WTLC-FM
Encyclopedia
WTLC-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station
licensed to Greenwood, Indiana
, serving the Indianapolis
area. Like fellow Indianapolis stations WTLC (AM)
, WHHH
, WNOU, and TV station WDNI-LP
, (Indy's Music Channel), WTLC-FM is owned and operated by Radio One
. It is the Indianapolis affiliate for the Tom Joyner Morning Show
.
by Radio One in 2001. (See the WYXB
page for WTLC-FM history before 2001). Immediately prior to this switch, the station operated under the call letters WBKS as a jammin' oldies station positioned as "Kiss 106.7".
In 1967, a biracial, bipartisan group of Indianapolis business and civic leaders began to work together to find a way to create a radio the station for Indianapolis’ growing then Negro community.
The group, which included Democratic political titans Jim Beatty, attorney Pat Chavis, Sr., and Dr. Frank P. Lloyd, looked for a full time radio outlet.
They approached a group of Eli Lilly and Company
executives and scientists who owned WAIV(FM), a full time classical music station at 105.7 on the FM dial. The station, which was doing well artistically, wasn’t doing that well financially.
In late 1967, a deal was struck where the Beatty, Chavis, Lloyd group, known as Indianapolis Radio, bought WAIV (FM).
The group chose the creative call letters WTLC and a four decade journey began on January 22, 1968.
WTLC began broadcasting first from the Dearborn Hotel, local on the city's east side. It was a sign of irony that Indianapolis’ first fulltime Black radio station began operation in a hotel built by the Ku Klux Klan
at the height of their power and influence in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s.
By 1970, the owners of WTLC had dissolved into a serious disagreement over the orientation and direction of the stations. Several of the owners were satisfied with WTLC programming and service to the growing Indianapolis Black community. However, Dr. Lloyd was not. He felt that there was too much emphasis on entertainment and not enough on news, information and community service.
The owners’ dispute broke out into a full scale public disagreement when in early 1970, Dr. Lloyd formally petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny the renewal of WTLC's license and grant him and his Community Media Corporation the station's license. In those days, anyone could petition the FCC to deny a station's license by showing reasons why the current owners were not fit to be owners. At the same time, the challengers had to demonstrate why they would be better owners and outline what they would do with the station.
After squabbling before the FCC for many months, a compromise was reached where Dr. Lloyd and his partners Judy Barrett and Bob Davies and Community Media Corporation, purchased WTLC-FM from its previous owners.
Under Dr. Frank Lloyd and subsequent owners, WTLC-FM flourished into the legendary Urban station it is today.
The birth of WTLC in the late 60's/early 70's began with many notables contributing to its launch, from both a local and national level. From the local level, WTLC launched the careers of Fred Moore, Tyrone Hacker, Roger Holloway Ricky "Solid Gold" Clark "The Black Shadow" (Ralph Featherstone), Larry Nash as well as New York import Spider Harrison creating the new sound of WTLC, playing the national hits while giving support to local artists, such as Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign and Manchild (which launched the stellar career of Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds). Spider left WTLC in 1973 to go onto national prominence doing the night show at legendary WLAC
in Nashville, Tennessee
(which could be heard in 23 states). The early 70's brought upon WTLC's first African-American General Manager in Steve Scott (who replaced original owner/GM Tom Mathis).
In the early 1970s, WTLC created an avenue to expose the market to jazz with the creation of the show "Night Flight", first hosted by Richard Bailey (who would later change his name to Jomo Kali), then later with Colette Vaughn. This show would eventually evolve into more of a "Quiet Storm" music format, which had started popping up on Urban stations nationwide (and ironically created back in the ‘70's by Radio One founder Cathy Hughes).
WTLC was on the ground floor of assisting to create the nation's premiere event for African-American consumers, Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration. In the early days, key Expo people like the Rev. Charles Williams (who would later become Expo President) and Al "The Bishop" Hobbs would work together to create staple Expo events which are still in existence today (like the "Starquest" Talent Competition and the Sunday "Gospel Explosion"). WTLC helped support the Indiana Black Expo in its early days, holding its events at the Indiana State Fair
.
