Though the station first signed on the air as WYDD in 1967, its roots can be traced back to 1963 on 100.7 FM as WPGH and under the ownership of Gateway Broadcasting Enterprises, which also owned New Kensington-licensed AM station WKPA (now WMNY). 100.7 was also (and still is) licensed to New Kensington.
Gateway owner Nelson L. Goldberg was interested in acquiring an improved FM signal with Pittsburgh market penetration. That opportunity presented itself in 1967, when a channel opened up for 104.7. To acquire the new signal, Goldberg had to spin off WPGH, which was purchased by Milton Hammond and moved to Millvale, where it was rechristened as big-band formatted WNUF-FM. That station is known today as WBZZ.
As WYDD
WYDD on-air studio at 810 Fifth Avenue in New Kensington from the early 1970s until 1989, when this studio was converted to production use only. Note the WYDD "Heartbeat" logo from the early 1980s on the clock's face. WYDD had switched its call letters to WNRJ and moved into a more state-of-the-art studio that year. The studios were finally moved to Greentree in 1991.
104.7 adopted the WPGH call letters, and soon afterwards, the station changed to a full-time jazz format changing its call letters to WYDD meaning The WYDE World of Pittsburgh, using an elongated globe as its logo. A fragment of the jazz format remained as "Jazz Impressions", a weekend specialty smooth jazz show that premiered in 1976. The station would then move to a more freeform/progressive AOR format throughout the 1970s, which would then shift into a Top 40/CHR format in the early to the late 1980s. Throughout their run as a Top 40/CHR station, WYDD used monikers and slogans like Pittsburgh's Heartbeat FM 104 WYDD, The Heart Beats for You, 104.7 WYDD, Metro Music and New Hits for a New Attitude, and Power 104.7 WYDD, Pittsburgh's Power Station.
The Stephen King book "Christine" (but not the movie of the same name) was set in a fictional suburb of Pittsburgh and mentioned both "WYDD" and its weekly "Block Party Weekend" multiple times. The "Block Party Weekend" was a playing of multiple songs by the same artist back-to-back.
As WNRJ
On May 17, 1989, at 7:30p.m., the station became known as Energy 105, and brought about the call letter change to WNRJ. Before the changeover, the station manager at the time, Bob Hank, executed an early viral marketing plan by playing the song "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" by Information Society non-stop in a loop for 25+1⁄2 hours — focusing on a repeat of the "Pure Energy" sample from Leonard Nimoy as Star Trek's Mr. Spock. The marketing stunt caused listeners to call emergency services concerned that some calamity befell the DJs and other station employees. Hank told reporters he was only trying to draw attention to the station's switch in format and new call letters. "We were just trying to draw a little bit of attention," Hank said. "We never dreamed it would go this far."[4]
"Energy" was led by former WABC program director; consultant Rick Sklar, and WYDD program director Tony Florentino. Among the talent hired for "Energy" was New York City native Mike Frazer, who remained in Pittsburgh and has been a part of WWSW since 1990. The format was successful in terms of ratings, but quickly became too costly to maintain.
One of the chief competitors between Top 40 station WBZZ (then known as B94, now as KDKA-FM) and AOR-formatted WDVE, the station maintained a fairly consistent lineup until its sale to Salem Communications in 1989, ending more than two decades of local ownership.
WYDD had its main studio located along with WKPA in New Kensington since its beginnings, but maintained a separate sales office at Gateway Towers in Pittsburgh for many years.
As WEZE
Announcer at the controls of the new WEZE on-air studio at Seven Parkway Center, Suite 625 in Greentree, April 1991. This location is now the main on-air studio for WORD-FM 101.5
Gateway Broadcasting Enterprises had initially agreed to sell WYDD and its sister station WKPA to Salem Communications in 1987, but legal complexities between the two companies delayed the finalization to the end of December 1989. While initially reporting that WNRJ would keep its format, Salem officials announced the following month that the station would switch to an easy listening format, an unusual move at a time when established easy-listening stations were migrating towards soft adult contemporary music.
The call letters were switched to WEZE, shared by Salem's co-owned AM station in Boston, and the easy-listening format was adopted on January 15, 1990, with the intent to switch from that format to Christian talk once the ministry contracts could be obtained.[5][6] In April 1991, the studios were moved to Green Tree borough, located in Pittsburgh's South Hills, to Seven Parkway Center, Suite 625, one floor below WLTJ. The tower site was then moved later that same year from Murray Hill Road in East Deer Township (which was also half of WKPA's two-tower directional antenna array) to 750 Ivory Avenue, just off I-279 in Pittsburgh, the home of WPGH-TV. The much higher tower location allowed a power reduction to 13kW, but a decades-long coverage problem for the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh was finally alleviated.
As WORD-FM
In October 1991, Salem Communications completed its intended format switch to Christian Talk, mirroring the format adopted by its co-owned stations, and adopting the call sign WORD-FM. This station continues today at 101.5 FM.
