WLCL
 | |
| Broadcast area | Louisville metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 93.9 MHz |
| Branding | 93.9 The Ville |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | UB Louisville, LLC |
| WHBE, WHBE-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | February 1, 1990 |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Louisville Classic Hits (former format) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 58380 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 2,650 watts |
| HAAT | 152 meters (499 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°15′21.70″N 85°45′29.10″W / 38.2560278°N 85.7580833°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | 939theville.com |
WLCL (93.9 FM "93.9 The Ville") is a commercial radio station licensed to Sellersburg, Indiana, and serving the Louisville metropolitan area. The station is owned by Union Broadcasting (UB Louisville, LLC) and airs a sports radio format. On weekdays, WLCL has a schedule of local sports hosts, with live sporting events in the evening and ESPN Radio heard late nights and weekends. Some programming is shared with sister stations WHBE 680 AM and WHBE-FM 105.7.
WLCL is a Class A station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 2,650 watts. The transmitter is on South 5th Street at Main Street in Louisville.
History
[edit]Early years
[edit]The station was first licensed as WZZB on February 1, 1990. On May 24, 1991, the station's license was deleted (DWZZB) but it was later relicensed as WQKC.[2]
WQKC had a sports format. But it switched to classic hits on November 20, 2008, after changing its call letters to WLCL, which stood for "Louisville's Classic Hits." It was owned by Cumulus Media.
On August 2, 2010, WLCL went silent after Cumulus decided to cease operations in the Louisville market.[3] The station had not given any indication on the air that it was about to go off the air.
Way-FM
[edit]In 2011, the station returned to the air. It was now WAYI, carrying a Contemporary Christian music format originating with the WAY-FM Network. WAY-FM ran the station but it was still under the ownership of Cumulus Media, in a local marketing agreement (LMA).[4]
On April 1, 2014, WAY-FM programming was removed from WAYI.[5][non-primary source needed] The station again went silent on April 25, 2014, and returned to previous call letters WLCL on May 1, 2014.[6]
Return to Sports
[edit]In late 2014, Union Broadcasting, which also owns sports radio stations WHBE 680 AM and WHBE-FM 105.7 in the Louisville radio market, announced that it would purchase WLCL from Cumulus Media.[7] WLCL resumed operations on January 14, 2015, broadcasting ESPN Radio full-time.[8]
The purchase by Union Broadcasting closed on January 21, 2015, at a price of $3.138 million. The station became an affiliate of the Baltimore Ravens Radio Network beginning with the 2019 season. That allowed Louisville Cardinals football fans to follow the National Football League exploits of Lamar Jackson.[9]
Louisville Cardinals
[edit]On February 17, 2022, it was announced that Louisville First Media Group, a partnership between the operators of WLCL and Word Media Group's WGTK, had struck a broadcast rights deal. WHAS 840 AM and WKRD 790 AM, owned by iHeartMedia, would be replaced as the official home for University of Louisville Cardinals athletics. WLCL and WGTK will carry all of the university's football, men's and women's basketball, and baseball games in addition to seasonal football and basketball coaches shows. "Cardinal Insider", a weekday show checking in on news from the teams, which had been heard from 6-7pm weekdays on WKRD, would also move to WLCL, WGTK and Word Media Group's WXVW/W241CK in the nearby Indiana town of Jeffersonville.
The change came, despite a decades-long partnership with WHAS, as a result of the university becoming upset with iHeartMedia frequently preempting Cardinals athletics broadcasts in favor of in-state rivals, the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Since the launch of the sports format on WLCL, the station had frequently played up its local connection to the school, including using the university's mascot in the station's logo.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WLCL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WLCL Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ "With no notice, Cumulus signs off an AM and FM in Louisville". Radio-Info.com. August 3, 2010. Archived from the original on August 7, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ^ "FCC authorisation for WAYI and associated stations, November 2, 2011" (PDF).
- ^ "Facebook". Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Facebook.
- ^ "Call Sign History".
- ^ "Union Broadcasting Acquires 93.9 WLCL Louisville". October 21, 2014.
- ^ "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov.
- ^ "ESPN Louisville (93.9 The Ville) & Ravens Partner to carry Lamar Jackson games" – WLCL-FM 93.9 The Ville. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ "University of Louisville Moves To WLCL/WGTK Tandem - RadioInsight".
External links
[edit]- Facility details for Facility ID 58380 (WLCL) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WLCL in Nielsen Audio's FM station database