The mid to late 1970s saw WTLC respond to the rising popularity of Disco music, incorporating artists like the Bee Gees
, Donna Summer
, KC & The Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor
and many others into its daily programming, while continuing to stay true to its Urban base of core artists like Marvin Gaye
, The Isley Brothers
, The O' Jays and others. This was brought upon by the introduction of the "Disco" format by Greenfield suburban station 99.5 WIKS (now WZPL
). 1975 was a pivotal year for WTLC. As disco was making its presence on the radio station, new personalities, such as H.B. Davis began to make their mark on the airwaves of WTLC. But none made his or mark more than the arrival of "Super Jay" Johnson (from WVON, Chicago) in September 1975, as he began an influx of air talent from outside of Indianapolis begin to make the Circle City their home. Jay made an immediate impact into the market, and remains to this day synonymous with WTLC's growth and exposure as a national radio powerhouse in the 1970s and 1980s.
Jay would later take over as Program Director of the station from Fred Moore (who would resurface at WIKS before moving onto Majic 108
in St. Louis), and after a brief stint from Roger Holloway. In 1976, Al Hobbs became WTLC's second African American General Manager, replacing Andy Johnston (who ran WTLC-FM from 1973 to 1976).
The 1970s also marked WTLC's commitment to news, unlike any other radio outlet in the Indianapolis. At the time, market powerhouse WIBC
was considered the "news leader" in the market, but WTLC began to quickly rival that commitment, under the leadership of News Director Gene Slaymaker.
As WTLC made its transition into the 1980s, it made its switch to the moniker "Power 105.7". The early 1980s marked a transition into new "star" air personalities on the station, including home grown talent like Tony LaMont and Thomas J. Griffin, plus new transplants like Kelly Karson, Ray Cooper, Geno Shelton, "Jammin'" Jerry Jay Walker, Vycki Buchanon, Butter and Lauryn Nicole.
WTLC was one of the first Urban stations outside of New York City
to start playing hip hop music
. Unfortunately, it met with resistance from some of its listenership. The amount of complaints promoted the station to steer away from playing rap music, which ultimately opening a path for the creation of WSYW
"Yo 810", and later, WHHH
(Hot 96.3) in October 1991.
As the "Night Flight" made its evolution into a standard "Quiet Storm
" music format of R&B Ballads, the format feature "Jazz on The Half" was born, where each DJ could a play a Jazz
song around :30 after the hour. Eventually, this evolved into "Jazz At 45", all created to still give exposure to the music genre. As competition (WSYW, "Yo 810") began to surface, Jazz was pulled in late 80's as long time "Night Flight" host Collette Vaughn made a transition into sales.
As the 80's were coming to an end, so was emergence of news "specialists", such as CNN on cable television, focused on giving news 24/7 around the clock and shifting towards some talk shows. This led to the "restructuring" of the WTLC News Department, shrinking its body count by a few people.
As WTLC moved into the 1990s, ownership committed to the elimination of WTLC's News Department, cutting it to one person (Wendall Ray, who was cut back in the late 1980s when WTLC's ownership made it first cut into the news department came back as its News Director). In addition, the early 1990s marked a transition with "star" air personalities like Jerry Wade coming to the station, and Tony LaMont, Kelly Karson, Ray Cooper and Geno Shelton leaving the station before 1992. The years 1993 and 1994 brought about the departures of long time Program Director Jay Johnson, Operations Manager Amos Brown and ultimately General Manager Al Hobbs (who was replaced by Paul Major, who was a notable DJ on WGEE-AM and WTLC back in the late 1960s)…two major moves made by Paul at that time was the promotion of Vycki Buchanon as WTLC's first (and only) female Program Director in the station's history in 1993. And the Fall of 1994 marked the arrival of Guy Black to the Indianapolis market. "Guy Black & The Breakfast Club" made an immediate hit in mornings. His initial cast of characters included L.C. Clemmons and News Director Wendall Ray.
