WMFC was owned continuously, in whole or in part, by the Stewart family since its 1952 launch. After station co-founder William M. Stewart died in early 1995, ownership of Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc., including sister station WMFC-FM (99.3 FM), passed to his widow, Carolyn H. Stewart.[2] The AM/FM station combo was managed by their son, David Stewart, who has been involved with the station since first hosting a weekend radio show at age 10.[1]
The station began broadcast operations in April 1952 with 250 watts of power at 1220 kHz on the AM band.[3] The station was assigned the WMFC call letters by the Federal Communications Commission.[4] Launched by the Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc., the station was co-owned by James H. Faulkner and by William M. Stewart, publisher of the weekly Monroe Journal and South Alabamian newspaper.[5] In 1959, Stewart assumed sole ownership and operation of Monroe Broadcasting Company, Inc.[6]
In 1956, the station moved to its final 1360 kHz frequency and increased its broadcast power to 1,000 watts.[7][8] In November 1986, the FCC granted the station a construction permit to increase the height of its broadcast tower, reduce power to 800 watts, and relocate the transmitter site to just outside the city limits of Monroeville.[9]
WMFC's original broadcast studios were located in a Quonset hut near downtown Monroeville.[1] The station's final studios were in a brick building on Alabama State Route 21, just northeast of the city.[1]
WMFC last broadcast an oldies music format, with much of the programming fed from Citadel Media's satellite network.[10] In addition to its usual music programming, WMFC aired University of Alabama athletics events including Crimson Tide basketball and football.[11][12]
Monroe Broadcasting surrendered its license for WMFC (AM) on October 12, 2010, and the station license was deleted later that month.[13] The license for WMFC (formerly WMFC-FM) remains in effect, with that station still broadcasting as an oldies station.
