WTMA

Infobox Radio station
name = WTMA-AM


city = North Charleston, South Carolina
area = Charleston
branding = "News-Talk 1250 AM WTMA"
slogan = "The Lowcountry's Big Talker"
airdate = June 1939
frequency = 1250 kHz
format = News/Talk
power = 5,000 W daytime
1,000 W nighttime
erp =
class = B
callsign_meaning = "W"here "T"alk "M"eans "A"ction.
former_callsigns =
owner = Citadel Broadcasting
webcast =
website = [http://www.wtma.com WTMA.com]
affiliations = ABC News
sister_stations = WSSX, WIWF, WWWZ

WTMA (branded as News-Talk 1250 AM) is an AM radio station serving the Charleston market area with a News/Talk format. This station operates on AM frequency 1250 kHz and is under ownership of Citadel Broadcasting.

History

WTMA began its broadcasting activities in June 1939 as an NBC affiliate and is the Charleston, SC area's second oldest AM radio station, and of those two, the only one to maintain its current call letters. Until 1981 it broadcast in a top-40 format but like other AM stations switched to an adult contemporary format until 1986 when FM became more popular. It tried a couple different formats including R&B and country until in 1989 it switched to a talk radio format and has since then maintained its news format, as a Citadel Owned and Operated station, from ABC News and its own local team. It shares its news operation with Columbia radio station WISW and weather with WCSC.

In 2002, it became the home of University of South Carolina Gamecock sports as part of a corporate policy, and in November 2007, became the exclusive home of Gamecock sports in the Charleston area, as WNKT (a football-only simulcast of WTMA) was moved out to Eastover (in the Columbia market). It is currently a top 10 station in the Charleston market with 5,000 non-directional watts of power during the day, 1,000 directional watts of power at night. It boasts the largest news department in the state and was named the South Carolina Associated Press Station of the Year four out of the last five years.

Notable programming on the station includes Richard Todd and the Morning Buzz (6AM to 10AM), Neal Boortz (10AM to 12PM), Radio Free Rocky D (12PM to 3PM), Sean Hannity (3PM to 6PM), Mark Levin (6PM - 8PM), "The Radio Factor" hosted by Bill O'Reilly (8PM to 10PM), and Jim Bohannon (10PM - 1AM). Weekend programming includes Charlie Thompson (Saturday at 12PM). Every Tuesday and Friday morning (7:50AM) The Southern Avenger provides political punditry. [http://www.wtma.com/article.asp?id=377165]

External links

* [http://www.wtma.com News-Talk 1250 AM WTMA official website]
*AMQ|WTMA
*AML|WTMA
* [http://www.wtmamemories.com WTMA History Site]