As WTLC was about to celebrate its 30th anniversary, the station was about to experience changes in various directions. November 1996, brought about the first wave of changes, with Indianapolis-based Emmis Broadcasting (now Emmis Communications
) purchasing WTLC-FM (as well as sister station WTLC-AM) from Panache Broadcasting. Emmis’ first move was to hire Vince Fruge as General Manager, replacing Paul Major, and Indianapolis native Brian Wallace as its Program Director. By this time, not only was WHHH
the stations’ primary competitor (with a younger targeting Rhythmic CHR format), but owners Bill Shirk and Bill Mays had purchased and launched WBKS ("Kiss 106.7") as an Urban AC station, with its music targeted in late 60's, 70's and 80's R&B, and the Tom Joyner Morning Show
as it anchor. WTLC re-positioned itself as "Indianapolis’ R&B Station", with a new slogan "R&B Hits 105.7 WTLC", a tighter playlist of songs, as well as the emergence of several key personalities in new "Guy Black & The Breakfast Club" co-host Ramona Holloway (replacing Wendall Ray, who was promoted to Program Director of WTLC-AM and L.C. Clemmon who moved to WTLC-AM with her new talk show "Sista Talk"), along with Troy Johnson (son of former WTLC PD Jay Johnson) and "The Loverman" (Jerry Wade's handle when he moved to the late night show "The Soft Touch"). These moves along with a new marketing campaign which employed the likes of Mary J Blige and Indianapolis’ own Babyface, WTLC catapulted back into the top 5 in the Indianapolis Arbitron ratings. Other moves made at that time included the creation of the "Saturday Night Basement Party", first hosted by Thomas "Sparkle Soxx" Griffin, then by Amp Harris, showcasing the hottest club music from the days of St. Peter Claiborne, Isle 25 at Market Square Arena, Picadillys and Faces.
The year 1998 brought about more changes at WTLC, with the September arrival of MC Marcus Chapman to do nights, replacing Troy Johnson, and the move of the Tom Joyner Morning Show to WTLC from WBKS, moving Guy Black to the afternoon show. After 21 years at WTLC, 1999 saw the departure of Vycki Buchanon, and the arrival of Karen Vaughn from WERQ/Baltimore
as new midday host and Music Director for the station. 1999 also saw the hiring of DJ Paul Bunyon, who mixed for the Saturday Night Basement Party as well as the 5 O’Clock Mikki Fikki Mix (with Guy Black), and the insertion of overnight jock Garth Adams as the official mixer for Karen Vaughn's 12 O’Clock Mikki Fikki Mix. Despite huge ratings success, the winds of change still swept into 40 Momument Circle, as Ramona Holloway left in 2000, and was replaced by current WTLC News Director Terri Dee. In addition, MC Marcus Chapman left in December 2000 (replaced by Amp Harris). And then, WTLC would make a surprising move in 2001.
February 15, 2001 brought about the sale of WTLC-AM/FM from Emmis Communications to Lanham, Maryland-based Radio One
. WTLC-FM immediately moved to their La Pas Trail location, while WTLC-AM stayed in operation at 40 Monument Circle until May 2001. In addition, WTLC-FM's programming moved from 105.7 FM to 106.7 FM (replacing WBKS). Vince Fruge was named General Manager of Radio One's new cluster, which included WTLC-AM, WTLC-FM, WHHH, and WYJZ. On Friday, May 25, 2001, Radio One made the move of changing WTLC-FM from a Mainstream Urban
format to its current Urban AC format, discontinuing the airing of Hip-Hop and focusing on R&B music from the 70's, 80's and 90's using the slogan "Indy's R&B Leader and the home of the Tom Joyner Morning Show". On the same day, Program Director Brian Wallace took over the programming duties at sister station WHHH, re-marketing it as "Indianapolis' only Hip-Hop station". The only staff change in this change was the "homecoming" of WHHH morning host Tony LaMont back to WTLC as the new midday host (replacing Karen Vaughn, who moved on to WQHT in Miami, Florida
). WTLC staffers Amp Harris and Liz Dixson were moved to WHHH.
In 2002, Deon Levingston was elevated to General Manager of the cluster, replaced Vince Fruge. 2004 brought about the departure of Guy Black in July, who left to do morning at KMEZ in New Orleans, and Deon Levingston in October, to become General Manager at the legendary WBLS in New York. Tony LaMont would later move into the afternoon show as "First Lady" Khris Raye was hired in January 2005 to do the midday show. Current WTLC General Manager Chuck Williams came aboard in March 2005
WTLC-FM in the 21st century has enjoyed phenomenal ratings success with the Urban AC format, traditionally placing in the Top 5 in the 25-54 Adult demographic (and sometimes in the Top 3).
