WLWI (1440 kHz, "News Radio 1440") is an AM

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 serve

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, United States. The station is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

and the license is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC. The WLWI studios are located on the third floor of The Colonial Financial Center in downtown Montgomery, and the transmitter tower is in Montgomery's southside. It broadcasts a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

format to the

Montgomery metropolitan area The Montgomery, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area (commonly known as the Tri-Counties or the River Region) is a metropolitan area in central Alabama. As of 2020, the MSA had a population of 386,047, ranking it 142nd among United States Metrop ...

. Notable local programming includes "Decisions" with retired Army Sergeant Kevin Elkins and "Tactics" with former national debate champion and minister Caleb Colquitt. Notable syndicated programming includes

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show '' The Mark Levin Show'', as well as '' Life, Liberty & Levin'' on Fox News. Levin worked in the admin ...

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

, ''

The Sean Hannity Show ''The Sean Hannity Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Sean Hannity. The program is broadcast live every weekday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The show is produced in the New York City studios of radio station WOR and is sometimes ...

'', The Daily Wire, and

Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942), known by his professional name Michael Savage, is a far-right author, conspiracy theorist, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Na ...

. Overnight, the station broadcasts the syndicated ''

Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...

''. The station also carries all 140 games of the local Minor League Baseball team the

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

History

The beginning

This station, the oldest radio station in Montgomery and the fourth oldest in Alabama, began broadcasting as WSFA on April 30, 1930. Montgomery's next oldest, WCOV (now

WGMP WGMP (1170 AM, ''104.9 The Gump'') is an alternative rock formatted radio station that serves the Montgomery Metropolitan Area, in Alabama, United States, broadcasting on the AM band at a frequency of 1170 KHz and via a broadcast translator on ...

), didn't begin broadcasting until February 1939. The radio station's callsign, intended to promote Montgomery's city air field, stood for "With the South's Finest Airport". A formerly-affiliated Montgomery television station (then WSFA-TV, now simply

WSFA WSFA (channel 12) is a television station in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WBXM-CD (channel 15). The two stations share studios on ...

) still holds this historic callsign. WSFA was originally operated under the ownership of the Montgomery Broadcasting Company, Inc., a partnership between local businessmen Howard Pill and

Gordon Persons Seth Gordon Persons (February 5, 1902 – May 29, 1965) was an American Democratic politician who was the 43rd Governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955. He was born and died in Montgomery, Alabama. The Dauphin Island Bridge south of Mobile ...

. Persons, who stepped down as president of the company in 1939, would go on to serve as the forty-third governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955. Country music legend Hank Williams got his start as a professional musician in 1936 with regular appearances on WSFA. It was during this period that he formed his longtime backing band, the

Drifting Cowboys The Drifting Cowboys were the backing group for American country legend and singer-songwriter Hank Williams. The band went through several lineups during Williams' career. The original lineup was formed in 1937, changing musicians from show to s ...

. Southern Gospel family group the

Speer Family The Speer Family was a Southern gospel family musical group. It was founded in 1921 by George Thomas ("Dad") Speer (1891–1966), his wife, Lena Darling ("Mom") Speer (née Brock; 1899–1967), and his sister and brother-in-law, Pearl Claborn (1 ...

joined the station in 1941 until they moved on to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, in 1946.

The WHHY era

The station was acquired by Broadcast Service of Montgomery, Inc., under the ownership of Charles W. Holt, Connie I. Holt, and Robert N. Robinson, as part of the Holt Broadcasting Service, on January 9, 1957. The station was renamed WHHY to match the other stations owned by Holt Broadcasting at the time: WHSY in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, WHNY in

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statist ...

, WHXY in

Bogalusa, Louisiana Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. In th2020 censusthe city, town, place equivalent reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropoli ...

, and KOME in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. The Holt and Robinson families maintained ownership of the WHHY until Holt-Robinson Communications encountered financial difficulties and was placed into receivership. The license for WHHY was involuntarily transferred to receiver Thomas M. Duddy in May 1993. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 21, 1993. In May 1995, Duddy reached an agreement to sell this station to McDonald Investment Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 3, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on August 30, 1995. In October 1996, McDonald Investment Company, Inc., applied to the FCC to transfer the license for this station to McDonald Media Group, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 7, 1996, and the transaction was consummated on December 2, 1996.

The WLWI era

Known as WHHY since 1957, the station changed call letters to the current WLWI on October 19,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. In December 1999, McDonald Media Group, Inc., made a deal to sell this station to Citation Limited Partnership, owned by Citation Cablevision, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 17, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on January 20, 2000. In September 2000, Citation Limited Partnership reached an agreement to sell this station to

subsidiary Cumulus Licensing Corp. as part of a three station deal valued at a reported $10 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 12, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on May 15, 2001.

References

External links

WLWI official websiteCumulus Radio Montgomery

FCC History Cards for WLWI
{{Cumulus Media LWI News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1930 Montgomery County, Alabama Cumulus Media radio stations 1930 establishments in Alabama