WMLB

WMLB
City Avondale Estates, Georgia
Broadcast area Atlanta metropolitan area
Branding AM 1690 WMLB
Slogan "The Voice of the Arts"
Frequency 1690 kHz
First air date 2003
Format Eclectic
Power 10,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Class B
Transmitter coordinates 33°48′34″N 84°21′14″W / 33.809444°N 84.353889°W / 33.809444; -84.353889
Former callsigns WAXD, WSWK, WWAA
Affiliations CBS Radio Network
Owner JW Broadcasting
Sister stations WCFO
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.1690wmlb.com

WMLB AM 1690, "The Voice of the Arts", was a radio station licensed to Avondale Estates, Georgia, serving most of the metro Atlanta radio market. WMLB transmitted on 1690 kHz with 10,000 watts daytime power and 1,000 watts at night. The station broadcast an eclectic radio format, playing classical music, folk music, jazz, show tunes, comedy bits, classic country music and some rock and roll. WMLB's sister station is talk radio station WCFO AM, "News Talk 1160." The WMLB broadcast callsign was assigned to the station at 1160 kHz before being transferred to 1690 kHz in 2006 by its present owner JW Broadcasting.[1] The station went off the air early morning May 14, 2018 (sometime between 12:10 a.m. and 1:10 a.m. EDT); however, the online streaming continued to play music, hourly news, and station ID/show bumpers until May 15.[2]

History

The radio station originally signed on with the callsign WSWK from the city of Adel in south Georgia, with a tourist information format in 2003, identifying as "Wild Adventures Radio" and simulcasting WDDQ FM of the same format.[3] The station was moved to the Atlanta radio market in 2004 when the license was transferred to serve the Avondale Estates community.[1] When the station was moved to the Atlanta area, its radio transmitter was co-located with station WATB's transmitter and WSWK's signal was diplexed on to one of WATB's antenna towers.[1] At that time, the station signed on in the Atlanta market with a country and western format,[4] but by September 2004 the station flipped radio formats to become a talk radio station and joined the Air America Radio radio network.[5] The format change came with a change to the WWAA callsign.[1]

The single broadcasting antenna tower in the foreground formerly used by WMLB from 2006 until 2013.

Later in 2004, the station's transmitter was moved to a new dedicated facility off of Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta with a new single-tower antenna.[1] In June 2006, JW Broadcasting, owners of station WMLB (then assigned to 1160), took ownership of WWAA (formerly an Air America Radio network affiliate).[5] JW Broadcasting dropped the WWAA callsigns and then transferred the WMLB callsigns to 1690 kHz.[1] The callsign change brought with it the eclectic radio format previously heard on 1160. One radio program from the Air America Radio network remained on the station, The Al Franken Show, until Al Franken's last radio show in February 2007. The station continued airing several original programs including "Reflections on Flash Fiction," hosted by Professors Marshall Duke and Walter Reed of Emory University, and Sidewalk Radio, hosted by local entrepreneur and real estate agent Gene Kansas.

In early February 2013, WMLB moved its transmitter location a few hundred feet away across Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta. This transmitter is co-located with WNIV and WAFS, with all three stations sharing the same single vertical broadcast antenna tower. The single broadcasting antenna tower, which WMLB used exclusively from 2006 until 2013, was dismantled.

The station went off the air early morning May 14, 2018, after the studio lease ended. JW Broadcasting will continue to own the broadcast tower. The website is still up; however, live streaming is no longer active.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Applications Search for Facility 87118
  2. ↑ "1690/WMLB-AM 'Voice of the Arts' shutting down after 21 years | Radio and TV Talk". Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  3. ↑ Hauser, Glenn (2003-09-12). "DX Listening Digest 3163". Glenn Hauser (publisher). Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  4. ↑ Hauser, Glenn (2004-02-05). "DX Listening Digest 4022". Glenn Hauser (Publisher). Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  5. 1 2 Abkowitz, Alyssa (2006-05-10). "Future uncertain for Air America's Atlanta affiliate". Creative Loafing (Atlanta, Georgia). Retrieved 2007-12-11.
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