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 to Greenwood, Indiana
Greenwood, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 36,037 people, 14,931 households, and 9,600 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,524.8 people per square mile . There were 16,042 housing units at an average density of 1,123.9 per square mile...
, serving the Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
area. Like fellow Indianapolis stations WTLC (AM)
WTLC (AM)
WTLC is an AM radio station owned by Radio One in Indianapolis, Indiana. The station operates on the AM radio frequency of 1310 kHz. The studios are located at the corner of Meridian and St. Joseph Streets...
, WHHH
WHHH
WHHH is a rhythmic contemporary radio station in Indianapolis, although it is an urban contemporary reporter per Nielsen BDS. It is at 96.3 FM also known as "Hot 96.3: Interactive Hip-Hop and R&B." Along with four other Indy stations, WTLC , WTLC-FM, WNOU and TV station WDNI they are owned and...
, WNOU, and TV station WDNI-LP
WDNI-LP
WDNI-CD is an independent class-A television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, broadcasting on digital channel 19. Prior to going digital it also used channel 19 and before that, channel 65. It was founded in 1989 on channel 53. Owned by Radio One, its predominant programming is "Indy's Music...
, (Indy's Music Channel), WTLC-FM is owned and operated by Radio One
Radio One
Radio One, Inc is a U.S. company which owns and operates 69 radio stations in 22 American cities. The company is headed by Cathy Hughes, Chairman and her son Alfred Liggins, CEO. The company's target listeners are African Americans in urban areas...
. It is the Indianapolis affiliate for the Tom Joyner Morning Show
Tom Joyner Morning Show
The Tom Joyner Morning Show is a nationally-syndicated program, featuring host Tom Joyner and a team of comedians and commentators reporting and discussing the latest news and sports of the day, playing popular R&B songs from the 1970s through the 1990s as well as contemporary R&B hits, and an...
.
History
WTLC-FM had formerly aired on 105.7 FM before the intellectual rights to the format - but not the frequency - were purchased from Emmis CommunicationsEmmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
by Radio One in 2001. (See the WYXB
WYXB
WYXB branded as "B105" is an FM radio station owned by Emmis Communications in Indianapolis, Indiana. The station operates on the FM radio frequency of 105.7 MHz, FM channel 289. The studios are located on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis...
page for WTLC-FM history before 2001). Immediately prior to this switch, the station operated under the call letters WBKS as a jammin' oldies station positioned as "Kiss 106.7".
WTLC-FM History
In the mid 1960s, fulltime Black radio stations on AM were flourishing in a number of American cities, except Indianapolis. The only Black music and programming on radio was limited to part-time stations or weekend specialty programs.In 1967, a biracial, bipartisan group of Indianapolis business and civic leaders began to work together to find a way to create a radio the station for Indianapolis’ growing then Negro community.
The group, which included Democratic political titans Jim Beatty, attorney Pat Chavis, Sr., and Dr. Frank P. Lloyd, looked for a full time radio outlet.
They approached a group of Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
executives and scientists who owned WAIV(FM), a full time classical music station at 105.7 on the FM dial. The station, which was doing well artistically, wasn’t doing that well financially.
In late 1967, a deal was struck where the Beatty, Chavis, Lloyd group, known as Indianapolis Radio, bought WAIV (FM).
The group chose the creative call letters WTLC and a four decade journey began on January 22, 1968.
WTLC began broadcasting first from the Dearborn Hotel, local on the city's east side. It was a sign of irony that Indianapolis’ first fulltime Black radio station began operation in a hotel built by the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
at the height of their power and influence in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s.
By 1970, the owners of WTLC had dissolved into a serious disagreement over the orientation and direction of the stations. Several of the owners were satisfied with WTLC programming and service to the growing Indianapolis Black community. However, Dr. Lloyd was not. He felt that there was too much emphasis on entertainment and not enough on news, information and community service.
The owners’ dispute broke out into a full scale public disagreement when in early 1970, Dr. Lloyd formally petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny the renewal of WTLC's license and grant him and his Community Media Corporation the station's license. In those days, anyone could petition the FCC to deny a station's license by showing reasons why the current owners were not fit to be owners. At the same time, the challengers had to demonstrate why they would be better owners and outline what they would do with the station.
