There is a new frequency to get local radio on in Tallassee.
WTLS is now on 101.1 FM and will continue to broadcast on 1300 AM and 94.7 FM in Pike Road.
“We are an AM station,” WTLS owner Michael Butler said. “That is where it all starts. We are one of the oldest stations around. There are a couple that have been on the air for a little while longer.”
WTLS first pushed their signal out on 1300 AM on June 1, 1954. It’s still doing so today, 71 years later.
“That is our first and primary station,” Butler said.
In 2007 Butler and WTLS added their broadcast to the FM dial as the FCC allowed on 106.5 FM.
“WTLS was named Station of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association in 2007,” Butler said. “That same year, WTLS launched its first FM translator in Tallassee. We were one of the first in Alabama to do so.”
The FM translators allow an AM station to fill in gaps in its coverage area and to allow another option with an AM signal that might be disturbed by weather or atmospheric conditions. For WTLS, the FM translator and its AM transmitter atop the 430 foot tower behind Tallassee Automotive allow its signal to be heard to the southern parts of Lake Martin over towards Wetumpka and in Reeltown. The 94.7 FM translator in Pike Road gives coverage south of Tallassee over to the Eastern Bypass in Montgomery.
A few years ago WTLS moved to 106.9 FM. It is also the frequency of a Birmingham radio station. A planned FM station in Montgomery applied to the FCC and received the frequency. Butler and WTLS were aware and went to work finding 101.1 FM as a clear frequency in the area.
“We had the application approved for a while but it was based on them going live on 106.5,” Butler said. “They went on the air last week and we were ready to go as soon as they were.”
Butler’s grandfather Ned Butler and Bert Bank started WTLS. Butler was an engineer by trade and the pair went on to start stations in Tuscaloosa, Talladega, Ozark and Tallassee. Bank is credited with starting the foundation of the Alabama Football Radio Network.
“We’ve been blessed by Tallassee and the surrounding area,” Butler said. “We hope we can continue to provide for the area as they have helped us.”