WIRL
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WIRL (1290 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a conservative talk format. Licensed to Peoria, Illinois, it is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc. Studios and offices are on Fulton Street in Peoria.
WIRL is powered at 5,000 watts. To protect other stations on 1290 AM from interference, it uses a directional antenna with a two-tower array by day and four towers at night. The transmitter is on Zion Oaks Road in Marquette Heights, Illinois.[1] Programming is also heard on FM translator W240DM at 95.9 MHz and on an HD Radio subchannel on sister station 93.3 WPBG-HD3.
Programming
Most of WIRL's programming is nationally syndicated talk shows. Weekdays begin with This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. That's followed by The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Mark Levin Show, The Joe Pags Show and Red Eye Radio.
Weekends feature shows on money, health and technology. Weekend syndicated hosts include Brian Kilmeade, Chris Plante, Guy Benson, Brett Baier, Rick Valdes and Bill Ferguson. Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.
History
Top 40 and AC
WIRL signed on the air on August 18, 1948Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..[2] It has always broadcast on 1290 AM, powered at 5,000 watts. The owner was the Illinois Valley Broadcasting Company with studios in the Jefferson Building in Peoria.[3]
WIRL was a successful Top 40 radio station from 1960 until the early 80s. During its tenure, its only competition was daytime-only WPEO 1020 AM. Popular WIRL disc jockeys were Robyn Weaver, Lee Ranson, Jerry Barr, Jim French, Timmy "Old Weird" West, Bill McCluggage, Lee Malcolm, Wayne R. Miller, Howard Taylor, Pete Stewart, VLJ, Charlie O'Day, John Sebastian Bachman, Ann Holub, Dave Phillips, Steve Young, Scott Robbins, Ron Thorn, with Mark Wainwright and many more. For many years, WIRL broadcast Bradley Braves basketball games not aired on WMBD.
In the late 1970s, WKZW 93.3, known as KZ93 (now WPBG), began playing Top 40 hits on the FM band. It siphoned away many listeners from WIRL thanks to its clearer sound and FM stereo. In 1984, WIRL began to evolve into a full service adult contemporary station. Personalities included Lee Malcolm, Gene Konrad, Kurt Schaeffer, Denise Henley, Steve Larson, Marc Truelove, Steve Young and Darryl Parks. The AC format lasted until the early 1990s. At that point, the station tried oldies and adult standards.
Sports, Country, Oldies and Talk
In November 2000, the station flipped to a sports radio format as "Fox Sports 1290". The call sign changed to WWFS, with the FS standing for Fox Sports Radio. The station returned to the WIRL call sign when it adopted a classic country format in March 2005.
On March 15, 2013, WIRL returned to an oldies sound, branded as "Good Time Oldies". It began simulcasting on FM translator W274BM 102.7 FM.[4][5]
On February 4, 2019, Alpha Media announced that it would sell its Peoria cluster, including WIRL, to Midwest Communications. The price tag for the Peoria stations was $21.6 million.[6] The sale closed on April 30, 2019.
On February 28, 2022, WIRL switched to a conservative talk radio format, branded as "Freedom 95.9." It is also heard on 95.9 W240DM Peoria and 93.3 WPBG-HD3. The oldies format is still available on 102.7 W274BM and WPBG-HD2.[7]
References
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- ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WIRL
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- ↑ WIRL Moves From Superhits To Freedom Radioinsight - February 28, 2022
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External links
- Template:FCC Licensing and Management System facility
- WIRL in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- The Big 1290 — tribute site with pictures and soundclip archives
- FCC History Cards for WIRL
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