After squabbling before the FCC for many months, a compromise was reached where Dr. Lloyd and his partners Judy Barrett and Bob Davies and Community Media Corporation, purchased WTLC-FM from its previous owners.
Under Dr. Frank Lloyd and subsequent owners, WTLC-FM flourished into the legendary Urban station it is today.
The birth of WTLC in the late 60's/early 70's began with many notables contributing to its launch, from both a local and national level. From the local level, WTLC launched the careers of Fred Moore, Tyrone Hacker, Roger Holloway Ricky "Solid Gold" Clark "The Black Shadow" (Ralph Featherstone), Larry Nash as well as New York import Spider Harrison creating the new sound of WTLC, playing the national hits while giving support to local artists, such as Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign and Manchild (which launched the stellar career of Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds). Spider left WTLC in 1973 to go onto national prominence doing the night show at legendary WLAC
WLAC
WLAC is a clear channel radio station based in Nashville, Tennessee, operating at 1510 kHz on the AM dial.-Early history:Its first broadcast took place on November 24, 1926. The call letters were chosen to contain an acronym for the first owner of the station, the Life and Casualty Insurance...
in 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...
(which could be heard in 23 states). The early 70's brought upon WTLC's first African-American General Manager in Steve Scott (who replaced original owner/GM Tom Mathis).
In the early 1970s, WTLC created an avenue to expose the market to jazz with the creation of the show "Night Flight", first hosted by Richard Bailey (who would later change his name to Jomo Kali), then later with Colette Vaughn. This show would eventually evolve into more of a "Quiet Storm" music format, which had started popping up on Urban stations nationwide (and ironically created back in the ‘70's by Radio One founder Cathy Hughes).
WTLC was on the ground floor of assisting to create the nation's premiere event for African-American consumers, Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration. In the early days, key Expo people like the Rev. Charles Williams (who would later become Expo President) and Al "The Bishop" Hobbs would work together to create staple Expo events which are still in existence today (like the "Starquest" Talent Competition and the Sunday "Gospel Explosion"). WTLC helped support the Indiana Black Expo in its early days, holding its events at the Indiana State Fair
Indiana State Fair
The Indiana State Fair is an annual fair held in Indianapolis, Indiana, usually in the month of August. The first fair was held in 1881 and the 2009 fair had the highest number of attendees at 973,902....
.
The mid to late 1970s saw WTLC respond to the rising popularity of Disco music, incorporating artists like the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
, KC & The Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...
and many others into its daily programming, while continuing to stay true to its Urban base of core artists like Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
, The O' Jays and others. This was brought upon by the introduction of the "Disco" format by Greenfield suburban station 99.5 WIKS (now WZPL
WZPL
WZPL is a radio station based in Greenfield, Indiana, and serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. The station, known as "99-5 WZPL", airs an Adult Top 40 format. WZPL is owned by Entercom.-History:...
). 1975 was a pivotal year for WTLC. As disco was making its presence on the radio station, new personalities, such as H.B. Davis began to make their mark on the airwaves of WTLC. But none made his or mark more than the arrival of "Super Jay" Johnson (from WVON, Chicago) in September 1975, as he began an influx of air talent from outside of Indianapolis begin to make the Circle City their home. Jay made an immediate impact into the market, and remains to this day synonymous with WTLC's growth and exposure as a national radio powerhouse in the 1970s and 1980s.
Jay would later take over as Program Director of the station from Fred Moore (who would resurface at WIKS before moving onto Majic 108
KMJM-FM
KMJM-FM is an FM radio station licensed to Columbia, Illinois, USA better known as "Majic 104.9". The station airs an Urban Adult Contemporary format, and has been the top-rated station in St...
in St. Louis), and after a brief stint from Roger Holloway. In 1976, Al Hobbs became WTLC's second African American General Manager, replacing Andy Johnston (who ran WTLC-FM from 1973 to 1976).
The 1970s also marked WTLC's commitment to news, unlike any other radio outlet in the Indianapolis. At the time, market powerhouse WIBC
WFNI
WFNI, known as 1070 The Fan, is a radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana owned by Emmis Communications. The station operates on the AM radio frequency of 1070 kHz. The studios are located at 40 Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis...
was considered the "news leader" in the market, but WTLC began to quickly rival that commitment, under the leadership of News Director Gene Slaymaker.
