WEXL

WEXL is an Urban Gospel station at 1340 AM licensed to Royal Oak, Michigan and broadcasting in the Detroit area. It's known as Glory 1340 and owned by Crawford Broadcasting with WMUZ 103.5 FM and WRDT 560 AM. WEXL broadcasts in the HD format.

History

WEXL was originally known as WAGM. Some sources claim it went on the air sometime in 1924; others give a debut as August 19, 1926. Local newspapers and national magazines give the date as early December 1925. The original owners of WAGM were a father and son—Alexander G. Miller (a former mayor of Royal Oak), and his oldest son Robert. The two also operated the A.G. Miller Furniture and Radio Shop. The WAGM call letters were requested; they stood for the initials of Alexander G. Miller. In its first several years, the station had 50 watts and broadcast three nights a week.

WAGM was sold to Rev. Jacob B. Spark circa 1929, and it returned to the air using the call letters WEXL ("We Excel") in early 1931. The station carved out a niche with local, block-programmed variety programming, including country music aimed at men who migrated from the southern United States to work in Detroit's automobile assembly plants. After a brief period as a Top 40 station with limited success, WEXL expanded its country music programming to a 24-hour format in 1963, the first station in metro Detroit to do so. The station was successful for a number of years; a 1966 Billboard magazine poll showed WEXL as the most influential country station in the southeastern Michigan area by far(). However, the station got competition in 1970 when WJBK-AM 1500 flipped from Top 40 to hit-based country as WDEE (now WLQV), and in 1974 WEXL dropped country music in favor of religious programming. Current owner Crawford Broadcasting acquired WEXL in 1997 and changed the station's format from a combination of Christian and motivational talk to Urban Gospel.