WIL (AM)
| City | St. Louis, Missouri |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater St. Louis |
| Branding | 1430 AM KZQZ |
| Slogan | Hot Talk & Cool Oldies |
| Frequency | 1430 kHz AM |
| First air date | 1922 (as WIL) |
| Format | Hot talk/Oldies |
| Power | 50,000 watts day 5,000 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 72391 |
| Former callsigns | WIL (1922–1989; 2005–2008) WRTH (1989–2005) |
| Owner | Entertainment Media Trust |
| Sister stations | KQQZ, KFTK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kzqz1430am.com |
KZQZ (1430 AM) is a radio station in St. Louis, Missouri.
KZQZ's transmitter is located in Dupo.
WIL started broadcasting in 1922, and has had various formats during its tenure. From 1989 until 2005, the station was known as WRTH.
An ad in a 1933 issue of Broadcasting magazine listed a number of "firsts" for WIL, including the following:
In the 1930s, WIL termed itself "The biggest little station in the nation."
WIL was the first station in St. Louis to air a popular music format beginning in the 1950s, and was an early career stop in the late 1950s and early 1960s for personalities who later achieved success in New York City radio including WABC's Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy. It eventually succumbed to competition from Storz Broadcasting's KXOK AM, moving through various formats in the 1960s, before finally landing at country music, where it became the top country music outlet in town, featuring personalities such as Davey Lee.
In the mid-1970s, facing competition from startup country station WGNU-FM in Granite City, Illinois at 106.5; WIL began to simulcast with their sister station at 92.3 FM. By the early 1980s, WIL-FM was affirmed as the top country-music station in town, and 1430 AM was split off from their FM sister station to start a classic country format, which it kept until 1989 when the station switched to an adult standards format with the call letters WRTH, which were on the air with the same format for many years at 590 AM in Wood River, Illinois (now KFNS AM).
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