WLTQ (730 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. It is owned by Mediatrix SC and it airs a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 ...

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, ...

. Most of the programming comes from

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...

Radio and is shared with co-owned WCKI in Greer. By day, WLTQ is powered at 1,100

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

. But

730 AM 730 AM is a Mexican and Canada, Canadian clear-channel frequency. XEX-AM, XEX Mexico City and CKAC Montreal are the list of broadcast station classes, Class A stations on 730 kHz. The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on ...

is a Canadian and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...

frequency. So to avoid interference, WLTQ reduces power at night to 103 watts. The AM

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is in the

West Ashley West Ashley, or more formally, west of the Ashley, is one of the six distinct areas of the city proper of Charleston, South Carolina. As of July 2022, its estimated population was 83,996. Its name is derived from the fact that the land is west ...

neighborhood of Charleston, off Wappoo Road. Programming is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

on 99-watt

FM translator 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 tr ...

W294CJ at 106.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

in Charleston.

History

WPAL

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air in . It was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

, powered at 1,000 watts but required to go off the air at night. The original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was WPAL, chosen because South Carolina is the " Palmetto State." The owner was Palmetto Broadcasters at 149 Wentworth Street. It later became Charleston's first radio station targeting

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

s. It aired R&B music on weekdays, with

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genr ...

on Sundays. William Saunders bought the station in 1985 after being a part owner since 1971, and he added 100.9 WPAL-FM in 1994. In 1998, he sold WPAL-AM-FM to

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

, based in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

WSC Talk

Clear Channel changed the AM station's call sign to WSCC (though the station was known as WSC). Its format flipped to

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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

in 1999 and it carried many of the

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

talk shows from co-owned

Premiere Networks Premiere Networks, Inc. (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It is th ...

. The station moved from 18th to 16th place. By 2002, WSC was beating rival talk station 1250

WTMA WTMA (1250 AM broadcasting, AM), “News Talk 1250 WTMA”, is a commercial radio, commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Charleston, South Carolina. It has a talk radio, news/talk Radio format, format and is owned by Cumulus M ...

with 25-54 listeners in the early afternoon, thanks to carrying ''

The Rush Limbaugh Show ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' was an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. At i ...

''. WSC had taken the program from WTMA, since it was syndicated by Premiere Networks. But WTMA was the clear winner in other time slots. In 2004, the call letters changed to WLTQ. The station began airing liberal-leaning

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as ...

shows from

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left–wing alternative to coun ...

. Programs included ''

Morning Sedition ''Morning Sedition'' was an American three-hour radio program that premiered April 1, 2004 and ran until December 16, 2005. It was hosted by comedian Marc Maron and New York radio veteran Mark Riley. Prior to June 2004, the show was also host ...

'' and ''

The Majority Report ''The Majority Report with Sam Seder'' is an American progressive internet talk radio program and podcast hosted by Sam Seder. The program focuses on the discussion of current events and political affairs; to this end, comedy and satire are ...

''. It also carried ''

The Stephanie Miller Show ''The Stephanie Miller Show'' is a syndicated progressive talk radio program that discusses politics, current events, and pop culture using a fast-paced, impromptu, comedic style. The three-hour show is hosted by Stephanie Miller and is syndica ...

'' and ''

The Ed Schultz Show ''The Ed Schultz Show'' was a progressive talk radio program hosted by Ed Schultz. It was formerly broadcast from KFGO in Fargo, North Dakota. It was heard on a network of over 100 stations, including seven of the ten largest radio markets. It ...

'' from the

Jones Radio Network Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio suc ...

. AM 730 used the branding "Progressive 730".

Adult Standards, Latin Pop and Catholic Talk

In 2005, WLTQ flipped to

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

music. It began carrying the nationally syndicated "

Music of Your Life Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...

" feed. That lasted three years. In March 2008, the station switched to

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

music as "Viva 730". According to FCC filings, the station was sold to Indigo Radio LLC in July 2008. The new owners took the station silent because they did not have access to the prior station's studio or broadcast facilities. They received an FCC

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

to move to a new location. As of December 2008, the new owners applied for an additional 90 days to remain silent while they constructed their new facilities. In July 2009, WLTQ returned to the air with

music. Then in 2010, Indigo announced the sale of WLTQ to Mediatrix SC LLC, owner of nearby WQIZ. The price tag was $525,000. In 2011, WLTQ changed to a format of

, mostly from

Radio.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WLTQ
{{Charleston SC Radio LTQ (AM) Radio stations established in 1971 LTQ