As WXRB
After years of negotiations, the opportunity to purchase heritage Christian stations WPIT and WPIT-FM finally presented itself to Salem Communications. Salem purchased the station in early 1993, and though now legally permitted to hold 104.7 (thanks to duopoly) in addition to WPIT and WPIT-FM, Salem chose to spin off 104.7 to Entercom, licensee of WDSY-FM and the former WEEP. WPIT and WPIT-FM's facilities were moved to Greentree, and 104.7's operations were moved to WPIT's longtime home in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Towers, where it was joined by WEEP and WDSY. Both stations would remain there for about five years, until all three stations were split off and sold to three different owners. Operations for 104.7 would move temporarily to One Allegheny Square in Pittsburgh, and then finally to 200 Fleet Street in Greentree.
After Entercom purchased the station, and after stunting briefly with a classic rock format as "US 104.7", on February 2, 1993, 104.7 changed to country, branded as 104.7 The Rebel, WXRB.[7][8][9] The station was to complement WDSY and WEEP, who targeted an older audience, while WXRB targeted a younger audience with its "Young Country" direction, which was very popular during that time due to a recent spike in country music listenership.
As WNRQ
On August 29, 1995, at 4 p.m., after stunting for a few days with snippets of songs from random genres, as well as redirecting listeners to WDSY, 104.7 flipped to alternative rock, branded as The Revolution 104.7, WNRQ, after modern rock had proven to be the mainstream following its success in other markets. The first song on "The Revolution" was "Send Me on My Way" by Pittsburgh band Rusted Root.[8] WNRQ was Pittsburgh's second FM alternative station, after WXXP's run from 1985 to 1988. The format would only last just shy of one year, due to the station being sold to Secret Communications, then-owner of WXDX, and who wanted to eliminate the overlap between the two stations.[10]
At 2 p.m. on May 24, 1999, the station flipped to urban oldies, branded as 104.7 The Beat.[11] "Pittsburgh's Jammin' Oldies" was widely popular, though management skewed the format towards more current material to attract a broad audience; this didn't help, as the station's ratings began to sink. The station changed its slogan to "Pittsburgh's Jammin' Hits" in a half-hearted attempt to attract new listeners, and modified its format towards Urban AC in 2003 to compete against WAMO.
As WPGB
On January 2, 2004, the station flipped to a Talk format, branded as NewsTalk 104.7. The current WPGB call letters took effect that day.
During its ten years as a talk station, for most of that time The War Room with Quinn and Rose, a show hosted by longtime Pittsburgh disc jockey Jim Quinn, was flagshipped at WPGB. Quinn was dismissed in a contract dispute in November 2013.
When WPGB was a talk station, its programming was fairly standard for a Clear Channel station of its type, a regional morning show (itself simulcast on several stations throughout northern Appalachia and New England), followed by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, with Dave Ramsey and Andy Dean in the evening hours. From 6-8 p.m., Greg Henson hosted a sports talk show featuring interviews other local sports talk show hosts conducted earlier in the day on sister stations. Weekday newscasts were supplied by Cleveland station WTAM and Fox News Radio.
In addition, Glen Meakem hosted a program from 8-9:30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Today
WPGB's HD Radio Channels on a SPARC Radio with PSD.
In July 2014, rumors surfaced that 104.7 would soon flip back to country, possibly named 104.7 The Bull to match similar stations in Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Lexington, Portland, and Houston with the format and branding, following a decline of ratings from the previous November (when Quinn and Rose were still with the station), from a 4.1 rating to a 2.5 in the June 2014 Nielsen ratings.
On August 7, 2014, Clear Channel sold off the entire intellectual property unit of WPGB's talk format to Frank Iorio, who was taking over operations of WJAS. WJAS dropped their longtime adult standards format at noon that day and began a three-hour simulcast of WPGB-FM (the duration of The Rush Limbaugh Show). Hannity and Beck were the only shows that still on WJAS today. Both stations replaced all local commercial breaks with sweepers prompting listeners to move to WJAS, interspersed with a heart monitor sound effect. At 3 p.m., WPGB abruptly cut away from the top-of-the-hour newscast (fed from the Total Traffic Network facilities in Cleveland) and, after playing a few song snippets poking fun at the format change - notably "No More Words" by Berlin - debuted a country music format as Big 104.7.[12][13] The first song on "Big" was "This Is How We Roll" by Florida Georgia Line.[14] The new station launched with 10,000 songs in a row, and compete with WDSY-FM and WOGI for Steel City country listeners.
WPGB-HD2
On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that WPGB's HD2 subchannel will carry a smooth jazz music format, which was a previous station format under the call letters WJJJ. WPGB-HD2 currently airs a simulcast of sports-formatted WBGG.
Sports
On September 12, 2006, Clear Channel and the Pittsburgh Pirates announced a five-year agreement in which WPGB would become the "new radio broadcast and strategic promotional partner of the Pirates beginning with the 2007 (Major League Baseball) season." WPGB was the Pirates' flagship radio station, having replaced KDKA, which broadcast the first Major League Baseball game on radio (between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies) in 1921, and served as the Pirates' flagship station for 52 seasons (1955–2006). On July 6, 2010, the station was announced as the new home for the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team.
