WMFC was a daytime-only

AM broadcasting AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmis ...

station on 1360 kHz at

Monroeville, Alabama Monroeville is the county seat of Monroe County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census its population was 5,951. Monroeville is known as the hometown of two prominent writers of the post-World War II period, Truman Capote and Harper Lee, w ...

, United States. The station, launched in 1952, was owned by Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc., and was last managed by David Stewart. It was a sister station to WMFC-FM.

History

WMFC was owned continuously, in whole or in part, by the Stewart family since its 1952 launch. After station co-founder William M. Stewart died in early 1995, ownership of Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc., including sister station WMFC-FM (99.3 FM), passed to his widow, Carolyn H. Stewart. The AM/FM station combo was managed by their son, David Stewart, who has been involved with the station since first hosting a weekend radio show at age 10. The station began broadcast operations in April 1952 with 250

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power at 1220

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

on the

AM band Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

. The station was assigned the WMFC call letters by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

. Launched by the Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc., the station was co-owned by James H. Faulkner and by William M. Stewart, publisher of the weekly ''Monroe Journal and South Alabamian'' newspaper. In 1959, Stewart assumed sole ownership and operation of Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc. In 1956, the station moved to its final 1360 kHz frequency and increased its broadcast power to 1,000 watts. In November 1986, the FCC granted the station a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to increase the height of its broadcast tower, reduce power to 800 watts, and relocate the transmitter site to just outside the city limits of Monroeville. WMFC's original broadcast studios were located in a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...

near downtown Monroeville. The station's final studios were in a brick building on

Alabama State Route 21 State Route 21 (SR 21) is a State highway (US), state highway that extends from the Florida state line, near Atmore, Alabama, Atmore in Escambia County, Alabama, Escambia County to Piedmont, Alabama, Piedmont in Calhoun County, Alabama ...

, just northeast of the city. WMFC last broadcast an

oldies music Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

format, with much of the programming fed from

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

's satellite network. In addition to its usual music programming, WMFC aired

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

athletics events including Crimson Tide basketball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Monroe Broadcasting surrendered its license for WMFC (AM) on October 12, 2010, and the station license was deleted later that month. The license for WMFC (formerly WMFC-FM) remains in effect, with that station still broadcasting as an oldies station.

References

External links

FCC Station Search Details: DWMFC
(Facility ID: 43532)
FCC History Cards for WMFC
(covering 1950-1979) MFC Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1952 Radio stations disestablished in 2010 Monroe County, Alabama 1952 establishments in Alabama 2010 disestablishments in Alabama MFC MFC {{Alabama-radio-station-stub