AM History Profile: WLOR

History:

Some of this history was taken from the WAAY-TV history page.

AM 1550's history goes back at least to 1958 when the calls were WHBS. The format was adult easy listening and the station was owned by the Huntsville Times. That year, the station was bought, the calls were changed to WAAY and the format changed to top 40. Some DJs quit because they don't like the "new sound" and a petition is signed to do away with rock and roll radio in town. This is the station that 95.1, WNDA-FM and channel 31, WAAY-TV is spawned from. By late 1963, the station was the dominant station in the market. A new 50 kW facility is installed off Pulaski Pike for the daytime hours. The station still uses it's old facility downtown for nights, with only 500 watts of power.

WAAY-AM installs the Kahn stereo system in November of 1983. Winter of 1985  has the station changed to adult contemporary music provided by Satellite Music Corporation. This was due to the declining listenership of music on AM and the heart attack the owner of the station, M. D. Smith III.

Due to losses, the station was taken off the air in the summer of 1988 while the owners looked for buyers. In May of '89, new owners returned 1550 to the air with a gospel format. After big losses of the now WAAJ-AM radio, the station finds it's way back to Smith Broadcasting, who owned it as WAAY-AM. In February of 1992 the studios were demolished, the equipment and transmitter sold off. Later a minority partnership bought the license, towers and daytime property and put the station back on the air with the gospel format. The calls have probably been WLOR since then.