WFIA (AM)

Last updated

WFIA
Broadcast area Louisville metropolitan area
Frequency 900kHz
Programming
Format Christian talk and teaching
Ownership
Owner
  • Word Media Group
  • (Word Broadcasting Network, Inc.)
History
First air date
March 24, 1947 (1947-03-24) [1]
Former call signs
  • WKYW (1947–1965)
  • WFIA (1965–January 9, 2017)
  • WJIE (January 9 – October 3, 2017) [2]
  • WFIA (October 3, 2017–August 1, 2023)
  • WLGK (August 1–10, 2023)
Call sign meaning
"With Faith In America" [3]
Technical information [4]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 55504
Class D
Power 930 watts days
162 watts nights
Transmitter coordinates
 38°15′57″N85°42′50″W / 38.26583°N 85.71389°W / 38.26583; -85.71389
Translator(s) 107.3 W297BV (Louisville)
Links
Public license information
Website WFIAradio.com

WFIA (900 AM) is a commercial radio station in Louisville, Kentucky, airing a Christian talk and teaching radio format. It is owned by the Word Media Group through its subsidiary Word Broadcasting Network, Inc. WFIA uses a brokered programming system where religious leaders pay for time on the station and may use their programs to seek donations to their ministries. Programs are hosted by Greg Laurie, David Jeremiah, Jim Daly, James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, J. Vernon McGee and Alistair Begg.

Contents

By day, WFIA is powered at 930 watts. But 900 AM is a Mexican clear channel frequency. So at night, to avoid interference, WFIA reduces power to 162 watts. Programming is also heard on FM translator W29BV at 107.3 MHz.

History

WKYW

The station signed on the air on March 24, 1947;77 years ago. [1] The original call sign was WKYW. Its initial broadcast was a 25-minute preview of programs before initiating full service the next day. The station's original power was 1,000 watts, broadcasting from a transmitter site off River Road. Because of its location near the Ohio River, the transmitter building was raised on aluminum pontoons. [5]

WKYW was a daytime-only outlet, required to be silent at night. One Christmas Day, the station recorded its entire programming on tape so all of its employees—save for an engineer—could take the holiday off. [6] In its programming, WKYW emphasized music, with a minimum of talk. [7] WKYW was also noteworthy by the mid-1960s for the use of a helicopter to report traffic conditions. [8]

WFIA

In 1965, the Polaris Corporation, owners of WKYW, opted to relaunch the station as a Christian radio outlet. It used the call letters WFIA to stand for "With Faith In America." The new call sign went into effect on September 5. [3] Along with the change in call letters, the station ceased to accept beer, wine and tobacco commercials. [3] The traffic helicopter reports moved over to 970 WAVE. [8]

In 1975, WFIA put its first FM sister station on the air, WFIA-FM 103.9. At first, both WFIA and WFIA-FM aired Christian preaching and talk shows with some music. But in the 1980s, the FM station was switched to WXLN, a Contemporary Christian outlet, while 900 WFIA's programming was exclusively Christian talk and teaching. [9] WFIA and WXLN were sold in 1989 to Jim Kincer for $2.1 million. [10]

Changes in ownership

In the 1990s, the stations changed hands multiple times. When the FM station prepared to flip to a secular music format, its longform religious programming migrated to 900 WFIA. [11] Neon Communications split WFIA and the FM outlet, by that time known as WQLL, by selling them separately in 1994.

The buyer for WFIA, paying $500,000, was Regent Broadcasting. [12] Regent was acquired by Jacor in 1996. Under Jacor ownership, Ohio River flooding briefly forced WFIA and its riverside transmitter off the air in March 1997. [13] The University of Louisville allowed the station to temporarily broadcast from an unused tower on its campus. [14]

Salem Media

When Jacor was merged into Clear Channel Communications three years later, the company was required to divest 18 radio stations. That included WFIA, which was sold to Blue Chip Broadcasting. [15] The Salem Media Group, the largest owner of religious radio stations in the U.S., decided to acquire WFIA in 2001. The price tag was $1.75 million. [16] Salem owned the station for 15 years.

