WLWI-FM (92.3 FM, "I-92") is a

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 broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing, Inc. 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 northeast side.

Programming

WLWI-FM broadcasts a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

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 ...

. The station has a sister news/

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 ...

AM station known as

WLWI (AM) WLWI (1440 kHz, "News Radio 1440") is an AM radio station licensed to serve Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the license is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC. The WLWI studios are located on the thi ...

. I-92 WLWI is the home of Auburn Tigers football and men's basketball. The I-92 WLWI studios are located in Suite 300 at One Commerce Street in downtown Montgomery, Alabama.

History

This station first began broadcasting on July 15, 1969, as WCOV-FM, the FM partner to AM station 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 ...

). The station was acquired by Griffin Broadcasting Corporation in April 1973 and the callsign was changed to WKLH. This callsign would also prove short-lived as the station was acquired by the Colonial Broadcasting Company in December 1977 and the call letters were changed to WLWI. The company changed the call letters of newly acquired AM station WBAM (now

WMSP WMSP (740 AM broadcasting, AM, "Sports Radio 740") is a radio station city of license, licensed to serve Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. Origina ...

) to "WLWI" on March 11, 1985, so the FM station was assigned the current WLWI-FM call letters by the FCC on the same day. In September 1994, Colonial Company, Inc., the holding company that owned WLWI-FM licensee Colonial Broadcasting Company, Inc., reached an agreement to sell control of the licensee corporation to Robert E. Lowder. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 8, 1994, and the transaction was consummated on March 8, 1995. In January 1998, Robert E. Lowder agreed to sell licensee Colonial Broadcasting Company, Inc., to Cumulus Holdings, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 10, 1998. In December 1998, the license for WLWI-FM was transferred to Cumulus Licensing Corp. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 12, 1998, and the transaction was finalized on December 31, 1998. On July 14, 2010, WLWI-FM added the syndicated ''

Rick and Bubba ''The Rick and Bubba Show'' is an American comedy radio show based in Birmingham, Alabama. Nationally syndicated and produced at WZZK-FM, the show is live every weekday for five hours and is hosted by Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey. ...

'' morning show, formerly on

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 ...

WHHY-FM WHHY-FM (101.9 MHz, "Y102") is a radio station licensed to serve Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Cumulus Media. Y102 broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) music format. The WHHY-FM studios are located on the 3rd floor of The ...

Awards and honors

In 1984, WLWI-FM was named "Radio Station of the Year (Small Market)" by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country musi ...

. A long-time

formatted station, WLWI-FM has seen its on-air personalities nominated for

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

as Medium Market or Small Market Broadcast Personality of the Year many times over the years. Sam Faulk was nominated in 1981 and won the award in 1989.

Warren "Rhubarb" Jones Warren "Rhubarb" Jones (August 9, 1951 – April 2, 2017) was an American DJ at WYAY "Eagle 106.7" in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the longest running morning radio personality in the Atlanta radio market, having been at the 106.7 spot on the FM d ...

won in 1983. Darlene Dixon was nominated in 1992 and 1999. John Boy was nominated in 1995. "Rhubarb" Jones won the award for Disc Jockey of the Year in 1983 from the Academy of Country Music. In 2004, WLWI host Bill Roberts was named Favorite Southern Gospel DJ for a Medium Market at the Singing News Fan Awards.

References

External links

* {{Cumulus Media LWI-FM Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1969 Montgomery County, Alabama 1969 establishments in Alabama Cumulus Media radio stations