WTVL

WTVL
City Waterville, Maine
Broadcast area Kennebec County, Maine
Branding Kool AM 1490
Slogan Where Legends Live
Frequency 1490 kHz
First air date June 19, 1946 (1946-06-19)[1]
Format Adult standards
Power 1,000 watts
Class C
Facility ID 52607
Transmitter coordinates 44°33′52″N 69°36′39″W / 44.56444°N 69.61083°W / 44.56444; -69.61083
Callsign meaning WaTerVilLe
Former callsigns WODJ (2004)
Owner Townsquare Media
(Townsquare Media Augusta/Waterville License, LLC)
Sister stations WEBB, WJZN, WMME-FM
Webcast Listen Live
Website koolam.com

WTVL (1490 AM; "Kool AM 1490") is a radio station licensed to serve Waterville, Maine, United States. The station, established in 1946, is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts an adult standards format.

History

WTVL went on the air June 19, 1946[1] as an ABC affiliate owned by Kennebec Broadcasting Company.[2] An FM sister station went on the air March 26, 1968[1] at 98.3 FM, simulcasting WTVL's programming.[3] By 1973, WTVL had a middle of the road format and was carrying the ABC Entertainment network.[4] In 1984, the station shifted to an adult contemporary format.[5] The following year, WTVL changed to a nostalgia format programmed separately from the FM station, which had moved to 98.5 FM and became adult contemporary station WDBX.[6] In 1987, WDBX returned to the WTVL-FM call sign, and the two stations resumed simulcasting with a classic hits format.[7]

E.H. Close, owner of WPNH AM-FM in Plymouth, New Hampshire and WKNE AM-FM in Keene, New Hampshire, bought WTVL and WTVL-FM from Kennebec Broadcasting for $1.29 million in 1988.[8] By 1990, the stations had changed to a soft rock format.[9] In 1993, WTVL-FM became country music station WEBB; the simulcast on WTVL continued, even though the AM call letters were not changed.[10]

Pilot Communications bought WTVL and WEBB for $450,000 in 1994.[11] Pilot's radio stations were acquired by Citadel Broadcasting in 1999 as part of its purchase of parent company Broadcasting Partners Holdings.[12] In January 2003, Citadel ended WTVL's simulcast of WEBB and switched the station to an adult standards format, simulcast with sister station WEZW (1400 AM, now WJZN) in Waterville under the "Kool" branding.[13] The call letters were changed to WODJ on November 26, 2004; on December 8, the WTVL call sign returned.[14]

Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[15] Townsquare Media acquired Cumulus' Augusta-Waterville stations in 2012.[16] The simulcast with WJZN ended on July 14, 2016, when that station changed to a classic rock format.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-202. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  2. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1947 (PDF). 1947. p. 122. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ 1969 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1969. p. B-77. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  4. ↑ 1974 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1974. p. B-95. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1985 (PDF). 1985. p. B-122. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1986 (PDF). 1986. p. B-128. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  7. ↑ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1986 (PDF). 1986. p. B-129. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 3, 1988. p. 71. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  9. ↑ The Broadcasting Yearbook 1991 (PDF). 1991. p. B-148. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ Fybush, Scott. "Maine Radio History, 1971–1996". The Archives at BostonRadio.org. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. April 18, 1994. p. 34. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  12. ↑ Seavey, Deborah Turcotte (November 9, 1999). "8 Maine radio stations bought". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  13. ↑ Fybush, Scott (January 27, 2003). "KB Komes Back". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Call Sign History (WTVL)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Cumulus sells radio stations in Bangor, Augusta, Presque Isle". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. April 30, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  17. ↑ Capital 95.9 Launches in Augusta, ME Radioinsight - July 14, 2016
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