WTVL

WTVL (1490 kHz "Kool AM 1490") is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Waterville, Maine, and serving Kennebec County. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts an adult standards radio format, playing softer hits from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. The station features the music of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Nat King Cole and Dionne Warwick in its playlist.

WTVL
CityWaterville, Maine
Broadcast areaKennebec County, Maine
Frequency1490 kHz
BrandingKool AM 1490
SloganWhere Legends Live
Programming
FormatAdult Standards
Ownership
OwnerTownsquare Media
(Townsquare Media Augusta/Waterville License, LLC)
WEBB, WJZN, WMME-FM
History
First air date
June 19, 1946
Former call signs
WODJ (2004)
Call sign meaning
WaTerVilLe
Technical information
Facility ID52607
ClassC
Power1,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
44°33′52″N 69°36′39″W
Links
WebcastListen live
Websitekoolam.com

WTVL is powered at 1,000 watts. The transmitter is off Benton Avenue in Winslow.[1] The studios and offices are on Western Avenue in Augusta.[2]

History

On June 19, 1946, WTVL first signed on as an ABC Network affiliate owned by Kennebec Broadcasting Company.[3] WTVL carried ABC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big 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.[4] WTVL-AM-FM had a middle of the road format and carried news from the ABC Entertainment network.[5] In 1984, the station shifted to an adult contemporary format.[6]

The following year, WTVL changed to a nostalgia format programmed separately from the FM station, which had moved to 98.5 FM and had become adult contemporary station WDBX.[7] In 1987, WDBX returned to the WTVL-FM call sign, and the two stations resumed simulcasting with an oldies format.[8]

E.H. Close, owner of WPNH AM-FM in Plymouth, New Hampshire and WKNE AM-FM in Keene, New Hampshire, bought WTVL and WTVL-FM from Kennebec Broadcasting for $1.29 million in 1988.[9] By 1990, the stations had changed to a soft rock format.[10] In 1993, WTVL-FM became country music station WEBB; the simulcast on WTVL continued, even though the AM call letters were not changed.[11]

Pilot Communications bought WTVL and WEBB for $450,000 in 1994.[12] Pilot's radio stations were acquired by Citadel Broadcasting in 1999 as part of its purchase of parent company Broadcasting Partners Holdings.[13] In January 2003, Citadel ended WTVL's simulcast of WEBB and switched the station to an adult standards format, simulcast with sister station WEZW (1400 AM, now WJZN) in Waterville under the "Kool" branding.[14] The call letters were changed to WODJ on November 26, 2004; on December 8, the WTVL call sign returned.[15]

Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[16] Townsquare Media acquired Cumulus' Augusta/Waterville stations in 2012.[17] The simulcast with WJZN ended on July 14, 2016, when that station changed to a classic rock format.[18]

References
  1. Radio-Locator.com/WTVL
  2. KoolAM.com/help
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1947 (PDF). 1947. p. 122. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  4. 1969 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1969. p. B-77. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  5. 1974 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1974. p. B-95. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  6. Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1985 (PDF). 1985. p. B-122. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  7. Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1986 (PDF). 1986. p. B-128. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  8. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1986 (PDF). 1986. p. B-129. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  9. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 3, 1988. p. 71. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  10. The Broadcasting Yearbook 1991 (PDF). 1991. p. B-148. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  11. Fybush, Scott. "Maine Radio History, 1971–1996". The Archives at BostonRadio.org. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  12. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. April 18, 1994. p. 34. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  13. Seavey, Deborah Turcotte (November 9, 1999). "8 Maine radio stations bought". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  14. Fybush, Scott (January 27, 2003). "KB Komes Back". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  15. "Call Sign History (WTVL)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  16. "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  17. "Cumulus sells radio stations in Bangor, Augusta, Presque Isle". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. April 30, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  18. Capital 95.9 Launches in Augusta, ME Radioinsight - July 14, 2016
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