WNTM
WPMI-AM "NewsRadio 710" was originally the creation of movie theater chain owner and broadcaster pioneer Kenneth R. Giddens, whose family-owned WKRG-TV Incorporated put Mobile, Alabama's very own 710 AM on the air in 1946. WKRG-TV5 would soon become a reality on September 5th,1955 thanks to this radio station. WKRG 710 would later have an FM companion at frequency 99.9 a while after TV5 went on the air, but like competitor WABB it was only a simulcast before finding its own format of beautiful music in 1965. In [[March 1970], the Federal Communications Commission enforced new rules preventing future radio and television ownership combinations in the same market, which allowed the stations of WKRG-TV Inc. to remain standing, or "grandfathered".
For much of its history, the former CBS-affiliated WKRG 710 had a format of middle of the road music and talk shows. Such programming including an afternoon talk show by future WKRG-TV sports director Randy Patrick, but the talk radio format would soon dominate the schedule later in the 1980s as FM reigned with its superior sound. The next change for WKRG Radio in the 1980s was a new location, as WKRG-TV, Inc. moved to its current facility close to the malls in Mobile. Last, but certainly not least the biggest change for WKRG Radio would come in 1994 when both 710 and 99.9 were sold off. A new journey awaits these two legendary stations.
On October 12,1994, the former WKRG-AM became known as WNTM, with [[call letters] standing for "News Talk of Mobile, making it clear that the new owners at Capital Broadcasting want to keep the talk radio format. Along with talk radio programs such as the popular "Rush Limbaugh Show", some former WKRG Radio staff would stay in this midst of change. The station's owners would also inherit studio & office space on the third floor of WKRG-TV's facility. Clear Channel Communications would become the current owner of 710 and 99.9 in 1997. Interesting enough, Clear Channel also owns what would become TV5's biggest rival in decades, the then-FOX affiliate WPMI. After WPMI started its news operation in 1996, the resources of this new addition to the Mobile news media would be put to good use for WNTM in the years to follow.
On August 12th, 2004, 710 once again had another change in call letters, this time to WPMI-AM due to the station's close relationship with WPMI-TV. Since the change in call letters, WPMI 710 changed radio network affiliation from the ABC Radio Nework to the NBC Radio Network, meaning no more of Paul Harvey's daily and weekend broadcasts. The station has also witnessed an expansion of local news from WPMI-TV, along with some regularly scheduled programs.
Numerous radio personalities have been heard over Mobile's 710 AM, including a few voices from the WKRG Radio years still around today. Former WKRG-FM disc jockey Scott O'Brien hosts "Mobile's First News" and "Ask the Expert" in the morning, local radio veteran Michael P. Sloan is a newsbreak reader, local talk show hosts Tim Smith and Shane McBryde hosted their own programs during the WNTM years, and WKRG veteran Yvonne Morrison hosts "The Garden Show" alongside Charlie Moss on Saturday mornings. Local media personality and former WABB 1480 employee Uncle Henry happens to host the most popular program of WPMI-AM's current lineup.
WKRG may have virtually moved on from its former stations with different radio ambitions at work, but the memories shall live on in the listeners and the people who kept those stations running until it was decided to set them free for a new owner willing to take care much of too.
The current weekday line up on WPMI 710 is
6:00AM-8:30AM "Mobile's First News" 8:30AM-9:30AM "Ask the Expert" 9:30AM-11:00AM "The Uncle Henry Show" 11:00AM-2:00PM "The Rush Limbaugh Show" 2:00PM-7:00PM "The Paul Finebaum Show" 7:00PM-8:05PM "Nascar Live" (Tuesday only) 7:00PM-10:00PM "The Savage Nation" (delayed) 10:00PM-12:00AM "The Michael Reagan Show" (delayed) 12:00AM-4:00AM "Coast to Coast AM" (George Noory) 4:00AM-5:00AM "Coast to Coast AM" (one hour repeat) 5:00AM-6:00AM "America in the Morning"
