WTLC (1310

kHz 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 uni ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. It is owned by

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is an American media conglomerate based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-Ame ...

and broadcasts an

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 ...

radio format, with some

Christian talk and teaching Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

shows heard middays and afternoons. The

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

at the corner of Meridian and St. Joseph Streets. By day, WTLC transmits 5,000

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, non-directional. To avoid interference to other stations on 1310 AM frequency, it reduces power at night to 1,000 watts and switches to a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a three-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

that focuses the broadcast signal more to the north-northeast, west-northwest, and east-southeast. The

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 on the south side of Indianapolis between Troy and Sumner Avenues near the same block as television station

WTTV WTTV (channel 4) and WTTK (channel 29) are television stations licensed respectively to Bloomington and Kokomo, Indiana, United States, serving as the CBS affiliates for the Indianapolis area. They are owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside ...

's former studios. Programming is also heard on a 250-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 ...

: 95.1 W236CR in Indianapolis.

History

WISH

On July 27, 1941, the station first

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 as WISH. It was put on the air by engineer and pioneer radio broadcaster Russ Salter. The studios were in the Board of Trade Building. WISH was an

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Co ...

affiliate, airing its dramas, comedies, news, and sports during the "

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

". The Blue Network later became ABC Radio. In 1947, principal owner C. Bruce McConnell sold WISH to Frank H. McKinney and associates for a "price of approximately $500,000". In 1954, the owners of WISH radio also started

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

on channel 8 in Indianapolis. WISH added an FM station in 1961, 105.7 WAIV (now

WYXB WYXB (105.7 FM), branded as "B105.7", is a commercial radio station owned by Urban One in Indianapolis, Indiana. The studios are on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. WYXB is one of two adult contemporary stations in Indianapolis; ...

). In the 1950s and 1960s, WISH aired a full service, middle of the road (MOR) format of popular adult music, news, and sports, while WAIV played

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

WIFE

In late 1965, WISH 1310 and WAIV 105.7 were sold to STAR Broadcasting, owned by Don W. Burden. STAR changed the

call letters 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

to WIFE and WIFE-FM, airing a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format of contemporary hits, aimed at young adults and teenagers. WIFE-AM-FM was the ratings leader during the mid- and late-sixties, sometime garnering as much of a forty share of the Indianapolis radio audience. The station built this audience for "Lucky 13" by playing the top hits along with heavy and frequent contesting such as, "The 100 Thousand Dollar Dream Home" and "The 100 Thousand Dollar Cash and Car Give-A-Way". Burden, who was a hands-on owner, hired some major on-air personalities and developed others, dubbed the "WIFE Good Guys". They included

Big Jack Armstrong Big Jack Armstrong (born John Charles Larsh on December 4, 1945, in Durham County, North Carolina; died March 23, 2008, in High Point, North Carolina), also known as Jack Armstrong, Jackson W. Armstrong, and Big Jack Your Leader, was a top-40 d ...

, Roger W. Morgan, Reb Porter, Jay Reynolds (later heard on 770 WABC in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

), Joe Light, Jay Hawkins, Buddy Scott, Jim Fox, T. J. Byers, Scott Wheeler, Mike O'Brien, Dan Summers, and Steve Miller. The 24-hour news department was the home of noted reporters Lyle Dean, Bob Schuman, Dean Sheppard, and Paul Casey. During these years, the station had a billboard near Indianapolis' Weir Cook Airport (now

Indianapolis International Airport Indianapolis International Airport is an international airport located southwest of Downtown Indianapolis in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority, and the airport serves over 5 ...

) which told passing motorists, "While you're away, we'll be here with your WIFE". After Burden later ran afoul of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC), Star Stations of Indiana was denied its license renewal application for WIFE in 1976. Burden surrendered WIFE to Indianapolis Broadcasting, a local group that had challenged Burden's ownership of the station seven years earlier. The new owners took control on June 1 under a new license, but retained the Top 40 format. An era of frequent call letter changes (WMLF, WTUX, WTLC) and formats (

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 ...

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 ...

, and Urban Oldies) began in 1984 and continued into the 1990s.

WTLC

In late 1997, then-owner Panache sold the station to

Emmis Communications Emmis Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for "Truth" (''Emet'') was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR ...

. Emmis switched the format to

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 ...

to sell in combination with its

Urban Contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

station WTLC-FM. For a two-year period, the majority of programming on 1310 AM was syndicated from the Sheridan Broadcasting Gospel service and branded as "The Light". In January 2001, the station was purchased from Emmis by Radio One, now known as Urban One. The affiliation with Sheridan was dropped but the station retained the name "The Light". Syndicated host

Erica Campbell Erica Monique Campbell (''née'', Atkins; born April 29, 1972) is an American Gospel singer and songwriter. Specializing in the urban contemporary gospel, Christian R&B, and contemporary R&B genres, she started her music career in the late 1990s ...

is heard in mornings with

shows in middays and afternoons, some of which are paid

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot com ...

. The station returns to Urban Gospel music evenings and overnights.

References

External links

Indiana Radio Archive, WTLC1310 The Light websiteFCC History Cards for WTLC
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TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Urban One stations Mass media in Indianapolis Radio stations established in 1976 Urban gospel radio stations in the United States 1976 establishments in Indiana