WTYM

WTYM
Broadcast area	Kittanning, Pennsylvania
Branding	"Hometown Radio"
Frequency	1380 kHz
First air date	March 1, 1949 (as WACB)
Format	Talk, news, Christian
ERP	1000 Watts (day) 28 Watts (night)
Class	D
Callsign meaning	Good TYM(time) Radio
Owner	Family-Life Media-Com, Inc.
Website	wtymradio.com

WTYM is a 24-hour commercially licensed AM radio station broadcasting at 1380 kHz with a maximum power output of 1,000 watts, non-directional. The station is wholly owned by Family-Life Media-Com Inc., and its city of license is Kittanning, the seat of government for Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

History

Beginnings as WACB

WTYM began broadcasting in 1949 as WACB, with the call letters standing for Armstrong County Broadcasting, the name of the original licensee, headed by its president, Lawrence Henry; and vice president Joseph B. Moore. WACB was the second radio station to come on the air in Armstrong County. The first was WAVL in nearby Apollo the year before; and the third was WKIN, which came on the air later in 1949 at 1600 kHz, but that station would later fail and its license returned to the FCC.

Armstrong County Broadcasting sold WACB in December 1964 to WACB, Inc., a company parented by Rosenblum Stations, which also owned WISR in nearby Butler, Pennsylvania. Ray Rosenblum served as president of WACB, Inc.

The station signed on the air at first with a power of 500 watts, but was granted permission in 1952 to double that amount, and began operating at its current daytime power in February 1953. WACB broadcast from its debut until about 1965 on Market street in downtown Kittanning. Like many small-town stations in the golden age of radio, the station broadcast news, music, local ball games, and the programs of the day. However, unlike its counterparts, WACB was an independently programmed station, never having any kind of a network audio affiliation until almost the end of the 20th century. It also never had a co-located FM station in its portfolio.

Shortly before its 1982 sale, the station moved from its longtime location to 221 Butler Road in West Kittanning.

WACB, Inc. ended its 18-year ownership tenure in 1981, when the company agreed to sell the station to its third owner, Nicholas Enterprises of Butler County. The station was sold to the newly formed Nicholas Broadcasting Company for $300,000 by the end of the year. It was during this ownership period that WACB experienced its largest growth until its subsequent sale in 1992.

Sale to Nicholas Broadcasting Company

WTYM tower and studio building on Bunker Hill Road in North Buffalo Township, its studio from 1982 to 2010.

Upon purchasing the station, Nicholas Broadcasting Company recognized a need for more space for the station than what the building at 221 Butler Road offered. The following year, a new studio and office building was completed at the station's transmitter site on Bunker Hill Road in North Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania, about three miles southwest of Kittanning, where it remained until July 2010.

The spacious new location allowed the construction of a commercial production studio, sales offices in the basement, and a newsroom and programming office. The station was also outfitted with newer and more state-of-the-art equipment that what had been available up to that point in time.

The late 1980s were a turning point at the time for WACB. In 1987, Nicholas Broadcasting Company announced the creation of a weekly satire publication, called "Adults Exclusively Yours". The free publication, distributed in retail establishments throughout the Armstrong County area, featured weekly columns written by station personnel, a comic strip based on internal station antics called "WARP Radio", advertisements, and the weekly drawing of a $100 cash prize to a reader who could spot an intentional mistake put in the paper. Adults Exclusively Yours ceased publication in the fall of 1989.

Towards the end of 1987, after years of petitioning, WACB was finally granted limited nighttime power. Since 1985, the station operated with a PSRA power of 400 watts from sign-on until sunrise, then 55 watts PSSA that allowed the station to remain on the air no more than two hours past local sundown. The new nighttime power of 28 watts allowed WACB to stay on the air 24 hours if they liked, but ownership chose to continue signing off, though at midnight. WACB began broadcasting under their new nighttime power authority in January 1988.

Up until July 4, 1990, WACB's format had been relatively consistent for many years; a full-service news and sports formatted station playing adult contemporary and oldies music. On that day, the format switched to country. The station's moniker then changed from "The Ace of Entertainment" to "The All-American".

Acquisition by Vernal Enterprises, Inc.

In 1992, Nicholas Enterprises decided to leave the radio business and sold WTYM to Vernal Enterprises, Inc. of Indiana, Pennsylvania. Upon taking over, the music portion of the format reverted to oldies (but without the adult contemporary flavor), and the station adopted the new call letters WTYM, for the new chosen moniker "Good Time Radio!".

Under Vernal's direction, the station for the first time in its history joined a network affiliation with AP Network News (later discontinued). The station had never embraced satellite technology prior to the format change on July 22, 1992.

