 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Kennebec County, Maine |
| Frequency | 1490kHz |
| Branding | Kool AM 1490 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Defunct (wasadult standards) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WEBB,WJZN,WMME-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | June 19, 1946; 79 years ago (1946-06-19) |
Last air date | December 31, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-12-31) |
Former call signs | WODJ (2004) |
Call sign meaning | Waterville |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 52607 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 44°33′52″N69°36′39″W / 44.56444°N 69.61083°W /44.56444; -69.61083 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | koolam |
WTVL (1490kHz "Kool AM 1490") was acommercialAMradio stationlicensed to serveWaterville, Maine, and servingKennebec County. The station was owned byTownsquare Media and until December 31, 2022, it broadcast anadult standardsradio format, playing softer hits from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The station featured the music ofFrank Sinatra,Barbra Streisand,Nat King Cole andDionne Warwick in itsplaylist.
WTVL’s transmitter power output was 1,000watts. Thetransmitter was off Benton Avenue inWinslow.[2] Thestudios and offices were on Western Avenue inAugusta.[3]
On June 19, 1946, WTVL firstsigned on as anABCnetwork affiliate owned by Kennebec Broadcasting Company.[4] WTVL carried ABC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports,soap operas,game shows andbig band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio."
An FM sister station went on the air March 26, 1968, at 98.3 FM, simulcasting WTVL's programming.[5] WTVL-AM-FM had amiddle of the road format and carried news from theABC Entertainment network.[6] In 1984, the station shifted to anadult contemporary format.[7]
The following year, WTVL changed to a nostalgia format programmed separately from the FM station, which had moved to 98.5 FM and had becomeadult contemporary station WDBX.[8] In 1987, WDBX returned to the WTVL-FMcall sign, and the two stations resumed simulcasting with anoldies format.[9]
E.H. Close, owner ofWPNH AM-FM inPlymouth, New Hampshire, andWKNE AM-FM inKeene, New Hampshire, bought WTVL and WTVL-FM from Kennebec Broadcasting for $1.29 million in 1988.[10] By 1990, the stations had changed to asoft rock format.[11] In 1993, WTVL-FM becamecountry music station WEBB; the simulcast on WTVL continued, even though the AM call sign was not changed.[12]
Pilot Communications bought WTVL and WEBB for $450,000 in 1994.[13] Pilot's radio stations were acquired byCitadel Broadcasting in 1999 as part of its purchase of parent company Broadcasting Partners Holdings.[14] In January 2003, Citadel ended WTVL's simulcast of WEBB and switched the station to anadult standards format, simulcast with sister station WEZW (1400 AM, nowWJZN) inWaterville under the "Kool" branding.[15] The call sign was changed to WODJ on November 26, 2004; on December 8, the WTVL call sign returned.[16]
Citadel merged withCumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[17]Townsquare Media acquired Cumulus' Augusta/Waterville stations in 2012.[18] The simulcast with WJZN ended on July 14, 2016, when that station changed to aclassic rock format.[19]
On December 31, 2022, WTVL went silent.[20] Townsquare Media surrendered the station's license to theFederal Communications Commission on December 29, 2023, which cancelled it on January 8, 2024.[21]