WTLS (AM)
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| WTLS | |
| City of license | Tallassee, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1300 AM & 106.5 FM |
| Format | sports/talk |
| Power | 1200 Watts (day) 18 Watts (night) 80 Watts (FM) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 48011 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Callsign meaning | TalLasSee |
| Owner | Michael Butler Broadcasting. LLC |
| Webcast | mms://audio4radio.net/wtls%20radio |
| Website | http://www.1300wtls.com/ |
WTLS (1300 AM & 106.5 FM) is a radio station in Central Alabama, 30 miles northeast of Montgomery. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day. WTLS streams programming over the internet through its website at www.1300wtls.com.
Contents |
[edit] History
WTLS began broadcasting in 1954. The original owner was Bert Bank, former state senator and founder of the Alabama Radio Network; now the Alabama Sports Network, provider of University of Alabama sports broadcasts. The radio station's first engineer, Ned Butler, purchased the radio station from Bank in 1957. Butler put the first FM station in Tuscaloosa on the air for Bank in 1953. In addition, Butler built stations in Ozark, Luverne, and Talladega in the 1950s.[1]
The WTLS Station Manager for decades was Betty Butler (Ned's wife). Betty also hosted a morning show, Coffee Time, which featured styrofoam puppets "Happy" & "Menace." Harold Shedd, original producer of the Country music group, Alabama, worked for Butler in 1956. In 1970, Steve Butler (Ned's son), made WTLS the first All-Country radio station in Central Alabama.
Third generation broadcaster Michael Butler (Steve's son), took over the operation in 1999 after working as Program Director for a Montgomery radio group. Akin to the early days with Betty and Ned, Michael's wife Leigh Anne serves as WTLS station manager today.
[edit] Programming
WTLS has a sports/talk radio format, featuring a local morning show, The Wake-Up Call, with Michael, Shane Yankey, and Miles Hathcock. Carl Wayne Mullins, the brother of the late "Dr. Earl Fever," another former disc jockey, is a regular on the program. Rick Dorley, a local pastor, presents Morning Gospel each morning, a tradition that started immediately after the station's inception. He also broadcasts an inspiration message daily in the program, The Way of the Cross.
Other popular programs include nationally syndicated talk show hosts, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Dave Ramsey. Paul Finebaum, a highly acclaimed Birmingham-based columnist and air talent, hosts Alabama's most popular sportstalk show every afternoon. WTLS carries The Ultimate Sports Show with Kenny Stabler and Chris Stewart and Fox Sports Radio's overnight and weekend line-up. WTLS also broadcasts live play-by-play sports, including Tallassee Tigers' high school football, basketball and baseball.
WTLS is the flagship station for Prep Sports Weekly, a statewide high school sports show with Doug Amos & Rick Cleveland, which has aired since 1994. WTLS also produces the regionally syndicated, In the Trenches, featuring former Alabama Crimson Tide center Roger Shultz and former Auburn Tigers quarterback Stan White. Yellowhammer Outdoors with Wes Allen, a daily production of WTLS, is distributed throughout Alabama.
WTLS was the 2004 recipient of the Greater Tallassee Area Chamber of Commerce "Business of the Year." WTLS was presented the Alabama Broadcasters Association "Station of the Year" in 2007.
In October of 2007, WTLS began broadcasting on an FM translator at 106.5 FM. WTLS was one of the first radio stations in the country authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast with this type of license. The broadcast facility is located in the Tallassee Industrial Park on the west bank of the Tallapoosa River.
[edit] References
- ^ Tallassee Tribune, 2004
[edit] External links
- WTLS official website
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WTLS
- Radio Locator Information on WTLS
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WTLS
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