WTMC (1380 AM) is a non- commercial

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 ...

. It also broadcasts on

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 ...

station W253CQ at 98.5

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 ...

. WTMC serves as a traffic advisory station, a service of the

Delaware Department of Transportation The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is an agency of the U.S. state of Delaware. The Secretary of Transportation is Shanté Hastings. The agency was established in 1917 and has its headquarters in Dover, Delaware, Dover. The depar ...

(DelDOT) broadcasting in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. There are signs posted around the Wilmington area advising motorists to tune to this station for traffic advisories. One such sign exists on U.S. Route 202 upon entry into

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The service was started in 2000, when DelDOT purchased the license. WTMC is licensed as a conventional broadcasting station, not a travelers' information station, although the state has added synchronized repeater stations downstate on AM 1380 which are HAR/TIS stations, to extend the station's coverage. The HAR/TIS stations were provided by Information Station Specialists and comprise the largest network of HAR/TIS stations in the country - and the only one whose cardinal location is a former broadcast station, the former WAMS. Additional synchronized TIS/HAR repeaters are being added to the network.

History

The 1380 frequency first signed on in 1948 as WAMS. It was owned by the Wilmington Tri-State Broadcasting Company because its signal also extended into

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

. It was a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

, carrying its dramas, comedies, news and sports. An advertisement in the 1949 '' Broadcasting Yearbook'' said WAMS was "Delaware's home owned and operated station." The station originally was powered at 1,000

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, day and night. WAMS also had an FM station, 96.1 MHz WAMS-FM, powered at 20,000 watts and simulcasting its AM sister station. (The 96.1 frequency is now broadcasting in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, as WCTO.) In the 1960s and 70s, WAMS was a popular

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 ...

hit music station but also at various times was a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

station and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

outlet. It was later powered at 5,000 watts by day and 1,000 watts at night.Broadcasting Yearbook 1985 page B-50
/ref> Due to financial problems, the station went dark in 1986. Its original

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 ...

site was sold, due to the value of the land on which it had been located. AM 1380 stayed off the air until DelDOT purchased the license for its travelers information service.

Translators

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WTMC

Delaware DOT purchases AM radio license
* * * TMC News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 Wilmington, Delaware 1948 establishments in Delaware Transportation in Delaware Road traffic management {{Delaware-radio-station-stub