WTMI

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WTMI is a classical music station branded as Radio Beethoven at AM 1290 in West Hartford, Connecticut. The station is owned by Marlin Broadcasting of Hartford, LLC operating as a class D AM station.

[edit] History of WTMI

WTMI AM 1290 in West Hartford, CT USA, is one of the few remaining commercial classical music stations in the US. One of the things that makes WTMI notable is that is carries the programming of it's co-owned webcast station, beethoven.com. While many radio stations in the US stream their audio on the web, this is one of the few cases, and perhaps the first, where a stand-along webcaster had a full time radio stations carrying its programming.

WTMI is also notable because Radio World On Line has published articles and letters about the station, for example http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/beethoven.shtml

WTMI is owned by Marlin Broadcasting, is the only commercial station licensed to West Hartford, CT and was the first station in the state to adopt HD radio digital technology in April, 2005 (also notable).

AM 1290 in West Hartford, CT USA dates back to 1948 when the station first went on the air from the well known Hotel Bond in Hartford, CT. The call letters at that point were WCCC which stood for "We Cover Connecticut's Capitol". AM 1290 was one of the only stations in the country ever owned by a record label, in this case Elektra (1960s).

Howard Stern was heard daily on WCCC (now WTMI) when he started his talk radio career in the late seventies. Other notable hosts over the years were Bob Crane, Ivor Hugh, Rusty Pots and Country Paul Payton.

Previously, the call letters WTMI belonged to an FM station in Miami, Florida, USA.

[edit] External References

• Official Website