WNTS (1590 AM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to Beech Grove, Indiana, and serving the

Indianapolis metropolitan area Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson or Indianapolis metropolitan area is an 11-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Indiana, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Central Indiana, within t ...

. It broadcasts a Classic Regional Mexican

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

and is owned by Marvin Kosofosky's Continental Broadcast Group, L.L.C. The radio studios and

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

are located at 4800 East Raymond Street near Sloan Avenue on the southeast side of Indianapolis. By day, WNTS is powered at 5,000

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 ...

s. Because 1590 AM is a regional frequency, it reduces power at night to 500 watts to avoid interference with other stations. It uses a directional antenna with a three-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

History

On , the station signed on as WGEE. It was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, required to go off the air at sunset. Most of the station's programming was aimed at the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

community of Indianapolis. Much of the remainder of the station's programming was devoted to

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. On May 15, 1964, WGEE launched sister station WGEE-FM (now WOLT). During the early years, the two stations

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

, with WGEE-FM continuing the programming after sunset, when WGEE AM had to be off the air. WGEE-AM-FM aired a format known as the "WG Parade Of Hits". Bob Todd was Program Director with

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

s Scott Evans, George L. Davis, Mike O'Brien, Scott Wheeler, Jim Fox, Ron Hoffer, and Steve Miller. Dick Shane was News Director. WIRE owner Mid America Radio acquired WGEE-FM in March 1972. The FM adopted a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

format with call letters WXTZ. On May 7, 1972, WGEE was acquired by B & G Broadcasting. The station became WNIR "The Country Winner" with a country format programmed by Bob Todd, with Buddy O'Shay as morning DJ. On April 15, 1974, WNIR was acquired by S & M Broadcasting, and became "News Talk Sports 16." The new call letters reflected the format: WNTS for News, Talk, Sports. Sam Smulyan was president of the new company. His son Jeff (later President and CEO of Indianapolis-based

Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...

) was appointed General Manager. Operations were handled by Rick Cummings. Other employees after the change to news and talk included a Broad Ripple High School and Ball State University graduate named David Letterman, who later went on to become the host of late night comedy shows on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. In early 1976, WNTS switched to

all news radio All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

, using national news programming from

's News and Information Service (NIS). NIS only lasted two years before NBC decided to cancel the service. WNTS changed to Christian radio on January 18, 1977. That was coupled with permission from 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 jurisdicti ...

to broadcast at night. To do so, the

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American br ...

for WNTS was changed from Indianapolis to Beech Grove. An additional tower was also added at the station's transmitter site. After changing to religious programming, WNTS aired a schedule of

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

music with some Christian talk and teaching shows. Around 1990, it changed format to Southern Gospel music and talk. The station was managed by Jim Wilson. DJ's included Larry Dean, Diane Benson, Kevin Wilson, Chris Moore, Nancy Marie, and Tom Elliott. One program was the 4-hour all-request music program "Country Gospel Store", started by Jim Wilson's wife, Nancy Marie. After Nancy Marie's death, the Country Gospel Store continued with host Kevin Wilson. In 2003, Daniel Ott started an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

format on the station, known as "The Edge." It continued through 2005. On October 28, 2019, WNTS changed its format to Classic Regional Mexican, branded as "La Pantera 1590", swapping formats with co-owned

WSYW WSYW (810 AM) is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It broadcasts a Spanish language adult contemporary radio format, branded as Exitos 94.3. The station is owned by Continental Broadcast Group, LLC. By day, WSYW is powered a ...

(810 AM).Indianapolis Spanish Stations Swap Signals
Raioinsight - October 29, 2019

The Edge Broadcast Website

https://theedgeam.com

Previous logo

References

External links

Davison Media Group
* * {{Spanish Radio Stations in Indiana NTS NTS Oldies radio stations in the United States