WGTL (defunct)
| City | Kannapolis, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 870 kHz |
| First air date | 1946 |
| Format | Defunct |
| Power | 1,000 watts (day only) |
| Facility ID | 22428 |
| Callsign meaning | World's Greatest Textile Land |
| Owner | Fred H. Whitley, Inc. |
WGTL (870 AM) was a radio station licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina. It operated on 870 kHz with a power of 1000 watts, daytime, non-directional. The call letters were chosen to represent a common slogan for its city of license, "World's Greatest Textile Land." WGTL has been off the air since 1992.
The 870 frequency in the Charlotte market first went on the air with the call letters WGTL in 1946, it was owned and operated by Fred H. Whitley. From 1946 to 1948, the station had studios in downtown Concord at the Hotel Concord.
From 1948 to 1992, the studios were co-located with the transmitter on Highway 29 across from the Carolina Mall.
The 960 frequency in the market first went on the air with the call letters WAAK in the town of Dallas, North Carolina on January 1, 1963.
The station was initially applied for by Wayne M. Nelson and was to be licensed in Concord with 1000 watts daytime and nighttime. In 1960. Fred Whitley, owner of WGTL applied for the frequency as a daytime-only station in Dallas in order to keep new competition out of his market.
He won the construction permit for the station in Dallas, took the call letters WAAK off the top of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) call letter list, refurbished WGTL's studio (bought the audio board from WSJS-TV) and put the old WGTL console in Dallas.
WGTL was built for Whitley by Foy T. Hinson, a local radio repair shop owner who developed an interest in broadcast electronics during his service in World War II. Hinson was the Chief Engineer for the station until December 1961. During the previous year, he had applied for a station of his own, and had constructed the facilities without the knowledge of WGTL's owner, Mr. Whitley. Hinson resigned from WGTL the last week of November, and signed on WRKB-AM 1460 in Kannapolis the very next week.
William E. Rumple became the Chief Engineer of the station from that time until it went dark in 1992.
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