WAMZ

This article is about the radio station "WAMZ". For the West African trade block, see West African Monetary Zone.
WAMZ
City Louisville, Kentucky
Broadcast area Louisville
Branding "97.5 WAMZ"
Slogan "Kentuckiana's #1 For Country"
Frequency 97.5 FM(also on HD Radio)
First air date 1966
Format Country
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 205 meters (673 feet)
Class C1
Facility ID 11921
Transmitter coordinates 38° 03' 49" N, 85° 43' 52" W
Callsign meaning We're America's MuZic (Music)
Former callsigns WHAS-FM (1966-1975), WNNS (1975-1977)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(CC Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations WTFX-FM, WQMF (FM), WNRW (FM), WLGX (FM), WKRD (AM), WHAS (AM), WKJK (AM)
Webcast Listen Live (via iHeartRadio)
Website http://www.wamz.com

WAMZ is a country music-formatted radio station located in Louisville, Kentucky. The station broadcasts on 97.5 FM with an ERP of 100 kW. The station's studios are located in the Louisville enclave of Watterson Park and the transmitter site is in Brooks, Kentucky.

Station history

Experimental W9XEK began on July 22, 1944 at 45.5 MHz (on the original FM band). A second sister FM station was established on April 20, 1947 on the newer FM band when WCJT started at 99.7 FM as the sister station to WHAS 840. The call sign represented the initials of The Courier Journal and Louisville Times, all of which were owned by the Bingham family. By the following year, W9XEK was taken off the air and WCJT became WHAS-FM. FM was still an infant technology however, and as most early FM owners did in the early 1950s, the Binghams returned WHAS-FM's license to the FCC on December 31, 1950. The 99.7 frequency later became the home for WKLO-FM (now WDJX).

On September 7, 1966, the second WHAS-FM began broadcasting at 97.5 FM with a 100 kW physical plant and an automated Classical music format. This format lasted until September 3, 1975, when WHAS-FM was renamed WNNS and adopted the NBC Radio Network's "News and Information Service" (NIS) format.

At midnight on February 28, 1977, on the heels of the announcement that NBC's NIS format would be discontinued, the format was changed to automated country, using Drake-Chenault's "Great American Country" format under the WAMZ callsign. Although automated, the station became the first country FM in Louisville. The first song played on WAMZ was She's Just An Old Love Turned Memory by Charley Pride.

In 1979, radio personality Coyote Calhoun (best known at the time for his previous air work at Top 40 powerhouse WAKY) was hired as the program director/morning host. Under his leadership, WAMZ became one of the most-successful country radio stations in the U.S. Coyote Calhoun retired on December 3, 2014 after 35 years at WAMZ.

WAMZ presently broadcasts in HD Radio.[1]

WAMZ is owned by iHeartMedia, which (as Clear Channel Communications) acquired it and sister WHAS in 1986.[2]

References

  1. ↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=55 HD Radio Guide for Louisville, Kentucky
  2. ↑ "Changing Hands." Broadcasting. June 16, 1986, pg. 63.

Coordinates: 38°3′49″N 85°43′52″W / 38.06361°N 85.73111°W / 38.06361; -85.73111


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