WSLM 1220 AM first went on the air on Valentine’s Day in 1953. Don Martin owned the business from 1953 until 2011, at which time he passed it along to his daughter and business partner,
Rebecca White. At 5,000 watts, WSLM 1220 AM is the largest AM station in Southern Indiana and one of the only AM stations in the US to be broadcasting in AM Stereo.
In 1992, White opened WSLM 97.9 FM with the help of her father. It broadcasts a 3,000 watt signal to Southern Indiana and Louisville from Salem.
In 1994, White also opened WHAN 17 TV. It changed over to digital broadcasting in September 2016 and is now WRLW TV. The new digital format is being broadcast in the Kentuckiana area with a selection of local news, sports, IHSAA sports events.
WRLW 17.1 is broadcasting The Heartland Network to the Southern Indiana and Louisville area. 17.2 will be REV’N and 17.3 will be The Action Channel.
The total pop count reach of the two radio stations is 3.6 million in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky.
WRLW 17 reaches 1.6 million people over the air.
White was named Washington County Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in 2018, an honor she shared with her late father, who was Citizen of the Year in 1968.
White also won the Chamber’s Business of the Year award in 2016.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Broadcasters Association since 2017 and has been part of a delegation to Washington DC in the spring each year to speak with members of Congress about the importance of local broadcasting.
White has won the Indiana Broadcaster’s Association Cardinal Community Service Award five years in a row – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 – for her excellence in serving the community through her radio and tv station.
White has also served on the Salem School Board of Trustees since 2018.
