WTSL (1400 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 radio ...

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 ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...

, United States. It airs an adult hits

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 broadcasting, ...

and serves the

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

-Hanover-

White River Junction White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest co ...

area. The station is currently owned by Great Eastern Radio, LLC. WTSL also broadcasts

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

Big Green

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 ...

and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

games. Listeners can also hear WTSL programming on FM

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

s W248DA at 97.5

MHz 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 one he ...

in Hanover and W269DI at 191.7 in Claremont as well as on HD subchannel WHDQ-HD2 in Claremont. The stations call themselves "97.5 & 101.7 The Penguin."

History

In October 1950, WTSL first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

. It was owned by Granite State Broadcasters and was powered at only 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, a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

. In 1961, the daytime power was increased to 1,000 watts. In the 1980s, the nighttime power was also boosted to 1,000 watts. In the June 1970, the station was acquired by Tri City Broadcasting. from Knight Quality Stations. Sound Citizens Communications bought the station in 1974. Up to this time, WTSL carried the

NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

news and music show ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

'', along with

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

baseball, via an over-the-air feed from

WGIR-FM WGIR-FM (101.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Manchester, New Hampshire, airing a mainstream rock radio format, branded as Rock 101. The station serves the Merrimack Valley area (including Concord and Nashua), and is owned by iHeartMedia, ...

in Manchester (as well nearby WTSV-FM (106.1) in Claremont, NH.. It aired a middle of the road music format. In the 1970s, WTSL dropped NBC, adding the

CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

and later, returning to the Mutual Broadcasting System as a secondary affiliation. This change would allow WTSL to switch from overnight music to

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

with

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...

. After a period with Mutual, WTSL was asked to become the Primary affiliate in the Lebanon/ Hanover market, but turned was it down. Mutual then moved to nearby WNHV AM/ FM and WTSL joined

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in order to carry

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

, which had been on WNHV. During this period of time, the studios were co-located at its Oak Ridge Road West Lebanon, NH transmitter site. Studio were moved to the downtown Lebanon mall along with then sister station WTSL-FM (now WGXL- FM). Several owners later, the station was purchased by Robert Frisch, moving his WXXK (originally on 101.7 FM however moving to 100.5 with the purchase of that facility) By this period of time, WTSL was all talk however with a strong local news presentation, Major newscasts morning, noon and pm drive. Mountain View Broadcasting held onto the WTSL, as well WGXL, WXXK and WVRR (the old WXXK facility @ 101.7) property until sold to Clear Channel. During the time, WTSL held onto the rights to Red Sox baseball(since then baseball has moved to Great Eastern Properitys @ 93.9 and 106.7) WTSL never had an FM translator until 2018. In 2007,

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

(now iHeartMedia) bought WTSL, keeping it a

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 featur ...

format, but adding

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 ...

, taking the program from

WNTK-FM WNTK-FM (99.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a news/talk radio format. Licensed to New London, New Hampshire, the station serves the Lebanon-Hanover- White River Junction area of New Hampshire and Vermont. The station is currently ...

. Rush stayed on WTSL until it was sold again in the 2010s, it was acquired by Great Eastern Radio. Rush returned to WNTK, which had now began WUVR. Great Easterwhich flipped it to a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format,

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, simultane ...

with

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

1230

WTSV WTSV (1230 AM; "94 WEEI") is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Claremont, New Hampshire, United States, the station serves the Dartmouth–Lake Sunapee Region. The station is owned by Jeffrey Shapiro's Great Eastern Radio. ...

in nearby

Claremont, New Hampshire Claremont is the only city in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 12,949 at the 2020 census. History Pre-colonial native populations Before colonial settlement, the Upper Connecticut River Valley was home to the Pe ...

, using the ESPN Radio Network. On June 12, 2018, WTSL dropped the ESPN sports format and began stunting with "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 hip-hop track by the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing hip-hop mus ...

" by the

Sugarhill Gang Sugar Hill may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sugar Hill, Georgia, a city * Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, a town * Sugar Hill, Manhattan, New York, a section of Harlem * Sugar Hill (New York), a mountain in Schuyler County * Sugar Hill, P ...

, in preparation of launching new translator W248DA 97.5 FM Hanover. (1230 WTSV continues with the sports format.) On June 21, 2018, the stunting ended, with WTSL and W248DA (brand new translator) changing format to

classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

, branded as "Hot 97.5."Hot 97 Brings Classic Hip-Hop to Upper Connecticut valley
Radioinsight - June 21, 2018 On July 29, 2022, WTSL dropped the classic hip hop format and flipped to adult hits, branded as "97.5 & 101.7 The Penguin" with the addition of the station also being fed on HD subchannel 106.1 WHDQ-HD2 and translator W269DI on 101.7 in Claremont.

Previous Logos

File:WTSV & WTSL new logo.png File:WTSL & WTSV former logo.png File:WTSV & WTSL 94.5 ESPN Radio Logo.png File:WTSL Hot 97.5 logo.png

References

External links

* * {{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in New Hampshire TSL Hanover, New Hampshire Radio stations established in 1950 1950 establishments in New Hampshire Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States