WPLN (AM)

WPLN (1430 AM) is a National Public Radio-affiliated radio station licensed to Madison, Tennessee. The station serves the Nashville, Tennessee, area along with sister station WPLN-FM. WPLN is an effort by the directors of Nashville Public Radio to find a place to program such NPR features as The Diane Rehm Show and similar fare that have a definite audience but a lesser one than public radio standbys such as NPR's All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation and Morning Edition and American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion. These are programmed on WPLN-FM, 90.3 MHz, while the alternative programs are aired on the AM. A few features are aired by both at different times.

WPLN
CityMadison, Tennessee
Broadcast areaNashville, Tennessee
Frequency1430 kHz
Programming
FormatNews/Talk
AffiliationsNPR
Ownership
OwnerNashville Public Radio
WNXP, WPLN-FM
History
Former call signs
WENO
WWRB (January 22-October 4, 1988)
WRLT (October 4, 1988-March 2, 1990)
WHNK (March 2, 1990-August 21, 1995)
WCKD (August 21, 1995-September 1, 1996)
WMAK (September 1, 1996-December 12, 2000)
WKDA (December 12, 2000-March 26, 2002)
WQDQ (March 26-April 9, 2002)
Call sign meaning
Public Library Nashville
Technical information
Facility ID21473
ClassB
Power15,000 watts (day)
1,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
36°16′19″N 86°42′53″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.wpln.org

Callsign

The callsign 'WPLN' comes from the original status of public radio in Nashville as a subsidiary of the public library, 'PLN' standing for Public Library of Nashville. Although the library and the radio station had developed separate operations and boards of directors well before the addition of the AM station, the FM radio had retained the 'PLN' moniker and it was deemed to be less potentially confusing for the AM station likewise to use it in preference to any other.

History

WPLN began broadcasting on April 1, 2002 as WQDQ, shortly after Nashville Public Radio acquired the station. WQDQ became WPLN on April 9, 2002. Following many years of relative success as pioneering country music station WENO, 1430 AM had numerous owners and several formats, and shortly before the sale, it had been simulcasting the news programming of local CBS television affiliate WTVF and its affiliated cable outlet. The station was generally considered to be financially marginal, which is why the frequency was available for sale to the local public radio board. In general, the AM frequency is part of a trend for radio markets of 1 million people or more to have multiple public outlets carrying distinct formats. However, with Nashville Public Radio's purchase Vanderbilt University student station WRVU and converting it to an all-classical format as WFCL, WPLN-FM's format was changed on June 8, 2011, to an all-news-and-talk format similar to WPLN's former format; at this point WPLN began changing over to the format outlined above.

As of March 2020, WPLN-AM is also heard on its sister station WPLN-FM's HD3 channel. From May 2011 until March 2020, it was previously heard on the HD2 subchannel.

In 2020, WPLN converted its format to that of the BBC World Service, broadcasting its programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

See also
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