WMLB

WMLB (1690 kHz "The Voice of the Arts") was an AM expanded band radio station licensed to Avondale Estates, Georgia, and serving the Metro Atlanta radio market. WMLB was powered at 10,000 watts daytime and 1,000 watts at night. The station aired 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 had been talk radio outlet WCFO, "News Talk 1160," which was bought by a Catholic radio organization in 2018.[1]

For women's baseball, see women's baseball.
WMLB
CityAvondale Estates, Georgia
Broadcast areaAtlanta metropolitan area
Frequency1690 kHz
BrandingAM 1690 WMLB
Slogan"The Voice of the Arts"
Programming
FormatOldies
AffiliationsCBS Radio Network
Ownership
OwnerJW Broadcasting
History
First air date
2003
Former call signs
WAXD, WSWK, WWAA
Technical information
ClassB
Power10,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
33.809444°N 84.353889°W / 33.809444; -84.353889

The WMLB call sign was assigned to the station at 1160 kHz before being transferred to 1690 kHz in 2006 by its present owner JW Broadcasting.[2] The station went dark in the early morning of May 14, 2018 (sometime between 12:10 a.m. and 1:10 a.m. EDT). However, the online streaming continued to play music, hourly updates from CBS Radio News and station identifications until May 15.[3]

History

The radio station originally signed on with the call sign WSWK from the city of Adel in south Georgia, with a tourist information format in 2003, identifying as "Wild Adventures Radio" and simulcasting FM 92.1 WDDQ with the same format.[4] The station was moved to the Atlanta radio market in 2004 when the license was transferred to serve Avondale Estates.[2] 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.[2]

At that time, the station signed on in the Atlanta market with a country music format.[5] But by September 2004 the station flipped radio formats to become a talk radio station and joined the Air America Radio progressive talk radio network.[6] The format change came with a change to the WWAA callsign.[2]

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.[2] In June 2006, JW Broadcasting, owners of station WMLB (then assigned to 1160), took ownership of WWAA (formerly an Air America Radio network affiliate).[6] JW Broadcasting dropped the WWAA call letters and then transferred the WMLB call sign to 1690 kHz.[2] The change brought with it the eclectic radio format previously heard on 1160. One radio program from the Air America 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 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.

As of this writing (June 30, 2020), WMLB has been on the air for several weeks, playing oldies music and old interviews.

References
  1. AJC.com "WCFO Sold to Atlanta Catholic Radio" April 5, 2018
  2. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Applications Search for Facility 87118
  3. "1690/WMLB-AM 'Voice of the Arts' shutting down after 21 years | Radio and TV Talk". Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  4. Hauser, Glenn (2003-09-12). "DX Listening Digest 3163". Glenn Hauser (publisher). Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  5. Hauser, Glenn (2004-02-05). "DX Listening Digest 4022". Glenn Hauser (Publisher). Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  6. 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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