WLW
WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as “The Big One”. Its studios are located in Sycamore Township (with a Cincinnati address).
For other uses, see WLW (disambiguation).700 kHz
Newsradio 700 WLW
- iHeartMedia, Inc.
- (iHM Licenses, LLC)
March 23, 1922
- 833 kHz (1922–1923)
- 970 kHz (1923–1924)
- 710 kHz (1924–1927)
29733
A
50,000 watts unlimited
- 39°21′11″N 84°19′30″W / 39.35306°N 84.32500°W (main transmitter)
- 39°21′11″N 84°19′44″W / 39.35306°N 84.32889°W (auxiliary transmitter)
94.5 W233BG (Cincinnati)
Listen live (via iHeartRadio)
WLW operates with 50,000 watts around the clock. The transmitter site features a distinctive diamond-shaped Blaw-Knox tower in nearby Mason. Its daytime signal is heard at city-grade strength as far as Indianapolis, Indiana; Lexington, Kentucky and Columbus, Ohio, with secondary coverage as far as Louisville and the outer suburbs of Cleveland and Detroit. At night, with a good radio, it can be heard in much of North America.
WLW is a primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System for Southwest Ohio, Kentucky and Eastern Indiana. Besides its main analog transmission, its programming is simulcast on 99-watt FM translator W233BG on 94.5 MHz and on an HD digital subchannel of co-owned 107.1 MHz WKFS.
Launched by industrialist Powel Crosley Jr., WLW became the flagship station of the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, later a part of Avco. One of four charter affiliates of the Mutual Broadcasting System, WLW holds the distinction of being the only AM radio station authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with a power of 500,000 watts, which happened in the 1930s.
Programming[edit]
WLW serves as the Cincinnati network affiliate for ABC News Radio; the AM flagship station for the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network; a co-flagship station for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network; and the home of radio personalities Mike McConnell, Rocky Boiman and Bill Cunningham.
WLW has a 24-hour local news department and is affiliated with ABC News Radio. The station airs a nearly entirely locally produced talk format. Bill Cunningham hosts a weekday program,[2] and WLW is the flagship station for his Live on Sunday Night, which is syndicated by Premiere Networks. Other notable personalities on the station include morning host Mike McConnell, afternoon hosts Eddie Fingers and Rocky Boiman, and evening host Gary Jeff Walker. A one-hour version of America's Trucking Network, hosted by Eric Boulanger (under the alias of "Bubba Bo"), aired at midnight until Boulanger's death in February 2023,[3] followed by Red Eye Radio, the station's only weekday long-form syndicated offering.[4]
WLW is the flagship radio station for the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network, and also airs Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers college games. WLW also serves as a co-flagship station for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network alongside sister stations WCKY and WEBN, airing any games that do not conflict with Reds games. This is primarily to improve coverage of Bengals games at night when WCKY must readjust its signal to protect KFBK in Sacramento. The combined footprints of the two stations allow Bengals night games to be heard across almost all of North America. WLW also will air an FC Cincinnati game, specifically their 2023 MLS Eastern Conference Final game against in-state rivals the Columbus Crew, on December 2, 2023.
History[edit]
Origin[edit]
WLW was the outgrowth of an interest in radio by Powel Crosley Jr., although information about his earliest activities is limited. Crosley recounted that his introduction to radio occurred on February 22, 1921, when he took his son to the local Precision Equipment Company store to investigate purchasing a receiver. He was shocked to find that a high-end receiver would cost US$135 (equivalent to $2306.08 in 2023), and after assembling his own receiver from parts, he realized that commercial mass production could be done at much lower prices. Starting with individual parts, then moving on to complete receivers, in the 1920s the Crosley Radio Corporation was a leading manufacturer of inexpensive sets, and Powel Crosley became known as "the Henry Ford of radio".[5]
Crosley was also an early experimenter with making radio transmissions. Most accounts say he began in July 1921, using a 20-watt set located in an upstairs billiard table room, repeatedly playing a phonograph record of "Song of India", while asking local amateur radio enthusiasts to call if they heard his signals. In 1921 the Crosley Manufacturing Company was issued two radio station licenses: one for a standard amateur station, 8CR, located at 5723 Davey Avenue,[6]: 157 [Note 1] which was Crosley's College Hill home, and the other for an Experimental station, 8XAA, located at the company's Blue Rock Street factory building in Northside.[7]: 3 [Note 2]
WLW[edit]
Initially there were no formal standards for radio stations making broadcasts for the general public, and a variety of stations, most operating under Experimental or Amateur station licenses, conducted broadcasts on a regular schedule. On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, adopted the first regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports.[8]
The Precision Equipment Company was the first in Cincinnati to receive one of the new broadcasting station licenses, when its experimental station, 8XB, was relicensed as WMH on December 30, 1921. The Crosley Manufacturing Company also applied for one of the new licenses, which was granted on March 2, 1922, for operation on the 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength, and issued the randomly assigned call letters of WLW.[9]
Shortwave operations[edit]
In 1925 Crosley received a license for an experimental shortwave station, 8XAL (W8XAL after 1928).[67] In August 1926 the company announced that it was planning to establish a shortwave link to relay programs from Cincinnati for retransmission by a newly acquired station, WARC, located near Boston, Massachusetts,[68] however this link was never implemented.
In 1926 8XAL was on air with 100 watts, which increased to 10,000 watts in 1931. In 1940 the station was relicensed as a commercial station, with the callsign WLWO. In early 1941 it was operating with 75 kilowatts, with a program service particularly aimed at South America, and was known as "The Inter-Nation Station".[69]
The station transmitted on 5.69 MHz from 1924 to 1929[70]: 26 and 6.06 MHz (June 1929 – November 1, 1942).[71]: 71, 182 In 1941, operations were described as "the only international station in the United States authorized to operate on each of the six short-wave bands with unlimited frequencies and unlimited time. WLWO's assigned frequencies are: 6.08, 9.59, 11.71, 15.25, 17.80 and 21.65 megs", with programs in English, Spanish and Portuguese.[69] In 1943, Crosley engineers built the U.S. government's Bethany shortwave transmitter site,[72] which was later taken over by the Voice of America.
Former on-air staff[edit]
The station claims many well-known alumni, including: Jack Berch,[81] Mary Jane Croft,[82] Merle Travis, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Ruth Lyons, Bob Braun, Wally Phillips, Jean Shepherd, Frazier Thomas, NBC sportscasters Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels, "Sportstalk" host Bob Trumpy, Dale Sommers (better known as the "Truckin' Bozo" and whose son Steve Sommers continued to hold the overnight slot until he was fired in late 2020),[83] J. R. Gach, Gary Burbank (comedy talk host, impressionist, and creator of the nationally syndicated Earl Pitts monologues), former program director and personality Darryl Parks and former Clear Channel radio CEO Randy Michaels. Rod Serling, the creator of the classic TV series The Twilight Zone, worked for WLW from 1947 to 1948[84] producing historical documentaries, community profiles and commercials, before leaving to pursue other opportunities in the broadcasting industry. Bill Nimmo, who later served as Johnny Carson's sidekick on the show Who Do You Trust? and its predecessor Do You Trust Your Wife?, also worked at WLW beginning in 1947.