WLWI (AM)
Encyclopedia
WLWI is a radio station
licensed
to serve Montgomery, Alabama
, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media
and the license is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC.
It broadcasts a news
/talk radio
format to the Montgomery metropolitan area
. Notable syndicated programming includes "First Call" with retired Army Sergeant Kevin Elkins, The Money Game with Dave Ramsey
, Rush Limbaugh
, The Sean Hannity Show
, Clark Howard
, and Michael Savage
. Overnight, the station broadcasts the syndicated Coast to Coast AM
hosted by George Noory
.
), wouldn't begin broadcasting until February 1939. The radio station's callsign, intended to promote Montgomery's city air field, stood for "With the South's Finest Airport". A formerly-affiliated Montgomery television station (then WSFA-TV, now simply WSFA
) still holds this historic callsign.
WSFA was originally operated under the ownership of the Montgomery Broadcasting Company, Inc., a partnership between local businessmen Howard Pill and Gordon Persons
. Persons, who stepped down as president of the company in 1939, would go on to serve as the forty-third governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955.
Country music legend Hank Williams got his start as a professional musician in 1936 with regular appearances on WSFA. It was during this period that he formed his longtime backing band, the Drifting Cowboys
. Southern Gospel
family group the Speer Family
joined the station in 1941 until they moved on to Nashville, Tennessee
, in 1946.
, WHNY in McComb, Mississippi
, WHXY in Bogalusa, Louisiana
, and KOME in Tulsa, Oklahoma
.
The Holt and Robinson families maintained ownership of the WHHY until Holt-Robinson Communications encountered financial difficulties and, in May 1993, the license for WHHY was involuntarily transferred from Holt-Robinson Communications Corporation to receiver Thomas M. Duddy. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 21, 1993.
In May 1995, receiver Thomas M. Duddy reached an agreement to sell this station to McDonald Investment Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 3, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on August 30, 1995. In October 1996, McDonald Investment Company, Inc., applied to the FCC to transfer the license for this station to McDonald Media Group, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 7, 1996, and the transaction was consummated on December 2, 1996.
. In December 1999, McDonald Media Group, Inc., made a deal to sell this station to Citation Limited Partnership, owned by Citation Cablevision, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 17, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on January 20, 2000.
In September 2000, Citation Limited Partnership reached an agreement to sell this station to Cumulus Media
subsidiary Cumulus Licensing Corp. as part of a three station deal valued at a reported $10 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 12, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on May 15, 2001.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
and the license is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC.
It broadcasts a news
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
/talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format to the Montgomery metropolitan area
Montgomery Metropolitan Area
The Montgomery, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan statistical area in central Alabama...
. Notable syndicated programming includes "First Call" with retired Army Sergeant Kevin Elkins, The Money Game with Dave Ramsey
Dave Ramsey
David L. Ramsey III is an American financial author, radio host, television personality, and motivational speaker.Ramsey's syndicated radio program The Dave Ramsey Show is promoted with a tagline that "It's about your life and your money," and it is heard on over 450 radio stations throughout the...
, Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, The Sean Hannity Show
The Sean Hannity Show
The Sean Hannity Show is a talk radio show hosted by Sean Hannity on Citadel Media and Premiere Radio Networks. The program is broadcast live every weekday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m...
, Clark Howard
Clark Howard
Clark Howard , is a popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show. The show covers consumer and financial news, with advice on how to spend less, save more and avoid rip-offs...
, and Michael Savage
Michael Savage (commentator)
Michael Savage is a conservative American radio host, author, and political commentator. He is the host of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated talk show that airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
. Overnight, the station broadcasts the syndicated Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
hosted by George Noory
George Noory
George Ralph Noory is a Lebanese-American radio talk show host.As of 2010, he is the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM. He is heard across the United States and Canada on many AM and FM stations as well as on XM Satellite Radio. His show is one of the most listened...
.
The beginning
This station, the oldest radio station in Montgomery and the fourth oldest in Alabama, began broadcasting as WSFA on April 30, 1930. Montgomery's next oldest, WCOV (now WACVWACV
WACV is a radio station in the Montgomery, Alabama, market owned by Bluewater Broadcasting Company, LLC. Since July 30, 2010, the station has broadcast a modern rock music format...
), wouldn't begin broadcasting until February 1939. The radio station's callsign, intended to promote Montgomery's city air field, stood for "With the South's Finest Airport". A formerly-affiliated Montgomery television station (then WSFA-TV, now simply WSFA
WSFA
WSFA is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt region licensed to Montgomery. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Grady along the Montgomery and Pike County line. The station can also be seen on Knology and Charter...
) still holds this historic callsign.
WSFA was originally operated under the ownership of the Montgomery Broadcasting Company, Inc., a partnership between local businessmen Howard Pill and Gordon Persons
Gordon Persons
Seth Gordon Persons was an American Democratic politician who was the 43rd Governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955. He was born and died in Montgomery, Alabama. The Dauphin Island Bridge south of Mobile is formally named for him.Persons was an alumnus of Auburn University.-External links:*...
. Persons, who stepped down as president of the company in 1939, would go on to serve as the forty-third governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955.
Country music legend Hank Williams got his start as a professional musician in 1936 with regular appearances on WSFA. It was during this period that he formed his longtime backing band, the Drifting Cowboys
Drifting Cowboys
The Drifting Cowboys were the backing group for American music legend Hank Williams. The band went through several lineups during Williams's career, and surviving members of the group continue to tour and make public appearances to this day....
. Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel music—at one time also known as "quartet music"—is music whose lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
family group the Speer Family
Speer Family
The Speer Family, a Southern Gospel family group, was founded in 1921 by George Thomas Speer , his wife Lena Speer, and his sister and brother-in-law Pearl and Logan Claborn.-Early years:...
joined the station in 1941 until they moved on to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, in 1946.
The WHHY era
The station was acquired by Broadcast Service of Montgomery, Inc., under the ownership of Charles W. Holt, Connie I. Holt, and Robert N. Robinson, as part of the Holt Broadcasting Service, on January 9, 1957. The station was renamed WHHY to match the other stations owned by Holt Broadcasting at the time: WHSY in Hattiesburg, MississippiHattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
, WHNY in McComb, Mississippi
McComb, Mississippi
McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States, about south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,644. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi, Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, WHXY in Bogalusa, Louisiana
Bogalusa, Louisiana
Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,365 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa...
, and KOME in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
.
The Holt and Robinson families maintained ownership of the WHHY until Holt-Robinson Communications encountered financial difficulties and, in May 1993, the license for WHHY was involuntarily transferred from Holt-Robinson Communications Corporation to receiver Thomas M. Duddy. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 21, 1993.
In May 1995, receiver Thomas M. Duddy reached an agreement to sell this station to McDonald Investment Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 3, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on August 30, 1995. In October 1996, McDonald Investment Company, Inc., applied to the FCC to transfer the license for this station to McDonald Media Group, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 7, 1996, and the transaction was consummated on December 2, 1996.
The WLWI era
Known as WHHY since 1957, the station changed call letters to the current WLWI on October 19, 19991999 in radio
The year 1999 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - 102.1 The Zone stopped played at 6AM and 102.1 FM played a stunt of waves and announcement voice over of our newest radio station....
. In December 1999, McDonald Media Group, Inc., made a deal to sell this station to Citation Limited Partnership, owned by Citation Cablevision, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 17, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on January 20, 2000.
In September 2000, Citation Limited Partnership reached an agreement to sell this station to Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
subsidiary Cumulus Licensing Corp. as part of a three station deal valued at a reported $10 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 12, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on May 15, 2001.