WYLS is a radio station

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 York, Alabama

York, Alabama

York is a city in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,854.-Geography:York is located at .According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....

, USA. The station, founded in 1970, is owned by Sarah P. Grant.

WYLS broadcasts a Black Gospel music format.

History

This station began licensed operation on 1350 kHz with 5,000 watt

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

s of power in November 1970. Owned by William P. Grant d/b/a Grantell Broadcasting Company, the new station was assigned the WYLS call letters by the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

.

WYLS made national headlines when the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 reported that the station's soft drink machine still dispensed bottles of soda for just a nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

. The article made humorous reference to the commodity price ceiling

Price ceiling

A price ceiling is a government-imposed limit on the price charged for a product. Governments intend price ceilings to protect consumers from conditions that could make necessary commodities unattainable. However, a price ceiling can cause problems if imposed for a long period without controlled...

s and wage controls in the United States imposed by President Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 from 1971 to late 1973.

In July 1987, the station applied for a construction permit

Construction permit

A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...

that would allow a change in broadcast frequency to 670 kHz. The permit was granted on October 20, 1987, and the station began licensed operation on the new frequency on January 28, 1988.

In 2003, William P. Grant died and, per the terms of his will, control of the station and the broadcast license passed to his wife, current owner Sarah P. Grant.