WHLL
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| City of license | Springfield, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Branding | Sports Radio 1450 The Hall |
| Frequency | 1450 kHz |
| First air date | September 1, 1932 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 36545 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Callsign meaning | W The HaLL (reference to the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame) |
| Former callsigns | WMAS (1932–2009) |
| Affiliations | CBS Sports Radio |
| Owner | Cumulus Media (Radio License Holding CBC, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WMAS-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1450 The Hall |
WHLL (1450 AM, "1450 The Hall") is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Springfield, Massachusetts, it serves the Springfield metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting under the call sign WMAS.
Primarily, the station is formatted as a sports station, with programming from CBS Sports Radio. Saturday programming includes more locally oriented talk shows, including a food show. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and is the sister to WMAS-FM 94.7, also broadcasting from Springfield.
The station broadcasts from The James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Visitors to the Hall of Fame can watch the hosts of both the AM and FM studios from the northern entrance hall.
History
Albert S. Moffatt, a former newsreel photographer, was granted a construction permit by the Federal Radio Commission in May, 1932, with the sequential call sign WHEU. Before the station signed on, its call sign was changed to the more memorable WMAS.[1] The station's studios were in the Hotel Stonehaven, and when it signed on for the first time, on September 1, 1932, it broadcast on 1420 kHz with 100 watts.
During the 1940s and 50s, WMAS was a member of the Yankee Network, a programming service originating in Boston for New England radio stations. The station later had a country music format as "The Country Leader." On-air personalities included Dave Thatcher (also the station's news director), Fred Stevens, and Mike Williamson.
WMAS was one of the original Music Of Your Life radio stations, as its previous owner for many years, Bob Lappin (Lappin Communications, Inc.) was friends with the format's originator/syndicator Al Ham. When the station was sold to Citadel Broadcasting for $22 million in 2004, the format was flipped to an unsuccessful talk format before ending up with an oldies format, playing Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from ABC Radio.[2]
On April 7, 2009 the format was changed to Sports radio with programming from ESPN Radio, later CBS Sports Radio, and the call sign was changed to WHLL after many years as WMAS. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[3]
Presently, when not broadcasting CBS Sports programming, WHLL carries New York Yankees baseball games and Boston Bruins hockey games. Original programming includes the weekday afternoon series The Average Joe Show with Tony, Buster, and The Dude, (Starring Anthony Lapponese, Michael "Buster" McMahon, and John "The Dude" Walters), the weekend Saturday Sports Spectacular (Starring Russ Held, Scott Coen, and Walters), Buster and the Whip (McMahon and Steve "The Whip" Smith), and The Food Dude (starring Walters).
