Broadcast area | Louisville, Kentucky |
---|---|
Frequency | 790 kHz |
Branding | Sports Talk 790AM |
Programming | |
Format | Sports |
Affiliations | Fox Sports Radio Kentucky Sports Radio Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WAMZ, WHAS, WKJK, WSDF, WNRW, WQMF, WTFX-FM | |
History | |
First air date | 1936 |
Former call signs | WGRC, WAKY, WVEZ, WWKY, WXXA |
Call sign meaning | Station was the former flagship station for University of Louisville Cardinal sports |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 53587 |
Class | B |
Power | 5,000 watts day 1,000 watts night |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | 790louisville.iheart.com |
WKRD (790 kHz) is a sports formatted AM radio station in the Louisville, Kentucky, metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia, and is known as Sports Talk 790AM. The station is best known for being a Top 40 powerhouse in the 1960s and 1970s as WAKY. The station's studios are located in the Louisville enclave of Watterson Park and the transmitter site is in east Louisville southwest of the I-64/I-265 interchange.
790 AM in Louisville was originally WGRC, and featured a variety of programming typical of radio in the pre-rock era. In 1958, broadcaster Gordon McLendon, a Top 40 radio pioneer best known for his legendary KLIF in Dallas, Texas, purchased WGRC. After stunting with the novelty record "The Purple People Eater", WGRC became WAKY on July 7, 1958, and immediately shot to the top of the Louisville ratings as the market's first Top 40 music station. WAKY (known affectionately to its listeners as "Wacky") competed with 1080 AM WKLO during the 1960s and 1970s, with WAKY usually being the dominant station of the two. The station's popular personalities included Bill Bailey ("The Duke of Louisville"), Dude Walker, Gary Burbank (later of CKLW, WHAS, and WLW), Mason Lee Dixon, and the late Bert Markert (known on the air as "Weird Beard"). The station solidified its mass appeal by playing a great deal of country and R&B product mixed in with the mainstream pop and rock, owing to the large audiences for both genres of music in the Louisville market and the lack of a 24-hour R&B/soul station at the time (1350 WLOU, the area's primary black-oriented station, was a daytimer).
Having lost listeners during the 1970s to FM rock stations such as WQMF and WLRS, WAKY softened its music format to a more adult contemporary sound in 1978, declaring, "The station you grew up with has grown up with you." This was followed by format changes to oldies in 1982, to automated beautiful music in June 1986, to automated country music, back to adult contemporary in March 1988 as WVEZ (dropping the heritage WAKY calls to reflect its simulcast with 106.9 FM), to classic country in August 1989 as WWKY, and then to a talk format in February 1991. On May 10, 2001, WWKY changed to the current sports-talk format as WXXA ("Xtra Sports 790") before changing to the current WKRD calls.
The legendary WAKY calls, which had been used by a station in Springfield, Kentucky, returned to the Louisville market on May 11, 2007, as oldies station WASE (103.5 FM), licensed to Radcliff, Kentucky with studios in Elizabethtown, became WAKY. The new station includes many nods to the original WAKY, including original and re-sung versions of "The Big 79"'s classic jingles.
Sports programming that airs on WKRD include NASCAR Sprint Cup, Xfinity Series and Truck Series, and Cincinnati Bengals football.
From August 2007-February 2022, Louisville football and men's basketball have aired on WKRD when their games conflicted with University of Kentucky football and men's basketball on WHAS radio. On April 16, 2007, WKRD began simulcasting on WKRD-FM 101.7 (formerly WLPP).
Cincinnati Reds games were broadcast on AM 790, before they were moved to 101.7 in favor of Louisville Bats games.
University of Louisville sports were broadcast on AM 790, before they were moved to 93.9 FM and 970 AM.
On January 5, 2023, WKRD was rebranded as "SportsTalk 790AM". [1] This aligned with several programming moves consolidating Louisville's sports talk programming on the station, including the popular Kentucky Sports Radio show, which had spent the past decade on sister station WKJK.
WHAS is an AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to Louisville, Kentucky. Its studios are located in the Louisville enclave of Watterson Park, and the transmitter site is in Long Run, in far east Jefferson County. First licensed in July 1922, it is the oldest radio station in Kentucky.
KXNT is a commercial AM radio station licensed to North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. and carries a talk radio format. The radio studios are located in the unincorporated Clark County area of Spring Valley, while KXNT's transmitter is located on U.S. Route 93 at Great Valley Parkway in North Las Vegas.
WSKW is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Skowhegan, Maine. It is owned by Mountain Wireless and it carries a radio format of sports from CBS Sports Radio. The studios and offices are in the Lee Farm Mall in Augusta.
WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City, Michigan is a radio station owned by broadcaster Roy Henderson, who is WLDR's third owner in its 53-year history.
WAMZ is a commercial radio station in Louisville, Kentucky. It airs a country music format and is owned by iHeartMedia The studios are in the central part of Watterson Park. WAMZ carries two nationally syndicated radio programs: The Bobby Bones Show in morning drive time and After Midnite with Granger Smith overnights.
WNQM, is a radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee, owned by F. W. Robbert Broadcasting. It airs a Christian radio format calling itself "Nashville Quality Ministries".
KIRO-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma radio market. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International, a broadcasting company owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The studios and offices are located on Eastlake Avenue East in Seattle's Eastlake district.
WWWS is a radio station broadcasting an urban oldies format. Licensed to Buffalo, New York, United States, the station serves the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area. The station features programming from Westwood One. It is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. It has a transmitter in Buffalo, east of Delaware Park, while it has studios located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, New York.
WAKY (620 kHz) is a classic hits AM radio station in Louisville, Kentucky, that simulcasts WAKY-FM (103.5 MHz). It is owned by William Walters, through licensee W & B Broadcasting Co., Inc. The station used to share a significant portion of Spanish-language programming with sister station WTUV-FM (105.7) until WTUV-FM was sold to UB Louisville and became English-language sports radio station WHBE-FM. The original station call letters, under different owners, were WTMT (1958–2010) with country music and, later, sports formats.
WGTK is a commercial AM radio station in Louisville, Kentucky. It is owned by the Word Media Group with the license held by the Word Broadcasting Network, Inc. It airs a conservative talk radio format, calling itself "970 The Answer", similar to many talk stations carrying the Salem Radio Network. Its studios and offices are on Corporate Campus Drive in Louisville.
WGLM & WGLM-FM are radio stations owned by Packer Radio, owners of radio station WION in nearby Ionia. WGLM is licensed to Greenville and WGLM-FM to Lakeview and broadcasts a full-service mix of music, news and sports. WGLM and WGLM-FM are airing a full-service mix of top-40 music from 1960-2006. The two stations are simulcast full-time. Packer Radio bought the stations from Stafford Broadcasting in October 2008. Stafford owned both stations after acquiring them from Kortes Communications in 2000.
WDJX is a Top 40/CHR-formatted radio station located in Louisville, Kentucky. The station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 24 kW. The station's studios are located in East Louisville and the transmitter site is in New Albany, Indiana. WDJX is owned by Alpha Media.
WTKZ is a radio station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Victor Martinez, through licensee VP Broadcasting LLC, and broadcasts a Spanish-language contemporary hit radio format known as Mega 101.7.
WREF is a radio station licensed to Sebree, Kentucky, United States, serving Hopkins and Webster counties, as well as the greater Evansville, Indiana, area. The station is owned by Henson Media, Inc.
WAKY-FM is a radio station licensed to Radcliff, Kentucky, United States, and serving the Louisville, Kentucky area. The station is owned by W & B Broadcasting, Inc. The station's studios are located in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. It also broadcasts Kentucky Wildcats football and basketball games during the fall and winter months. WAKY-FM is also simulcast on WAKY, and FM translators W261CO and 106.3 W292FS in Louisville. W261CO serves Louisville inside the Interstate 264 corridor, while 106.3 W292FS serves Jeffersontown and Lake Forest.
WBGN is an oldies formatted radio station licensed to Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. The station is currently owned by Forever Communications, Inc. as part of a conglomerate with Glasgow–licensed country music station WLYE-FM, Auburn–licensed country station WBVR-FM, and Smiths Grove–licensed Top 40/CHR station WUHU. All four stations share studios on Scottsville Road in southern Bowling Green, and its transmitter is located off Church Avenue in the northern part of the city.
WHVO and WKDZ are a pair of radio stations simulcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States, WHVO serves the Clarksville-Hopkinsville area. WKDZ is licensed to Cadiz, Kentucky. The stations are currently owned by Ham Broadcasting Co., Inc. and feature news programming from Fox News Radio. WKDZ is a daytime-only radio station, while WHVO broadcasts 24 hours a day.
WKJK is a commercial radio station broadcasting a talk radio format in Louisville, Kentucky. It is owned by iHeartMedia and serves North-Central Kentucky and South-Central Indiana. It features programming from iHeart subsidiary Premiere Networks as well as Compass Media Networks. The studios are in the Louisville neighborhood of Watterson Park.
WLAP is a commercial AM radio station in Lexington, Kentucky, serving the Central Kentucky region. It airs a news/talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Nicolasville Road in Lexington.
WLCL is an American radio station licensed to Sellersburg, Indiana, United States, serving the Louisville, Kentucky area. The station is owned by Union Broadcasting.