AM Technical Profile: WACT


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Frequency:
1420
Format:
Adult Contemporary
Transmitter Location:
[map] [bird's eye] [street view] Visible from I-359 in Tuscaloosa, the station's studios and tower are located at the end of 38th Street, just off Greensboro Avenue.
Power (ERP):
Day: 5 kW
Night: 108 watts
Antenna:
1 tower
Other Information:
0.5 mV/m Daytime Groundwave Service Contour from the FCC's Public Files
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[Studio] Street View imagery of the iHeartMedia studios in downtown Tuscaloosa.
Owned by
iHeartMedia
// W245BR Tuscaloosa, AL
History:
1420 was WACT (for Alabama Crimson Tide) and was the city's first top 40 station in the late 50's, even though it was a daytimer. They had to give up the top 40 in the early 60's and went easy listening. Later got a companion FM (WACT FM) and became sucessful as a country combo. The FM played contemporary country, the AM classic country. Was "taken over" by Rick and Bubba along with WACT FM when Capstar bought out the station. The FM went rock and the AM changed to a southern gospel format. According to the NAB in 1985, the station broadcast in stereo with the Motorola C-QUAM system.

In July of 2004 the station changed to an all sports format, calling itself "The Tusk". The station broadcasts some University of Alabama sports.
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In September 2008, Birmingham's rock outlet changed calls, releasing the historic WENN calls.  They wound up here, displacing the historic WACT calls.
 
The historic WACT calls returned to the station on February 28th, 2009.  They've also dropped the sports for a news/talk format, sharing some programming with Birmingham talker WERC and replaying Rick and Bubba mid-days.  Around the first of May 2009 the station was reported to be simulcasting on Brookwood-licensed FM station WRTR.  In 2012 the station split from the news/talk simulcast to pick up Clear Channel's 24/7 Comedy network.
Clear Channel shut down their comedy network in August of 2014.  The station flipped to gospel music under the "Hallelujah 1420" moniker.
The gospel was dropped in March of 2015 as the station began playing adult contemporary music as "96.9 MYfm", while now also being heard on translator W245BR. 

In late August 2019, the translator received a construction permit to leave the Jug Factory Road tower that all the TTI, Inc. translators had been using for one in Holt, previously home to WMHZ's translator.