As WTLC made its transition into the 1980s, it made its switch to the moniker "Power 105.7". The early 1980s marked a transition into new "star" air personalities on the station, including home grown talent like Tony LaMont and Thomas J. Griffin, plus new transplants like Kelly Karson, Ray Cooper, Geno Shelton, "Jammin'" Jerry Jay Walker, Vycki Buchanon, Butter and Lauryn Nicole.
WTLC was one of the first Urban stations outside of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to start playing hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. Unfortunately, it met with resistance from some of its listenership. The amount of complaints promoted the station to steer away from playing rap music, which ultimately opening a path for the creation of WSYW
WSYW
WSYW is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish Oldies format, branded as La Joya . Licensed to Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, the station serves the Indianapolis area. The station is currently owned by Continental Broadcast Group, LLC.-History:The station went on the air as WIGO in 1963. Luke...
"Yo 810", and later, WHHH
WHHH
WHHH is a rhythmic contemporary radio station in Indianapolis, although it is an urban contemporary reporter per Nielsen BDS. It is at 96.3 FM also known as "Hot 96.3: Interactive Hip-Hop and R&B." Along with four other Indy stations, WTLC , WTLC-FM, WNOU and TV station WDNI they are owned and...
(Hot 96.3) in October 1991.
As the "Night Flight" made its evolution into a standard "Quiet Storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
" music format of R&B Ballads, the format feature "Jazz on The Half" was born, where each DJ could a play a Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
song around :30 after the hour. Eventually, this evolved into "Jazz At 45", all created to still give exposure to the music genre. As competition (WSYW, "Yo 810") began to surface, Jazz was pulled in late 80's as long time "Night Flight" host Collette Vaughn made a transition into sales.
As the 80's were coming to an end, so was emergence of news "specialists", such as CNN on cable television, focused on giving news 24/7 around the clock and shifting towards some talk shows. This led to the "restructuring" of the WTLC News Department, shrinking its body count by a few people.
As WTLC moved into the 1990s, ownership committed to the elimination of WTLC's News Department, cutting it to one person (Wendall Ray, who was cut back in the late 1980s when WTLC's ownership made it first cut into the news department came back as its News Director). In addition, the early 1990s marked a transition with "star" air personalities like Jerry Wade coming to the station, and Tony LaMont, Kelly Karson, Ray Cooper and Geno Shelton leaving the station before 1992. The years 1993 and 1994 brought about the departures of long time Program Director Jay Johnson, Operations Manager Amos Brown and ultimately General Manager Al Hobbs (who was replaced by Paul Major, who was a notable DJ on WGEE-AM and WTLC back in the late 1960s)…two major moves made by Paul at that time was the promotion of Vycki Buchanon as WTLC's first (and only) female Program Director in the station's history in 1993. And the Fall of 1994 marked the arrival of Guy Black to the Indianapolis market. "Guy Black & The Breakfast Club" made an immediate hit in mornings. His initial cast of characters included L.C. Clemmons and News Director Wendall Ray.
As WTLC was about to celebrate its 30th anniversary, the station was about to experience changes in various directions. November 1996, brought about the first wave of changes, with Indianapolis-based Emmis Broadcasting (now Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
) purchasing WTLC-FM (as well as sister station WTLC-AM) from Panache Broadcasting. Emmis’ first move was to hire Vince Fruge as General Manager, replacing Paul Major, and Indianapolis native Brian Wallace as its Program Director. By this time, not only was WHHH
WHHH
WHHH is a rhythmic contemporary radio station in Indianapolis, although it is an urban contemporary reporter per Nielsen BDS. It is at 96.3 FM also known as "Hot 96.3: Interactive Hip-Hop and R&B." Along with four other Indy stations, WTLC , WTLC-FM, WNOU and TV station WDNI they are owned and...
the stations’ primary competitor (with a younger targeting Rhythmic CHR format), but owners Bill Shirk and Bill Mays had purchased and launched WBKS ("Kiss 106.7") as an Urban AC station, with its music targeted in late 60's, 70's and 80's R&B, and the Tom Joyner Morning Show
Tom Joyner Morning Show
The Tom Joyner Morning Show is a nationally-syndicated program, featuring host Tom Joyner and a team of comedians and commentators reporting and discussing the latest news and sports of the day, playing popular R&B songs from the 1970s through the 1990s as well as contemporary R&B hits, and an...