WAKL is a non-commercial FM Christian contemporary radio station licensed to Gainesville, Georgia. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation, WAKL serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as the local affiliate for the national K-Love network. Besides a standard analog transmission, WAKL broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format.
WCVX is a radio station licensed to Florence, Kentucky in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. WCVX is owned by the Christian Broadcasting System and it carries a Christian radio format. Its studios and offices are on West Seventh Street in Cincinnati and its transmitter is off Fowler Creek Road in Florence. WCVX broadcasts with a directional antenna with 5,000 watts in the daytime but at night it reduces power to 990 watts to protect KSL in Salt Lake City, the Class A Clear-channel station on 1160 kHz. WYLL in Chicago, Illinois is the only other full-time 50,000-watt station on 1160 AM, although it is a Class B station.
Jim Quinn is an American conservative radio talk show host based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, currently hosting Quinn in the Morning on WYSL in Avon, New York, and WAVL in Apollo, Pennsylvania. Until its cancellation in November 2013, his program The War Room with Quinn and Rose was aired on 12 stations across the U.S. and was also heard on XM Satellite Radio Channel 244 from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
WWNL is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by Steel City Radio, Inc. Programming is supplied by the Wilkins Radio Network. WWNL features local and national religious leaders, including Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, David Jeremiah and Michael Youssef. WWNL is a brokered programming station, where hosts pay for time slots on WWNL and may seek donations to their ministries during their shows.
WLTJ is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Frischling family through licensee WPNT Media Subsidiary, LLC, and broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format.
WORD-FM is a Christian talk radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station broadcasts with an ERP of 43 kW. Its transmitter is located in Reserve Township, Pennsylvania.
WDSY-FM is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a country radio format. The studios and offices are in Foster Plaza on Holiday Drive in Green Tree, Pennsylvania, but using a Pittsburgh address.
WSHH is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the flagship of Renda Media and airs an adult contemporary radio format. WSHH is Pittsburgh's affiliate of the syndicated Delilah show, which airs every night. Between Mid-November and December 25 each year, WSHH airs a Christmas music format.
WBZZ is a top 40/CHR station licensed to New Kensington, Pennsylvania, targeting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and owned by Audacy, Inc. Its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh's Spring Hill district and its studios are located west of downtown.
KDKA-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format. Studios are located at Foster Plaza near Green Tree while the broadcast tower used by the station is located near Mount Washington, next to its former studios in Pittsburgh's South Shore neighborhood at.
WMNY is a commercial radio station licensed to New Kensington, Pennsylvania and serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It is owned by Gagan Deep, through licensee Radio 1150 Limited Liability Company. It airs a South Asian radio format featuring Bollywood music and talk, known as "Radio Dhoom."
WJAS is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station has a talk radio format. It is owned by St. Barnabas Broadcasting, a division of the Saint Barnabas Health System, with studios and offices on Fleet Street in Green Tree.
KTLK-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Columbia, Illinois, and serving Greater St. Louis. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, the station airs a conservative talk radio format known as "104.9 The Patriot". Studios and offices are on Highlands Plaza Drive in St. Louis just south of Forest Park.
WYMY is a Regional Mexican radio station in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. It serves the Triad and Triangle areas, which includes cities such as Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Durham. In addition the signal goes well north of Danville, Virginia. The outlet, which is owned by Curtis Media Group, claims to have the largest FM radio signal in all of North Carolina, operating with an ERP of 100 kW. The reason for that FM radio signal claim comes from Curtis Media, due to the population covered by the station's signal. The transmitter is located on Bass Mountain in the Cane Creek Mountains in Alamance County, and studios are in Burlington.
KTKX is a commercial radio station, licensed to Terrell Hills, Texas, and serving the San Antonio metropolitan area. KTKX is owned by Cox Radio, positioned between two other Cox stations. KTKX has a classic rock radio format, while sister stations KISS-FM airs an active rock format with some harder-edged classic rock titles, and KONO-FM plays classic hits, including some classic rock songs that also scored on the Top 40 charts.
KFGO-FM is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format, simulcasting KFGO. Licensed to Hope, North Dakota, it serves the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 2002 under the call sign KDAM.
WJKR is a commercial radio station licensed to Worthington, Ohio, and serving the Columbus metro area. It carries a country radio format known as "Country 103.9". Owned by the North American Broadcasting Company, Inc., its studios and offices are on Dublin Road in Columbus.
WJJS is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Salem, Virginia, and serving the Roanoke metropolitan area. WJJS has a rhythmic Top 40 radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. Programming is simulcast with co-owned 102.7 WJJX in Appomattox, Virginia, serving the Lynchburg metropolitan area. The radio studios and offices are on Old Forest Road in Lynchburg and its transmitter is located on Luckett Street near Shenandoah Ave in Roanoke.
The year 1999 in radio involved some significant events.
The year 1993 in radio involved some significant events.
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