WVLK (AM)

WVLK
City Lexington, Kentucky
Broadcast area Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Area
Branding News/Talk 590 WVLK
Translator(s) 97.3 W247CT (Lexington)
First air date November 26, 1947 (1947-11-26)
Format News/Talk
Power 5,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Class B
Facility ID 27418
Transmitter coordinates 38°06′42″N 84°34′36″W / 38.11167°N 84.57667°W / 38.11167; -84.57667Coordinates: 38°06′42″N 84°34′36″W / 38.11167°N 84.57667°W / 38.11167; -84.57667
Callsign meaning Versailles, Lexington, Kentucky[1]
Affiliations ABC News Radio
CBS Radio News
UK Sports Network
Owner Cumulus Media
(Cumulus Licensing LLC)
Sister stations WVLK-FM, WLTO, WXZZ, WLXX
Webcast WVLK Live Audio Stream
Website wvlkam.com

WVLK is a radio station serving the Lexington, Kentucky area with a news/talk format. This station broadcasts on AM frequency 590 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media.

Programming

Weekday programming features local shows during the morning and early afternoon and several syndicated talk radio programs during the late afternoon and evening including Sean Hannity, Geraldo and Mark Levin. Weekend programming includes local shows on a variety of topics from gardening to home maintenance to sports, as well as syndicated programs like Kim Komando and Clark Howard.

History

WVLK began broadcasting November 26, 1947, as a Mutual affiliate on 590 kHz with 1 KW power (full-time). It was owned by Bluegrass Broadcasting Company, whose president was former U.S. Senator A.B. Chandler. Offices and studios were in the Lafayette Hotel in Lexington.[2]

Signal coverage during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s covered much of central Kentucky, as well as parts of the Louisville radio market, and as far south as the Lake Cumberland area. Until sometime in the 1990s, WVLK was the flagship radio station of the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball and football games from the UK Sports Radio Network.[1]

In 2015, WVLK signed on a new FM translator station, W266AN in Lawrenceburg, at 101.1 MHz on the FM dial.[3] On June 20, W266AN was forced off the air due to interference with WSGS in the Central Kentucky area. Effective June 13, 2017, the translator was licensed to Lexington at 97.3 FM, as W247CT.

Early voices

Among the early voices at WVLK, US Representative Harold Rogers was a disc jockey at the station in 1959, while he was a student at the University of Kentucky.

During the period from 1960 through 1963, the DJ 'crew' at WVLK included Arty Kay, Bob McDonald, Jim Chadwick and Darrel Evans. At that time, WVLK was a Top 40 Rock station, and was the highest-rated station in the market, with more listeners than all of the other stations combined (Pulse, Hooper, Nielson ratings). The sportscaster (both HS and UK sports) was Claude Sullivan.<Jim Chadwick>

References

  1. 1 2 Wills, Scott. "WVLK History".
  2. ↑ "(photo caption)" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 12, 1948. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "W247CT-FM 97.3 MHz - Lexington, KY". radio-locator.com.


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