as it anchor. WTLC re-positioned itself as "Indianapolis’ R&B Station", with a new slogan "R&B Hits 105.7 WTLC", a tighter playlist of songs, as well as the emergence of several key personalities in new "Guy Black & The Breakfast Club" co-host Ramona Holloway (replacing Wendall Ray, who was promoted to Program Director of WTLC-AM and L.C. Clemmon who moved to WTLC-AM with her new talk show "Sista Talk"), along with Troy Johnson (son of former WTLC PD Jay Johnson) and "The Loverman" (Jerry Wade's handle when he moved to the late night show "The Soft Touch"). These moves along with a new marketing campaign which employed the likes of Mary J Blige and Indianapolis’ own Babyface, WTLC catapulted back into the top 5 in the Indianapolis Arbitron ratings. Other moves made at that time included the creation of the "Saturday Night Basement Party", first hosted by Thomas "Sparkle Soxx" Griffin, then by Amp Harris, showcasing the hottest club music from the days of St. Peter Claiborne, Isle 25 at Market Square Arena, Picadillys and Faces.
The year 1998 brought about more changes at WTLC, with the September arrival of MC Marcus Chapman to do nights, replacing Troy Johnson, and the move of the Tom Joyner Morning Show to WTLC from WBKS, moving Guy Black to the afternoon show. After 21 years at WTLC, 1999 saw the departure of Vycki Buchanon, and the arrival of Karen Vaughn from WERQ/Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
as new midday host and Music Director for the station. 1999 also saw the hiring of DJ Paul Bunyon, who mixed for the Saturday Night Basement Party as well as the 5 O’Clock Mikki Fikki Mix (with Guy Black), and the insertion of overnight jock Garth Adams as the official mixer for Karen Vaughn's 12 O’Clock Mikki Fikki Mix. Despite huge ratings success, the winds of change still swept into 40 Momument Circle, as Ramona Holloway left in 2000, and was replaced by current WTLC News Director Terri Dee. In addition, MC Marcus Chapman left in December 2000 (replaced by Amp Harris). And then, WTLC would make a surprising move in 2001.
February 15, 2001 brought about the sale of WTLC-AM/FM from Emmis Communications to Lanham, Maryland-based Radio One
Radio One
Radio One, Inc is a U.S. company which owns and operates 69 radio stations in 22 American cities. The company is headed by Cathy Hughes, Chairman and her son Alfred Liggins, CEO. The company's target listeners are African Americans in urban areas...
. WTLC-FM immediately moved to their La Pas Trail location, while WTLC-AM stayed in operation at 40 Monument Circle until May 2001. In addition, WTLC-FM's programming moved from 105.7 FM to 106.7 FM (replacing WBKS). Vince Fruge was named General Manager of Radio One's new cluster, which included WTLC-AM, WTLC-FM, WHHH, and WYJZ. On Friday, May 25, 2001, Radio One made the move of changing WTLC-FM from a Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
format to its current Urban AC format, discontinuing the airing of Hip-Hop and focusing on R&B music from the 70's, 80's and 90's using the slogan "Indy's R&B Leader and the home of the Tom Joyner Morning Show". On the same day, Program Director Brian Wallace took over the programming duties at sister station WHHH, re-marketing it as "Indianapolis' only Hip-Hop station". The only staff change in this change was the "homecoming" of WHHH morning host Tony LaMont back to WTLC as the new midday host (replacing Karen Vaughn, who moved on to WQHT in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
). WTLC staffers Amp Harris and Liz Dixson were moved to WHHH.
In 2002, Deon Levingston was elevated to General Manager of the cluster, replaced Vince Fruge. 2004 brought about the departure of Guy Black in July, who left to do morning at KMEZ in New Orleans, and Deon Levingston in October, to become General Manager at the legendary WBLS in New York. Tony LaMont would later move into the afternoon show as "First Lady" Khris Raye was hired in January 2005 to do the midday show. Current WTLC General Manager Chuck Williams came aboard in March 2005
WTLC-FM in the 21st century has enjoyed phenomenal ratings success with the Urban AC format, traditionally placing in the Top 5 in the 25-54 Adult demographic (and sometimes in the Top 3).