WROM (AM)

WROM
Rome, Georgia;
Broadcast area	Rome, Georgia
Frequency	710 kHz
Branding	103.1 Radio M
Programming
Format	Variety hits
Ownership
Owner	Howard Toole; (Rome Radio Partners, LLC);
History
First air date	Dec. 26, 1946
Call sign meaning	ROMe, Georgia or RadiO M, per branding
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	66283
Class	D
Power	1,000 watts (Days Only)
Translator(s)	103.1 W276CL (Atlanta Junction)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen LIve
Website	1031radiom.com

WROM (710 kHz "Radio M") is a commercial AM radio station in Rome, Georgia. It airs a variety hits radio format blending Top 40, Dance, Alternative and Rock music. The station is owned by Howard Toole, with Rome Radio Partners, LLC, holding the broadcast license.

By day, WROM is powered at 1,000 watts. Because it shares the same frequency as Class A clear channel station WOR in New York City, WROM is a daytimer. To avoid interference, it must go off the air at night, when radio waves travel farther. It is also heard around the clock on 250 watt FM translator W276CL, 103.1 MHz, from Atlanta Junction, a section of Rome.^[2]

History

AM 710

On December 26, 1946, the station first signed on the air.^[3] It was owned by the Coosa Broadcasting Company, with H. Dean Covington serving as president and general manager. The studios were at 121 Broad Street.

In 1999, the LGV Corporarion acquired the station for $150,000.^[4] The station carried a Southern Gospel music format.

WROM-TV

In 1953, immediately after a freeze on new television stations was lifted, H. Dean Covington and associates, the owners of WROM Radio, applied for and received a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license to construct a TV station on Channel 9 (analog 186-192 MHz). A construction permit was issued for WROM-TV, and the new TV station began broadcasting from the WROM studios at 121 Broad Street in downtown Rome. The station's transmitter was located on Mt. Alto Road, on the highest peak of Horseleg Mountain, west of Rome. WROM-TV Channel 9 was mainly affiliated with ABC, and secured secondary affiliations with NBC, CBS and the DuMont Television Network.

In late 1957, the TV station was sold to Martin Theaters of Georgia, Inc., which had received permission from the FCC to switch its WDAK-TV, Channel 28 in Columbus, Georgia, to Channel 9, necessitating the move of the Channel 9 frequency in Rome farther away to alleviate co-channel interference. Covington and associates owners also agreed to sell their station to Martin Theaters, which then moved Channel 9 from Rome 70 miles north to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and re-license it as WTVC. The station remains affiliated with ABC, now serving the Chattanooga television market.