WHIC

Last updated
WHIC
WLOF logo.jpg
Broadcast area Rochester, New York
Frequency 1460 kHz
Branding The Station of the Cross
Programming
Format Catholic radio
Ownership
Owner Holy Family Communications
History
First air date
1925;98 years ago (1925)
Former call signs
  • WHEC (1925–1972)
  • WAXC (1972–1978)
  • WWWG (1978–2003)
Call sign meaning
"Holy and Immaculate Conception"
Technical information
Class B
Power
  • 3,700 watts day
  • 5,000 watts night
Translator(s) 92.9 W225AR (Rochester)
99.3 W257ER (Greece)
Links
Webcast Listen live
Website thestationofthecross.com/stations/rochester-ny/

WHIC is a Catholic radio station broadcasting from Rochester, New York. WHIC is located at 1460 on the AM dial. Referred to as The Station of the Cross , WHIC is owned and operated by Holy Family Communications. The station began broadcasting Catholic programming on July 1, 2003. Broadcasting at 3,700 watts in the daytime and 5,000 watts at night, WHIC's calls represent the Holy and Immaculate Conception, to whom this station is dedicated.

Contents

History

WHIC is the second oldest radio station in Rochester. It went on the air in 1925 as WHEC, owned by the Hickson Electric Company. It was the city's CBS Radio Network affiliate from the moment the network began operation in 1928, and was acquired by the Gannett Company, publishers of the Democrat and Chronicle , in 1932. [1] Until 1941 the station used a number of broadcast frequencies, but had settled on 1430 kHz by 1928 operating first with 500, and later with 1,000 watts from a transmitter on Mt. Read Boulevard in the northwest portion of Rochester. Following the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) in 1941, WHEC was reassigned to 1460 kHz, and after the war boosted power to 5,000 watts from new transmitting facilities south of the city in Brighton, New York. In the 1950s and 1960s WHEC broadcast popular music along with local and CBS news, sharing staff and some news content with sister television station WHEC-TV, which hit the airwaves in 1953. Gannett placed the station up for sale in the summer of 1971, and found a purchaser in Sande Broadcasting Company, a partnership of local investors and broadcast managers. [2]

After the sale was finalized in January 1972, the new owners rebranded the station WAXC ("Waxy"), and changed format to compete with WBBF, then the top station in the market, by playing Top 40 hits. Through much of the decade of the 1970s WAXC was relatively successful both financially and in popularity (as measured by Arbitron ratings). But after 7 years of competition, toward the end of which FM stations started to cut into the audiences and revenues of both WAXC and WBBF, the callsign WAXC was retired and the station sold to American General Media, beginning the era of WWWG ("3WG"). At first the station operated with a full-service adult contemporary format reminiscent of the final years of Gannett ownership, competing directly with clear-channel WHAM. But the station's more limited AM signal proved to be a greater liability at a time when suburbanization was spreading out the market's population geographically beyond the station's reliable nighttime pattern, and FM competition was growing. So the days of secular contemporary-format programming came to an end early in the 1980s.

American General Media repositioned the station as a religious outlet and announced that the callsign WWWG (originally chosen simply as an easily remembered brand name) would stand for "Where We Worship God". While most Rochester commercial stations had broadcast various church and synagogue services and other religious programming at some point in their history, and Pat Robertson's CBN network had owned a chain of rural FM stations whose signals could be heard in portions of the market, WWWG's policy of religious programming around the clock earned it the distinction of being the city of Rochester's first full-time religious radio station. WWWG offered a mix of evangelical religious programming among other brokered shows. [3]

In the summer of 2003 WWWG was purchased by Buffalo-based Holy Family Communications to become the network's fourth Catholic radio venture. Holy Family created The Station of the Cross as a network name and rebranded 1460 as WHIC. Officially, the calls stand for "Holy and Immaculate Conception". However, it is likely that Holy Family wanted to pay homage to the station's heritage calls, given their similarity. WHIC began carrying Catholic programming 24 hours a day, with much of the content provided by the EWTN Catholic Radio Network.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHEC-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Rochester, New York

WHEC-TV is a television station in Rochester, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on East Avenue in Downtown Rochester and a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton.

WBOB is a commercial AM radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station airs a talk radio format and is owned by Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation. Weekdays begin with a local news and information show, followed by mostly syndicated programming, including shows from Mark Levin, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Jay Sekulow and Red Eye Radio. Most hours begin with Townhall News. Some hours are paid brokered programming. The station calls itself "Talkradio AM 600 & FM 101.1 WBOB".

CJBC is a Canadian Class A clear-channel station, which broadcasts at 860 AM in Toronto, Ontario. It is that city's outlet of the Ici Radio-Canada Première network. CJBC's studios are located at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, while its transmitter is located in Hornby.