On that day, the station celebrated its changing of the guard that afternoon while broadcasting live from the Fort Armstrong Folk Festival, an annual event held in downtown Kittanning's Riverfront Park. John McCue, a local attorney who worked at the station during its beginnings in the 1940s, signed off the station as WACB for the very last time and new owner Larry Schrecongost then signed the station on as WTYM and under its then-new all oldies format.

Acquisition by Family Life Media Com, Inc.

Vernal owner Larry Schrecengost died unexpectedly on June 8, 2010, with the station temporarily ceasing operations a week later. On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, Vernal Enterprises announced the planned sale of WTYM to Family Life Media Com, Inc., which is the parent company of Family Life TV and The Kittanning Paper. Family-Life began programming WTYM on July 26, 2010 under a Time Brokerage Agreement. The sale received final FCC approval on Friday, November 19, 2010. The sale was concluded on December 16, 2010.

WTYM Today

Studio at 114 South Jefferson Street in downtown Kittanning

Upon the proposed acquisition of WTYM by Family Life Media Com, and its subsequent return to the air on July 26, 2010, the station dropped its oldies format in favor of a daily local talk and news-based format, local sports, and Sunday Christian programming. WTYM studios have been relocated to the front window at 114 South Jefferson Street in downtown Kittanning, where announcers frequently interact with persons on the street. Through programming and active community involvement, WTYM has brought back "hometown radio" to Armstrong County.

Sources

External links

Query the FCC's AM station database for WTYM

Radio-Locator Information on WTYM

Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WTYM
Media related to WTYM at Wikimedia Commons

Radio stations in the Pittsburgh market

By AM frequency	540 590 620 660 680 730 770 810 860 910 940 970 1020¹ 1080 1150 1210 1250 1280 1320 1360 1380 1410 1450 1460 1480 1490 1510 1550 1570 1640 ¹ Clear-channel stations with extended nighttime coverage

By FM frequency	88.1 88.1 88.3 88.7 88.9 89.3 90.1 90.5 91.3 91.7 92.1 92.1 92.5 92.9 93.7 94.5 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.1 96.9 97.7 98.3 98.9 99.3 99.7 100.1 100.7 101.1 101.5 102.5 103.1 103.5 103.7 103.9 104.3 104.7 105.1 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.1 107.5 107.9

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.55

Digital Radio	89.3-1 89.3-2 90.5-1 90.5-2 90.5-3 91.3-1 92.9-1 92.9-2 92.9-3 92.9-4 93.7-1 93.7-2 93.7-3 94.5-1 94.5-2 96.1-1 96.1-2 96.9-1 96.9-2 96.9-3 96.9-4 99.7-1 100.7-1 100.7-2 100.7-3 102.5-1 102.5-2 105.9-1 105.9-2 107.9-1 107.9-2 107.9-3

By callsign	KDKA¹ KDKA-FM KFX300 KIH35 KQV W261AX WAMO WANB WAOB WAOB-FM WAVL WBGG WBJV WBUT WBVP WBZZ WCAL WCNS WCYJ WDIG WDSY-FM WDVE WEDO WEGW WESA WFSJ-LP WFGI WGBN WGLZ WHJB WISR WIUP WJAS WJPA WJPA-FM WJST WKBN WKFB WKGO WKHB WKPL WKST WKST-FM WKVE WLCY WLER WLSW WLTJ WMBA WMBS WMNY WHOT WMUG-LP WNJR WOGG WOGH WOGI WOHI WORD WPGB WPGP WPGR WPHP WPIT WPKL WPKV WPTS-FM WQED WQMU WQTW WRCT WRRK WSHH WSRU WTYM WUKL WVKF WVNP WWCS WWNL WWSW WWVA WXDX WYEP WYFU WZUM WZUM-FM

Defunct	WKZV 1110 AM WASP 1130 AM WBGI 1340 AM WSTV 1340 AM WZUM 1590 AM

Pennsylvania radio markets Allentown–Bethlehem Altoona Bradford–Coudersport Chambersburg–Waynesboro Erie Harrisburg–Lebanon–Carlisle Lancaster Montrose New Castle Philadelphia Pittsburgh Reading Sayre–Towanda–Mansfield–Wellsboro Wilkes-Barre–Scranton Williamsport York Other Pennsylvania radio regions Bedford Indiana Johnstown Lewistown–Mifflintown Meadville–Franklin Punxsutawney–DuBois St. Marys–Emporium–Kane State College Stroudsburg Sunbury–Selinsgrove–Lewisburg Warren Mass media in the Pittsburgh Area Radio stations TV stations Newspapers See also List of radio stations in Pennsylvania

Coordinates: 40°47′19″N 79°32′05″W / 40.78861°N 79.53472°W / 40.78861; -79.53472

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