Technical Profile: DWULA

AM Technical Profile: DWULA

Frequency:: 1240
Format:: Christian
Transmitter Location:: [map]
Power (ERP):: Day: 600 watts; Night: 600 watts
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]

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[Article] Eufalua Tribune article about the return of WYDK and WULA.

Owned by JDK Radio

// W243EJ Eufaula, AL (CP)

Silent
History:: This station's original construction permit was issued in the fall of 1946, for a 250 watt full time operation on 1240 kHz. Co-owned by Edward Fussell and R. Hoffman (as Alabama-Georgia Broadcasters, Inc.) the station signed on in October 1948, with studios and transmitters about 1.4 miles south of Eufala's center, on what is now Old Dale Road. In the early days, it was a Keystone-affiliated station. It ran a Collins 300-G transmitter.

The station's ownership changed to L. H. Christian and C. A. McClure (as Christian & McClure) in 1956. A year later the company changed names to Dixie Radio, Inc.

The station boosted power to 1 kW days in 1968, installing a Gates BC-1E transmitter.

In 1971, the station was acquired by Vogel-Montgomery, who quickly changed names to Vogel-Milligan. Under their ownership, the station signed on an FM companion, WULA-FM, that simulcast the AM's programming. By the mid 1970's, the station was doing a mix of Country music and Top 40. The station (and its FM sister) were transferred to WULA, Inc. in 1978. A year later, the FM split from the AM's programming.

By 1981, the station was still mostly doing Country music, but also had some black-oriented programming and Religious programming as well. That same year, McGowan Broadcasting bought the AM/FM combo. Lake Eufala Broadcasting bought the stations in 1989 for $390,000.

The station remained Country for the bulk of the 90's (dropping other programming at the start of the decade) until it was bought by Hellinger Broadcasting sometime in the late 90's. They flipped it to a Black Gospel format.

The station was sold to River Valley Media in 2004 for $95,000. River Valley, who owned Variety Hits WRQX on the FM band, flipped this station to a simulcast of that station after the purchase. That didn't last long as the station was reportedly airing a Sports Talk format by 2007, when it was sold to Big Fish Broadcasting, Inc.

The station was reported to be silent in 2011. The Tom Taylor on Radio-Info newsletter reported in June of that year that the station was being transferred between Big Fish Broadcasting and Sound Ideas, LLC. Both companies were owned by Stanley Griffin, and he was doing it to avoid foreclosure. Prior to the ownership change being approved, the calls changed to WNRA, ending a 63-year run with the original call sign. The transfer went through in December 2011. The station filed the first of many Silent STA (Special Temporary Authority) requests to go silent in October 2012, citing transmitter issues. The station would go off the air several more times before finally being resurrected in April 2016, returning to the WULA calls and picking up a Gospel/Christian format along with NASCAR and Alabama Crimson Tide football. It operated as "The Harbor", under a time brokerage agreement.

The station fell silent again in August 2016 when the time brokerage agreement ended. Despite the long periods of silence, the station was awarded an FM translator companion permit in May 2018, for 96.5 MHz. The translator was never built-out; after being sold (along with sister station WYDK) to Jeff Kierce's JDK Radio for $150,000, they turned in the license for the station in mid-September 2019.