WQOF is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., and serving the Washington metro area. The station is owned and operated by Relevant Radio, based in Wisconsin, and broadcasts its nationally syndicated Catholic talk and teaching programming. WQOF is one of two Catholic stations in the Washington area; the other is EWTN affiliate WMET.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CBX (AM)</span> CBC Radio One station in Edmonton

CBX is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 740 kHz (AM) in Edmonton, Alberta. It broadcasts the programming of the CBC Radio One network. CBX is a Class B station broadcasting on a Canadian clear-channel frequency; the dominant station on 740 AM is CFZM in Toronto, Ontario. CBX's studios are located at Edmonton City Centre on 102nd Avenue Northwest in downtown Edmonton, while its transmitters are located near Beaumont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WYSL</span> Radio station in Avon, New York

WYSL is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Avon, New York, and serving the Rochester metropolitan area. It broadcasts a talk radio format and is known as "The Voice of Liberty." The station is owned by Robert C. Savage under the name "Radio Livingston."

KTYM is a radio station broadcasting on-air and via the internet. Licensed to Inglewood, California, United States, the station serves the Los Angeles area and an international internet audience. KTYM is owned by El Sembrador Ministries of Chatsworth, California.

WOPG is an AM radio station licensed to Albany, New York and serving the Capital District. It is owned by Pax et Bonum, Inc. and has a Christian radio format aimed at Roman Catholic listeners, with much of its programming coming from the EWTN Radio network. WOPG simulcasts with WOPG-FM at 89.9 FM in Esperance, New York.

KIHP is an AM radio station licensed to Mesa, Arizona, serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is owned by Wisconsin-based Relevant Radio, Inc. It airs a Catholic talk and teaching radio format.

WQOP is a radio station licensed to serve Jacksonville, Florida. The station is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc., and broadcasts a Catholic radio format.

WBBF is a commercial AM radio station in Buffalo, New York. It airs a Top 40 (CHR) radio format and is owned by Cumulus Media. The studios and offices are on James E. Casey Drive in Buffalo.

WHKZ is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Warren, Ohio, featuring a Catholic–based Christian format as an owned-and-operated station in the Relevant Radio network. The station serves both Sharon, Pennsylvania, and Youngstown, Ohio. WHKZ's transmitter resides on Calson-Salt Springs Road in Warren, operating at a continuous power of 5,000 watts; the directional antenna pattern uses two towers during the day, and six towers at night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLOF</span> Radio station in Elma, New York

WLOF is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Elma, New York and serving the Buffalo metropolitan area. It broadcasts a Catholic talk and teaching radio format. Referred to as The Station of the Cross, WLOF is owned and operated by Holy Family Communications. The call sign represent Our Lady of Fatima, to whom this station is dedicated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGRB</span> Radio station in Chicago, Illinois

WGRB is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago. It is owned by iHeartMedia and it airs an urban gospel format. On Sundays, the station broadcasts the services of several African-American churches in the area. The studios are at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGKA</span> Talk radio station in Atlanta

WGKA – branded AM 920 The Answer – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, serving primarily the Atlanta metropolitan area. Currently owned by Salem Media Group, WGKA serves as the Atlanta affiliate for the Salem Radio Network and the Clemson Tigers football radio network. The WGKA studios are located on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, while the station transmitter resides near the Morningside Nature Preserve. Besides a standard analog transmission, WGKA is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBZA</span> Radio station in Rochester, New York

WBZA is a commercial FM radio station in Rochester, New York. It airs an adult hits format and is owned by Audacy, Inc., based at the High Falls Studios, on Commercial Street and State Street in downtown Rochester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WROC (AM)</span> Radio station in Rochester, New York

WROC, currently branded as 95.7 The Fan, is an AM radio station licensed to Rochester, New York, airing a sports radio format. The format is closely affiliated with Buffalo sister station WGR, and carries content from CBS Sports Radio, the BetQL Network, and local shows, along with play-by-play from teams owned by Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The station's studios are located at High Falls Studios downtown, and its transmitter tower is on Rochester's southside near the I-390/I-590 freeway interchange.

WACE is an AM radio radio station broadcasting a Catholic radio format. Licensed to Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market and has been permitted to identify itself as "Chicopee-Springfield" since 1969. The station is owned by Holy Family Communications, and operates as part of its The Station of the Cross network.

WCSM is an American AM radio station in Celina, Ohio, broadcasting at 1350 kHz on the AM dial. The station is owned with 96.7 WCSM-FM by Brent and Danielle Selhorst, through licensee Buzzards Media, LLC, and also broadcasts on FM translator W262DC at 100.3 MHz, also located in Celina. The station airs a country music format branded as Lake 100.3.

KDEI "Radio Maria" is an AM broadcasting station airing Catholic programming at 1250 kHz in Port Arthur, Texas. It is a repeater station of KJMJ 580 kHz in Alexandria, Louisiana.

References

  1. ↑ "WHEC, Rochester, Sold To Gannett Newspapers" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 15, 1932. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Gannett broadcast roster down to WHEC-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 29, 1971. p. 64. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  3. ↑ http://www.bostonradio.org/stations/6641 Boston Radio

43°06′34″N77°34′20″W / 43.10944°N 77.57222°W / 43.10944; -77.57222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.