WRTR
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WRTR
| logo =
| city = Brookwood, Alabama
| area = Tuscaloosa metropolitan area
| branding = Talk Radio 105.9
| frequency = 105.9 MHz
| airdate = {{start date and age|1966|6|1}} (as 105.5 WACT-FM)
| format = Talk
| erp = 25,000 watts
| haat = {{convert|82|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class = C3
| facility_id = 48645
| coordinates = {{coord|33|14|17|N|87|29|06|W|region:US-AL_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = W Roll Tide Roll (refers to the Crimson Tide, the nickname for University of Alabama sports teams)
| former_callsigns = WACT-FM (1966–1997)
| former_frequencies = 105.5 MHz (1966–2005)
| affiliations = Fox News Radio
Fox Sports Radio
NBC News Radio
Compass Media Networks
Premiere Networks
| owner = iHeartMedia, Inc.
| licensee = iHM Licenses, LLC
| sister_stations = WACT, WTXT, WZBQ
| webcast = [https://www.iheart.com/live/talk-radio-1059-wrtr-4279/ Listen Live]
| website = [https://talkradio1059.iheart.com/ talkradio1059.iheart.com]
| licensing_authority = FCC
}}
WRTR (105.9 FM, "Talk Radio 105.9") is a commercial radio station broadcasting a talk radio format.{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WRTR |title=WRTR Facility Record |work=United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division }} Licensed to Brookwood, Alabama, the station serves the Tuscaloosa metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with the broadcast license held by iHM Licenses, LLC.{{cite web |publisher=Arbitron |url=http://www.arbitron.com/radio_stations/station_information.htm |title=Station Information Profile |access-date=October 12, 2010}} The studios and offices on 11th Street in Downtown Tuscaloosa.
WRTR is a Class C3 FM station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 25,000 watts. The transmitter and tower are located on Hammer Avenue in Holt, Alabama.[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=wrtr&x=8&y=11&sr=Y&s=C Radio-Locator.com/WRTR]
Programming
Weekdays begin with Alabama's Morning News with JT, based at WERC-FM in Birmingham. The rest of the weekday schedule is nationally syndicated conservative talk shows from co-owned Premiere Networks: The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Michael Berry Show, The Jesse Kelly Show and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.{{cite web |publisher=Coast to Coast AM |title=Alabama Affiliates |url=http://www.coasttocoastam.com/stations/alabama |access-date=December 31, 2011}}
Weekends feature repeats of weekday shows and syndicated specialty programs: Bill Handel on the Law, World Travel with Rudy Maxa, The Weekend with Michael Brown, Armstrong & Getty, The Brian Kilmeade Show, At Home with Gary Sullivan and Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham.[https://talkradio1059.iheart.com/schedule/ TalkRadio1059.com/schedule] Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.
History
The station signed on the air on {{start date and age|1966|6|1}}.[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1977/C%20Section%20Radio%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201977%20P-6.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-7. Retrieved March 6, 2025.] Its original call sign was WACT-FM, the sister station to WACT 1420 AM. Its city of license was Tuscaloosa and it broadcast at 105.5 MHz. It was only powered at 1,500 watts, a fraction of its current output.
At first, WACT-FM mostly simulcast the AM station's country music format. It later started airing its own automated country sound. While WACT 1420 AM was a full-service country station, with news, sports and DJs, WACT-FM concentrated on more music and less chatter.
The station changed to the current WRTR on March 31, 1997. The call letters stand for "Roll Tide Roll", which refers to the Crimson Tide, the nickname for University of Alabama sports teams. WRTR played album rock and was known as "Tuscaloosa's Rock Station." In mornings, it carried The Bob and Tom Show, based in Indianapolis. Popular DJ Joe Elvis hosted afternoon drive time beginning in 2002. The Wild Bill Show was heard every weeknight.
In 2000, WRTR and WACT were acquired by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia.[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2010/D-2010-BC-YB-7.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page D-42. Retrieved March 6, 2025.] On May 4, 2009, WRTR changed its format to all-talk, simulcasting WACT 1420. The two stations were branded as "Talk Radio 105.9". Then in October 2012, WACT 1420 flipped to comedy radio. That left WRTR 105.9 as an FM talk station, no longer simulcast with 1420 AM.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{FM station data|48645|WRTR}}
{{Tuscaloosa Radio}}
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Alabama}}
{{IHeartMedia}}
Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States
Category:Radio stations established in 1966