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| Broadcast area | Atlanta metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 970kHz |
| Branding | Faith Talk 970 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian radio |
| Affiliations | Salem Radio Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1949; 76 years ago (1949) |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 23607 |
| Class | D |
| Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 33°48′34″N84°21′14″W / 33.809444°N 84.353889°W /33.809444; -84.353889 |
| Repeater(s) | 104.7WFSH-HD2 (Athens) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | www |
WNIV (970AM) is acommercialChristianradio station licensed toAtlanta, Georgia. It is one of threeSalem Media Group-owned stations in theAtlanta metropolitan area carrying aChristian talk and teachingradio format.AM 590WDWD carries a different schedule of national and local religious leaders, whileAM 1400WLTA inAlpharetta, Georgia,simulcasts WNIV's programming for Atlanta's northern suburbs.
WNIV broadcasts with 5,000watts of power during daytime hours. But to protect other stations onAM 970, it drops to 39 watts during nighttime hours, rendering it all but unlistenable even in much of Atlanta; WLTA serves mainly to fill in the gaps in WNIV's nighttime signal. WNIV uses anon-directional antenna day and night. WNIV's single transmitting tower is shared byWAFS (previously under common ownership) using an antenna diplexing system. TheFederal Communications Commission considers WNIV to be aClass D AM facility.
WNIV and WLTA air national and local religious leaders, includingDavid Jeremiah,Jim Daly,Alistair Begg,Charles Stanley andChuck Swindoll. Many of the same shows are also heard on co-owned FaithTalk 590 WDWD, but at different times. Salem sells blocks ofbrokered programming time to hosts, who in turn, may appeal for donations to the radio ministries.SRN News begins some hours of the day.
The radio station, which is the current WNIV, has had a long history in the Atlantaradio market. The station first signed on inDecatur in 1949 with the originalcall sign WGLS.[2] It was owned by the DeKalb Broadcasting Company and a 1,000-wattdaytimer, required to go off the air at night.
It later picked up the call sign WTAM when theCleveland station that had used those call letters changed to KYW. In the 1960s, it changed to WIIN.[3][4]
In 1968, WIIN flipped to aTop 40 format.[3][5] During the early 1970s WIIN changed format toprogressive rock under new local owner Blake Hawkins. WIIN was, for a while, Atlanta's only progressive rock station and quickly became known for introducing new rock music to the Atlanta market. Under Program Directors John Parker and Brent Alberts, WIIN featured morning talent Skinny Bobby Harper who was consistently in the top 5 in Atlanta morning ratings.[6] WIIN became anadult standards/easy listening station in the late 1970s.[3]
In the early 1980s, the station changed its call letters to WKLS and format toalbum rock, as a simulcast of 96.1 WKLS-FM (nowWWPW).[3] The simulcast lasted until 1988 when the station was sold.[4] The new owner, Salem Communications, changed the call letters to the current WNIV.[4] The station adoptedChristian talk and teaching programming.[3]
Former Georgia CongressmanPat Swindall hosted a daily talk show on WNIV for several years, after serving a federal prison sentence.
