WTVL

---

title: "WTVL" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["townsquare-media-radio-stations", "waterville,-maine", "radio-stations-established-in-1946", "radio-stations-disestablished-in-2024", "defunct-radio-stations-in-the-united-states", "1946-establishments-in-maine", "2024-disestablishments-in-maine", "radio-stations-in-maine"] description: "Radio station in Waterville, Maine, United States" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTVL" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Radio station in Waterville, Maine, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	WTVL
logo	WTVL1490.png
city	Waterville, Maine
country	US
area	Kennebec County, Maine
branding	Kool AM 1490
frequency
airdate
last_airdate
format	Adult standards
power	1,000 watts
class	C
licensing_authority	FCC
facility_id	52607
coordinates
callsign_meaning	Waterville
former_callsigns	WODJ (2004)
owner	Townsquare Media
licensee	Townsquare License, LLC
sister_stations
webcast
website
::

| name = WTVL | above = | logo = WTVL1490.png | city = Waterville, Maine | country = US | area = Kennebec County, Maine | branding = Kool AM 1490 | frequency = | translator = | airdate = | last_airdate = | format = Adult standards | power = 1,000 watts | class = C | licensing_authority = FCC | facility_id = 52607 | coordinates = | callsign_meaning = Waterville | former_callsigns = WODJ (2004) | affiliations = | owner = Townsquare Media | licensee = Townsquare License, LLC | sister_stations = | webcast = | website =

WTVL (1490 kHz "Kool AM 1490") was a commercial AM radio station licensed to serve Waterville, Maine, and serving Kennebec County. The station was owned by Townsquare Media and until December 31, 2022, it broadcast an adult standards radio format, playing softer hits from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The station featured the music of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Nat King Cole and Dionne Warwick in its playlist.

WTVL’s transmitter power output was 1,000 watts. The transmitter was off Benton Avenue in Winslow. The studios and offices were on Western Avenue in Augusta.

History

On June 19, 1946, WTVL first signed on as an ABC network affiliate owned by Kennebec Broadcasting Company. WTVL carried ABC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio".

An FM sister station went on the air March 26, 1968, at 98.3 FM, simulcasting WTVL's programming. WTVL-AM-FM had a middle of the road format and carried news from the ABC Entertainment network. In 1984, the station shifted to an adult contemporary format.

The following year, WTVL changed to a nostalgia format programmed separately from the FM station, which had moved to 98.5 FM and had become adult contemporary station WDBX. In 1987, WDBX returned to the WTVL-FM call sign, and the two stations resumed simulcasting with an oldies format.

E.H. Close, owner of WPNH AM-FM in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and WKNE AM-FM in Keene, New Hampshire, bought WTVL and WTVL-FM from Kennebec Broadcasting for $1.29 million in 1988. By 1990, the stations had changed to a soft rock format. In 1993, WTVL-FM became country music station WEBB; the simulcast on WTVL continued, even though the AM call sign was not changed.

Pilot Communications bought WTVL and WEBB for $450,000 in 1994. Pilot's radio stations were acquired by Citadel Broadcasting in 1999 as part of its purchase of parent company Broadcasting Partners Holdings. In January 2003, Citadel ended WTVL's simulcast of WEBB and switched the station to an adult standards format, simulcast with sister station WEZW (1400 AM, now WJZN) in Waterville under the "Kool" branding. The call sign was changed to WODJ on November 26, 2004; on December 8, the WTVL call sign returned.

Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. Townsquare Media acquired Cumulus' Augusta/Waterville stations in 2012. The simulcast with WJZN ended on July 14, 2016, when that station changed to a classic rock format.

On December 31, 2022, WTVL went silent. Townsquare Media surrendered the station's license to the Federal Communications Commission on December 29, 2023, which cancelled it on January 8, 2024.

References

References

1. "WTVL-AM 1490 kHz - Waterville, ME".
2. "Contact Us".
3. (1947). "Broadcasting Yearbook 1947".
4. (1969). "1969 Broadcasting Yearbook".
5. (1974). "1974 Broadcasting Yearbook".
6. (1985). "Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1985".
7. (1986). "Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1986".
8. (1986). "Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1986".
9. (October 3, 1988). "Changing Hands". [[Broadcasting & Cable.
10. (1991). "The Broadcasting Yearbook 1991".
11. "Maine Radio History, 1971–1996".
12. (April 18, 1994). "Changing Hands". [[Broadcasting & Cable]].
13. (November 9, 1999). "8 Maine radio stations bought". [[Bangor Daily News]].
14. (January 27, 2003). "KB Komes Back". North East RadioWatch.
15. "Call Sign History (WTVL)". [[Federal Communications Commission]].
16. (September 16, 2011). "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal.
17. (April 30, 2012). "Cumulus sells radio stations in Bangor, Augusta, Presque Isle". [[Bangor Daily News]].
18. [https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/107244/capital-95-9-launches-in-augusta-me/ Capital 95.9 Launches in Augusta, ME] Radioinsight - July 14, 2016
19. "Draft Copy « Licensing and Management System « FCC".
20. (January 8, 2024). "License Cancelled". Federal Communications Commission Licensing and Management System.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::