WHLL
| City | Springfield, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Springfield Metropolitan Area |
| Branding | 98.1 Nash Icon |
| Slogan | Springfield Country |
| Frequency | 1450 kHz |
| Translator(s) | 98.1 W251CT (Springfield) |
| First air date | September 1, 1932 (as WMAS) |
| Format | Country |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 36545 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°06′32.00″N 72°36′44.00″W / 42.1088889°N 72.6122222°WCoordinates: 42°06′32.00″N 72°36′44.00″W / 42.1088889°N 72.6122222°W |
| Callsign meaning | W-Naismith Memorial Basketball HaLL of Fame (referencing former sports talk format) |
| Former callsigns | WMAS (1932–2009) |
| Owner | Entercom (Entercom License, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WMAS-FM, WWEI |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | springfieldcountry |
WHLL (1450 kHz, "98.1 Nash Icon") is a commercial AM radio station. Licensed to Springfield, Massachusetts, it serves the Springfield metropolitan area. For 77 years, it broadcast under the call sign WMAS. The station is owned by Entercom, and is the sister station to WMAS-FM 94.7. WHLL 1450 is formatted as a country music station.
WHLL broadcasts from The James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, a major attraction in Springfield, a city credited as the birthplace of the game of basketball. Visitors to the Hall of Fame can watch the hosts of both the AM and FM stations, from studios in the northern entrance hall. The transmitter is also located in Springfield, along U.S. Route 20, near the Connecticut River.[1]
Contents
Programming[edit]
In addition to previous shows from CBS Sports Radio, WHLL carries New York Yankees baseball games and Boston Bruins hockey games. Original programming includes the weekday afternoon series The Average Joe Show with Tony, Buster, and The Dude, starring Anthony Lapponese, Michael "Buster" McMahon, and John "The Dude" Walters. On weekends The Saturday Sports Spectacular is heard, starring Russ Held, Scott Coen, and Walters, along with Buster and the Whip with McMahon and Steve "The Whip" Smith, and The Food Dude starring Walters. Saturday programming also features some locally oriented talk shows.
History[edit]
Sign-on in 1932[edit]
In May 1932, Albert S. Moffatt, a former newsreel photographer, was granted a construction permit by the Federal Radio Commission to begin work on a new radio station, with the sequential call sign WHEU. When the station officially signed on, its call letters were changed to WMAS.[2] The letters stood for MASsachusetts, and they also include the owner's initials, although not in the correct order.
The station's studios were in the Hotel Stonehaven, and when it signed on for the first time, on September 1, 1932, it broadcast on 1420 kHz with 100 watts.
Early network programming[edit]
During the 1940s and 1950s, WMAS was a member of the Yankee Network, a programming service originating in Boston for New England radio stations. WMAS was also a CBS Radio Network affiliate. It carried the CBS line-up of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows, children's shows and big band broadcasts, during the "Golden Age of Radio."
In 1947, WMAS-FM signed on. At first, both stations mostly simulcast their programming.[3]
Country and standards[edit]
When network programming shifted from radio to television, WMAS-AM-FM switched to a full service, middle of the road music format. WMAS 1450 later had a country music format as "The Country Leader." On-air personalities included Dave Thatcher (also the station's news director), Fred Stevens, and Mike Williamson.
WMAS was one of the original "Music Of Your Life" adult standards radio stations, as its previous owner for many years, Bob Lappin (Lappin Communications, Inc.) was friends with the format's originator and syndicator, Al Ham.
Sale to Citadel[edit]
In June 2004, WMAS-AM-FM were sold to Citadel Broadcasting for $22 million.[4] Citadel switched AM 1450 to an unsuccessful talk radio format, then tried oldies, playing Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from ABC Radio.[5]
On April 7, 2009 the format was changed to sports radio with programming from ESPN Radio and the call sign was changed to WHLL. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[6] After the merger, WHLL switched networks to CBS Sports Radio. Cumulus Media has a financial interest in the CBS Sports Radio Network. ESPN Radio programming is now heard in the Springfield area on WUCS 97.9 MHz.
98.1 Nash Icon[edit]
On December 27, 2018, WHLL changed its format from sports to country, branded as "98.1 Nash Icon", in line with the launch of an FM simulcast of WHLL on translator W251CT, which is licensed to Springfield.[7]
On February 13, 2019, Cumulus and Entercom announced an agreement in which WHLL and WMAS-FM, as well as WNSH in New York City, would be swapped to Entercom in exchange for Entercom's Indianapolis stations. Under the terms of the deal, Entercom began operating WHLL under a local marketing agreement on March 1, 2019.[8] The swap was completed on May 13, 2019.[9]
Translator[edit]
| Call sign | Frequency (MHz) |
City of license | Facility ID |
ERP W |
Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W251CT | 98.1 | Springfield, Massachusetts | 139956 | 250 | D | 42°6′32.7″N 72°36′39.8″W / 42.109083°N 72.611056°W | FCC |
References[edit]
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WMAS-AM
- ^ "WHEU to WMAS" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 15, 1932. p. 14. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1951 page 169
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbrook 2006 page D-254
- ^ "Radio Stations". Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel. Archived from the original on July 28, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
- ^ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ WHLL Brings Nash Icon to Springfield MA Radioinsight - December 27, 2018
- ^ "Cumulus Sells Six To EMF & Swaps With Entercom In New York & Indianapolis". RadioInsight. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ "Cumulus, Entercom Close Six-Station Swap". Inside Radio. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
