Technical Profile: WTBC

AM Technical Profile: WTBC

Frequency:: 1230
Format:: Sports Talk
Transmitter Location:: [map] [bird's eye] Just north of Alberta City, between Jack Warner Parkway and 25th Avenue East. Almost due north of the cul-de-sac of 23rd Avenue Northeast.
Power (ERP):: Day: 1 kW; Night: 1 kW
Antenna:: 1 tower
Other Information:: 0.5 mV/m Daytime Groundwave Service Contour from the FCC's Public Files

[FCC]
[FCCData.org]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]; [Facebook] For Tide 100.9

[Studio] Street view imagery of the barely-visible studio behind the Olive Garden on McFarland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa.; //W265CG Tuscaloosa

Owned by Townsquare Media
History:: The station was put on the air in 1946 as WJRD-AM. Those calls eventually moved to 1150 kHz and the station became WTBC (Tuscaloosa Broadcasting Company). The 1957 Radio Annual shows them running 250 watts.; The station was top 40 during the 60's and was the flagship of University of Alabama sports. WTBC-FM came from this station. Later became WRLX (Relax) with easy listening, then switched to talk with the calls WTNW. (Became the second station in Alabama to air Don and Mike. — Zach) The station was bought out a few years ago by Cox Broadcasting so they could get a hold of its sister station, WFFX-FM, 95.7. That station was moved to become a Birmingham rimshot and the AM station went to easy listening with the WTBC calls. The format didn't seem to last too long, however, as the station quickly went back to talk and news. Cox sold WTBC to John Sisty, owner of WNPT-FM in Marion, in 2002.; In February 2011 it became known that the station is acquiring an FM translator (W286BV Demopolis). The station has also branched out into music during non-talk dayparts, as is calling itself "1230 The River". The station's translator outlet eventually moved to 100.1 as W261BT. At the end of August 2013, the station was reported to be relaying WNPT's "Catfish Country" classic country programming. The station, along with WNPT, was being sold to Townsquare Media in May of 2016. Roughly a month later, the Catfish Country moved to WTBC and its translator exclusively after WNPT flipped to sports.

In October 2023, the Catfish Country format's primary station swapped places with the Sports Talk "Tide 100.9", moving to WTUG-HD2.