WRTR

WRTR (105.9 FM, "Talk Radio 105.9") is a commercial radio station broadcasting a talk radio format.^[2] Licensed to Brookwood, Alabama, the station serves the Tuscaloosa metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with the broadcast license held by iHM Licenses, LLC.^[3] The studios and offices on 11th Street in Downtown Tuscaloosa.

WRTR

Brookwood, Alabama
Broadcast area	Tuscaloosa metropolitan area
Frequency	105.9 MHz
Branding	Talk Radio 105.9
Programming
Format	Talk
Affiliations	Fox News Radio Fox Sports Radio NBC News Radio Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WACT, WTXT, WZBQ
History
First air date	June 1, 1966; 59 years ago (1966-06-01) (as 105.5 WACT-FM)
Former call signs	WACT-FM (1966–1997)
Former frequencies	105.5 MHz (1966–2005)
Call sign meaning	W Roll Tide Roll (refers to the Crimson Tide, the nickname for University of Alabama sports teams)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	48645
Class	C3
ERP	25,000 watts
HAAT	82 meters (269 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	33°14′17″N 87°29′06″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	talkradio1059.iheart.com

WRTR is a Class C3 FM station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 25,000 watts. The transmitter and tower are located on Hammer Avenue in Holt, Alabama.^[4]

Programming

Weekdays begin with Alabama's Morning News with JT, based at WERC-FM in Birmingham. The rest of the weekday schedule is nationally syndicated conservative talk shows from co-owned Premiere Networks: The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Michael Berry Show, The Jesse Kelly Show and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.^[5]

Weekends feature repeats of weekday shows and syndicated specialty programs: Bill Handel on the Law, World Travel with Rudy Maxa, The Weekend with Michael Brown, Armstrong & Getty, The Brian Kilmeade Show, At Home with Gary Sullivan and Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham.^[6] Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.

History

The station signed on the air on June 1, 1966; 59 years ago (1966-06-01).^[7] Its original call sign was WACT-FM, the sister station to WACT 1420 AM. Its city of license was Tuscaloosa and it broadcast at 105.5 MHz. It was only powered at 1,500 watts, a fraction of its current output.

At first, WACT-FM mostly simulcast the AM station's country music format. It later started airing its own automated country sound. While WACT 1420 AM was a full-service country station, with news, sports and DJs, WACT-FM concentrated on more music and less chatter.

The station changed to the current WRTR on March 31, 1997. The call letters stand for "Roll Tide Roll", which refers to the Crimson Tide, the nickname for University of Alabama sports teams. WRTR played album rock and was known as "Tuscaloosa's Rock Station." In mornings, it carried The Bob and Tom Show, based in Indianapolis. Popular DJ Joe Elvis hosted afternoon drive time beginning in 2002. The Wild Bill Show was heard every weeknight.

Former logo

In 2000, WRTR and WACT were acquired by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia.^[8] On May 4, 2009, WRTR changed its format to all-talk, simulcasting WACT 1420. The two stations were branded as "Talk Radio 105.9". Then in October 2012, WACT 1420 flipped to comedy radio. That left WRTR 105.9 as an FM talk station, no longer simulcast with 1420 AM.