playing the greatest hits of the sixties and seventies, reaching into the Oldie market that was left without a local radio station once WQSR switched over to a Jack FM format.

In addition, WLIF (along with Magic 95.9 WWIN) also played jazz music during the weekends for many years. WLIF continued to play jazz until 2004, when WSMJ 104.3 became Baltimore's full-time Smooth Jazz station.

Commercial-free Christmas [link]

WLIF is well known for its Christmas programming. For decades, WLIF began mixing in Christmas music the week before Thanksgiving and went to wall-to-wall Christmas music about 2 weeks before Christmas. They would remain all Christmas music until the middle of December 26 or later and would keep mixing in Christmas music until New Year's Day.

Beginning in 2001, every year, starting the week before Thanksgiving, the station plays nothing but Christmas music, well into December 26 or 27. There are no commercials all day on Christmas Day. Since 2007, WLIF has played wall to wall Christmas music not only before Thanksgiving but all the way until New Year's Eve. They are the last station left playing Christmas music at New Year's. Most stations in this market that feature Christmas music continue mixing it in throughout the last week of the year, unlike many places that end cold turkey on the 26. In 2010, WLIF dropped Christmas Music early on December 27 but continued mixing a few in rather than remaining wall-to-wall until January 1.

External links [link]

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WLIF
• Radio-Locator information on WLIF
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WLIF

Coordinates: 39°25′01″N 76°33′22″W / 39.417°N 76.556°W / 39.417; -76.556