WXTL


WXTL is a non-commercial FM radio station operating under a licensing agreement by the Educational Media Foundation, and carries the contemporary Christian music format of its nationally syndicated network K-Love for the Syracuse, New York area.

History

For most of the 2000s, WLTI was branded as "Lite 105.9" or "Lite Rock 105.9" and had an adult contemporary music format that varied between "soft AC" and "hot AC". Programming during this period included Dave Allen, Robin Marshall, Phil Spevak, Bob and Sheri, Delilah.
WLTI made the switch to news/talk, branded as WXTL "105.9 The Big Talker", in early March 2010, following a brief stunt with TV theme songs as "TV 105.9". Gary Nolan was the station's lone local weekday talk program; the rest of the lineup was culled from an eclectic mix of third-tier programming not already heard on its long-established competitors, WSYR or WFBL.
On January 6, 2012 at 10 a.m., after The Bob & Tom Show, WXTL began stunting again as "TV 105.9". At 1:05 PM, the station switched to classic rock as "105.9 The Rebel" with The Bob & Tom Show continuing in mornings. The first song on The Rebel was "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. Dave Frisina was brought in to Program the station as a Classic Rock station with a broader playlist and more Local programming. Additional personalities include Roger McCue and Holly Dagger.
On February 13, 2019, Cumulus Media announced it would sell 6 stations, including WXTL, to the Educational Media Foundation for $103.5 million. Shortly after the announcement, Cumulus announced that the "Rebel" format would be moved online. On May 31, 2019, EMF flipped WXTL to the foundation's K-Love network that has been carried on WGKV, a rimshot signal north of Syracuse. As a result, one of EMF's other formats will likely be introduced to the Syracuse market on one of the two stations. The online-only iteration of The Rebel proved to be enough of a success to allow an air staff to be hired for the station.