WILM (AM)
iHeartMedia, Inc. | |
WRDX, WDOV, WDSD, WWTX | |
History | |
First air date | 1928 |
Former call signs | WTBQ (1928–1929) |
Call sign meaning | WILMington |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 16438 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°43′46″N 75°33′07″W / 39.72944°N 75.55194°W |
Repeater(s) | 94.7 WDSD-HD2 (Dover) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | wilm.iheart.com |
WILM (1450
In the 1950s and 1960s WILM, under the ownership of Ewing Hawkins, experimented with various music formats, including
In January 1976, WILM switched to an
By the 1990s, WILM had added syndicated talk programming throughout its lineup. The station became one of the first to add, then, the very first to drop Rush Limbaugh's daily show from its schedule. A former program director said the decision was made due to incompatibilities with sales and audience demand but has since acknowledged the station chose not to pay increased carriage fees. During this period, another Wilmington station with a stronger signal, WDEL also adopted a full-time news and talk format, beginning direct competition with WILM, including picking up Rush Limbaugh's program.
By 2000, WILM began to shift toward talk radio. Mike Gallagher's syndicated show joined local host John Watson on the station's daily schedule. An evening hour featured a cavalcade of amateur talk radio hosts; most were members of the Wilmington-area community. Weekend programming was almost exclusively all satellite talk by 2004.
In 2004, owner Sally V. Hawkins sold WILM to Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) for $4 million. On July 28, 2006, WILM dropped the national newscasts from
In 2010, Clear Channel dropped WILM's morning news block programming and replaced it with a local talk show hosted by Bruce Elliott, who had previously done a weekend talk show at WBAL in Baltimore. In 2011, about six months after Elliott's arrival, Clear Channel dropped WILM's late morning local talk show hosted by John Watson and replaced it with a syndicated program hosted by Glenn Beck (which Clear Channel distributes). Almost all programs on WILM are simulcast on Clear Channel's WDOV in Dover. WILM, which once boasted about its large local news staff, now carries local news from WDOV. Sunday morning programs on WILM are generally public access shows which include health, real estate, gardening and Italian-American programs.
Notable alumni
- Tom Donahue - Top 40 DJ in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, d. 1975[citation needed]
- Tom Mees - Sports broadcaster, ESPN Radio, d. 1996[citation needed]
- Joe Pyne - Nationally syndicated talk show host, d. 1970[citation needed]
References
External links
- WILM in the FCC AM station database
- WILM in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WILM