WLSO

Laker Radio

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Broadcast area	[1]
Frequency	Online(formerly at 90.1 FM)
Branding	Laker Radio
Programming
Format	college radio, adult album alternative
Affiliations	Live365
Ownership
Owner	Lake Superior State University
History
First air date	1991 (carrier current) 1993 (FM) 2016 (online)
Call sign meaning	Lake SuperiOr
Technical information
Class	A
ERP	100 watts
Links
Webcast	[2]
Website	Laker Radio

Laker Radio is an internet radio station in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. Broadcasting a college radio format, The 46th Parallel Radio is the campus radio station of the city's Lake Superior State University, and also provides mobile DJ services for on-campus and Sault Ste. Marie events. From 1993 to 2017, the station broadcast at 90.1 on the FM dial with the call sign WLSO, before becoming solely an internet radio station during the 2016–2017 school year.

The station originally launched in 1991 under the unofficial callsign WLKR, as an AM carrier current station broadcasting exclusively to the LSSU campus. After receiving a broadcasting license from the Federal Communications Commission, the station launched on FM in 1993, when they adopted the WLSO call sign. Following a listener contest earlier that year, WLSO rebranded as The 46th Parallel Radio in August 2016, and launched a new internet streaming format through the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System and Backbone Networks. Lake Superior State University relinquished its FCC license as of November 2, 2017, having already taken the 90.1 FM signal dark earlier that year, with most social media accounts ceasing updates in the process.^[1]

In the fall of 2019, The 46th Parallel Radio's Instagram and Twitter pages resumed active posting after a 3-year hiatus, promoting on-campus events and an impending search for new DJs.^[2] In March 2021, the station rebranded again to Laker Radio, and closed their Backbone Networks station in favor of a brand new internet station via Live365.

While largely a freeform college radio station, The 46th Parallel has traditionally featured student DJs hosting their own programs and custom playlists, as well as school faculty and non-students at times. Notably, general music rotation on WLSO leaned towards adult album alternative music in its later years on FM, while the station has also aired Lake Superior State Lakers games and coverage in the past. Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant also simulcasts their own radio station to the Sault Ste. Marie market at WCMZ-FM, though they air a public radio and jazz format.