City | Graham, North Carolina |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Piedmont Triad |
Branding | Triad Sports Network |
Frequency | 1200 kHz |
Translator(s) | 104.5 W283BT (Burlington) |
First air date | December 2, 1967 |
Format | Sports radio |
Power | 10,000 watts daytime 1,000 watts nighttime |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 740 |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°9′1.00″N 79°54′48.00″W / 36.1502778°N 79.9133333°W |
Former callsigns | WSML (1967-1981) WWOK (1981-1982) |
Former frequencies | 1190 kHz (1967-1991) |
Affiliations | ESPN Radio |
Owner |
Curtis Media Group (Crescent Media Group LLC) |
Sister stations | WCOG, WMFR, WPCM, WSJS, WYMY |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | triadsports |
WSML is located in Graham, North Carolina, and broadcasts at 1200 AM. The station is part of the "Triad Sports Network", a sports trimulcast with WCOG from Greensboro and WMFR from High Point. The station is owned by Curtis Media Group. Studios are located in Winston-Salem.
WSML signed on December 2, 1967, as a daytimer operating at 1190 AM, owned by Smiles of Graham, Inc. In its early years, the station had a top 40 format, but by 1970 it had become a country music station. This gave way to a rock format by 1973, and a blend of country and rock soon thereafter. By 1975, WSML had integrated beautiful music into the format and cut back its country music programming; however, after a sale of the station to Acme Communications (no relation to the current television station owner) in 1976, it reverted to a full-time country format.
In 1981, the station was sold to Graycasting, Inc. and became WWOK; a year later, Evans Communications Corporation took over the station and reinstated the WSML call letters. By this time, the station had added religious programming to its country format; religion had become its full-time format by 1987, after having been acquired by Gray Broadcasting Company (unrelated to Gray Television) two years earlier. WSML moved to 1200 AM in 1991, allowing the station to begin 24-hour operation. By the 1990s, programming consisted of gospel music.
What had become Graycasting Media sold WSML to Clear Channel Communications in 1998. Clear Channel converted the station to a news/talk format, largely simulcasting sister station WSJS from Winston-Salem; this filled in a gap in WSJS' coverage of Greensboro and the eastern part of the Piedmont Triad (especially at night). There was some separate programming — predominantly NC State Wolfpack sports and Sunday morning programming.