KWUL (AM)

KWUL (920 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to St. Louis, Missouri, and serving the Greater St. Louis media market. The station is owned by Louis Eckelkamp, through licensee East Central Broadcasting, LLC, and broadcasts an Americana radio format.

KWUL
Simulcasts KWUL-FM Elsberry
Broadcast areaGreater St. Louis
Frequency920 kHz
BrandingK-Wulf
Programming
FormatAmericana
Ownership
Owner
  • Louis Eckelkamp
  • (East Central Broadcasting, LLC)
KRTE-FM, KRTK, KVMO, KWUL-FM, KXEN
History
First air date
December 1, 1961
Former call signs
WGNU (1961–2023)
Call sign meaning
"K-Wulf"
Technical information
Facility ID49042
ClassB
Power450 watts day
500 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
38°45′33.2″N 90°3′0.4″W (NAD 83)
Translator(s)101.5 K268CT (St. Louis)
Links
Websitekwulf.com

KWUL's studios and offices are located on Hampton Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, while its transmitter is located near the Interstate 255/Illinois Route 255/Interstate 270 interchange, off Chain of Rocks Road in Edwardsville, Illinois.[1]

History

On December 1, 1961, KWUL first signed on the air from Granite City, Illinois as WGNU.[2] Founded by Chuck Norman and owned by him for the rest of his life, it was held in trust after his 2004 death. Under Norman's ownership, the station featured a wide-ranging local talk format. Norman also signed on FM sister station WGNU-FM (now WARH) on November 24, 1965.

WGNU was sold to Radio Property Ventures, owners of KXEN, on September 26, 2007, and switched to a gospel music format.[3][4] Initially, WGNU was a Top 40 station, then changed to country music and eventually talk, primarily aimed at the African-American community.[4][5]

Former KFNS host Tim McKernan and his company, InsideSTL Enterprises, bought the weekday air time on WGNU, and the station switched its weekday programming to sports talk on August 1, 2013. The weekday schedule consisted of 11 hours of local shows, as well as programming from CBS Sports Radio. The Urban Talk format continued to air on weekends.[6] This lease agreement ended in September 2016, when insideSTL Enterprises took over the operations of KFNS and moved its programming onto that station.

The station briefly made national headlines when former St. Louis Cardinals player Jack Clark, who cohosted "The King and the Ripper" with longtime St. Louis radio personality Kevin "the King" Slaten, claimed Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols had performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while Pujols was with the Cardinals. Clark had been the Cardinals' hitting coach during the early part of Pujols' 12-year tenure in St. Louis. Clark had said that he talked to Pujols' former personal trainer and said that "I know for a fact he was" using PEDs.[7] Pujols responded by threatening Clark and WGNU with a defamation lawsuit, and vehemently denied that he had ever used PEDs. The trainer added that he hadn't even talked to Clark in over ten years. InsideSTL cut ties with Clark and Slaten after only seven shows.[7][8][9] It also issued an apology to Pujols.[10]

In 2018, the station's community of license was changed from Granite City to St. Louis, Missouri.[11]

On October 12, 2021, WGNU changed its format from brokered programming to sports gambling, branded as "The Game", with programming from the VSIN Sports Betting Network.[12] This station is currently running programming from a local station in Ellsberry, MissourI called KWUL-FM. It currently running rock and Americana type music.

On March 27, 2023, the station changed its call sign to KWUL. Effective May 8, 2023, Radio Property Ventures sold KWUL, KXEN, and translator K264CY to Louis Eckelkamp's East Central Broadcasting for $210,000.

References
  1. "KWUL-AM Radio Station Coverage Map".
  2. Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-63
  3. Garrison, Chad (2007-09-27). "WGNU Sale Finalized; Station to Go Gospel". STLog. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  4. Hinman, Kristen (April 27, 2005). "The old Chuckaroo". Riverfront Times. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  5. "St. Louis Media History Foundation - Welcome".
  6. "WGNU St. Louis to Flip to Sports".
  7. "MLB Baseball - News, Scores, Stats, Standings, and Rumors - Major League Baseball".
  8. "Jack Clark fired after Pujols says he'll sue". 9 August 2013.
  9. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9556488
  10. "Albert Pujols sues Jack Clark". 4 October 2013.
  11. "Radio Broadcasting Services; AM or FM Proposals To Change The Community of License" Federal Register, May 11, 2018 (federalregister.gov)
  12. Sports Betting The Game Debuts In St. Louis Radioinsight - October 12, 2021
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