On December 22, 2016, Salem announced that it would hand operation of its Louisville radio stations, including WFIA, to Word Broadcasting Network (also known as Word Media Group) under a time brokerage agreement. [17] Programming of WFIA was changed to a simulcast of Word's Contemporary Christian station, 88.5 WJIE-FM. [18]

Word Broadcasting

WFIA carried the WJIE call letters for 10 months in 2017 before reverting to WFIA in October. On February 10, 2020, Word Broadcasting announced that it would take advantage of the option in its agreement to acquire Salem's stations in Louisville, including WFIA, for $4 million. [19] [20] The sale was completed on May 25, 2022. [21]

By 2023, WFIA was again carrying Christian preaching programming simulcast with WFIA-FM 94.7. [22] WFIA changed its call sign to WLGK on August 1, 2023. [23] Then on August 10, that call sign was moved to 94.7, with AM 900 again returning to WFIA. [24] The call sign changes were coupled with a format flip at 94.7 to worship music as WLGK. [22] With WLGK now a Christian music station, the talk and teaching programs continue on 900 WFIA and its translator at 107.3 FM.

Translator

WFIA's signal is repeated over FM translator station W297BV on 107.3 MHz, also in Louisville.

Broadcast translator for WFIA
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class Transmitter coordinatesFCC info
W297BV107.3 FM Louisville, Kentucky 1425192200  m (0  ft)D 38°15′57″N85°42′50″W / 38.26583°N 85.71389°W / 38.26583; -85.71389 LMS

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References

  1. 1 2 "New Station Goes On Air". Louisville Courier-Journal. March 25, 1947. p. 11. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Callsign History for WFIA". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Ladd, Bill (August 19, 1965). "WKYW Will Stress Religion". The Courier-Journal. p. B2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WFIA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  5. ↑ Ladd, Bill (February 13, 1947). "The Ark On River Road Is Just A Transmitter". The Courier Journal. p. 11. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  6. ↑ Ladd, Bill (July 1, 1951). "Dave Wilburn Takes Job In Richmond". The Courier-Journal. p. 17. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  7. ↑ Ladd, Bill (October 19, 1952). "Sale Of Cisler Interest In WKYW Won't Take The Accent Off Music". The Courier-Journal. p. 19.
  8. 1 2 Ladd, Bill (November 22, 1965). "WAVE 'Traffic Copter' Due". The Courier-Journal. p. B2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Religious listeners are loyal". The Courier-Journal. April 3, 1981. p. 7. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 5, 1989. p. 97. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  11. ↑ Dorsey, Tom (June 28, 1990). "Radio switch". The Courier-Journal. p. C2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 14, 1994. p. 8. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  13. ↑ Dorsey, Tom (March 5, 1997). "Basketball tournaments hit the tube". The Courier-Journal. p. C2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  14. ↑ Lawson, Jim (March 14, 1997). "...'Outpouring of help'". The Courier-Journal. p. 10A. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  15. ↑ Department of Justice (April 22, 1999). "JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPROVES CLEAR CHANNEL'S ACQUISITION OF JACOR COMMUNICATIONS AFTER PARTIES AGREE TO DIVESTITURES" . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Transaction Digest" (PDF). Radio Business Report. January 15, 2001. p. 14. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Salem Announces Louisville Transaction with Word Broadcasting Network". BusinessWire. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Salem May Be Putting More Stations Up For Sale". InsideRadio. March 14, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Salem Media Group, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2019 Total Revenue of $64.1 Million". BusinessWire. November 12, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Salem Sells Louisville Cluster". RadioInsight. February 10, 2020.
  21. ↑ Kirby, Kathleen A. (June 2, 2022). "Re: Salem Media of Massachusetts, LLC…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  22. 1 2 Venta, Lance (August 7, 2023). "A New Sound For Louisville". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  23. ↑ Fawbush, Tom (July 6, 2023). "Form 380 - Change Request". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  24. ↑ Fawbush, Tom (August 2, 2023). "Form 380 - Exchange Request". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved August 12, 2023.
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