Townsquare Media’s “Sasquatch 92.1” (WWPE Hermantown-Duluth) has dropped Classic Rock for Hard Rock.
The new format, featuring songs from the 1980s to today, is positioned as “Real Rock for the Northland.”
In a news release, David Drew, the station’s music director and brand manager, said, “The Sasquatch brand has always had an aggressive approach, and while we won’t forget to play epic rockers from the past, now is the perfect time to evolve to play new rock and a lot more of the great songs from the 2000s and the 90s because fans of newer rock deserve a radio station to call their own and Sasquatch 92.1 is proud to fill that void.”
Artists heard on April 7, the first day of the format, included Guns N Roses, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Alice In Chains, AC/DC, Korn, Foo Fighters, and Jelly Roll.
With the change, “Sasquatch” has dropped the syndicated “Free Beer & Hot Wings” morning show and replaced it with a local show hosted by Joe Danger. The syndicated “Loudwire Nights” airs in the evening.
“Sasquatch” first launched on W293CT/106.5 and WEBC/560 (Duluth) in 2015. It moved to 92.1 when Townsquare bought the signal in 2020.
Duluth has not had a Hard Rock format since the former “94X” (K231BI/94.1 Duluth and KZIO/104.3 Two Harbors) was sold to Minnesota Public Radio in 2017.
The Squatch’s previous format had competed directly with Midwest’s KQDS-FM/94.9 (Duluth), which is the market’s longtime leading station, as well as the rimshot signal of WKLK-FM/96.5 (Cloquet).
Townsquare also runs Classic Hits, Country, Hot Adult Contemporary, and Sports formats in Duluth.