WLES

37°30′52.0″N 77°30′28.0″W / 37.514444°N 77.507778°W / 37.514444; -77.507778Translator(s)97.7 W249CI (Bellwood, Virginia)LinksWebcastWLES WebstreamWebsitetruthnetwork.com

WLES (590 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Bon Air, Virginia, United States, serving the Greater Richmond Region. WLES is owned and operated by Stuart Epperson, through licensee Truth Broadcasting Corporation.^[2] It airs a Christian radio format as part of "The Truth Network", originating in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.Programming is also heard on FM translator station W249CI at 97.7 MHz.

WLES began as a daytime-only radio station in Lawrenceville in September 1959. It primarily broadcast a country music format. The station was moved into the Richmond area in the 2010s.

History

WLES began broadcasting on 580 kHz from Lawrenceville, near the Virginia-North Carolina border, on September 28, 1959.^[3] It was a 500-watt, daytime-only outlet.^[4] The station was founded by Harry A. Epperson Sr. and was sold to Elton N. Doyle and William C. Link in 1966.^[5] Doyle became mayor of Lawrenceville in 1970; he sold his interest in the station in 1980, with Link becoming the sole owner,^[4] and remained mayor another decade.^[6]

Link sold WLES and WHFD (105.5 FM) to Willis Broadcasting Corporation in 1999. At that time, both stations broadcast country music.^[7] Within a year, Willis opted to retain the FM outlet and sold the AM station to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Nancy Epperson.^[8] By 2005, the station was airing an oldies format.^[9]

Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting filed a request in July 2007 to transfer the license of WLES to Truth Broadcasting, headed by Nancy's son Stu Epperson, Jr.,^[10] but withdrew the request in August 2007.^[11] Subsequently, a construction permit request was filed to conduct a frequency swap with nearby station WLVA, which is owned by Truth Broadcasting and operated on the adjacent frequency of 590 kHz; the frequency change would also see WLVA move from Lawrenceville to Bon Air, a suburb of Richmond.^[12] The swap was completed in 2011. The station was issued a license to operate on 590 kHz on March 28, 2014.

Effective May 21, 2019, Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting sold WLES to Truth Broadcasting Corporation for $75,000; Truth was already providing its programming.^[13]

Translator

In addition to the main station, WLES is relayed by an FM translator.^[14] The translator was acquired from another Epperson company, Delmarva Educational Association, for $100,000 in 2022 but was broadcasting WLES beforehand.^[15]

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	FID	ERP (W)	HAAT	Class	FCC info
W249CI	97.7 FM	Bellwood, Virginia	143583	240	131 m (430 ft)	D	LMS

References

External links

• Official website

• WLES in the FCC AM station database
• WLES in Nielsen Audio's AM station database