![]() | |
Broadcast area | Metro Charleston |
---|---|
Frequency | 1490 kHz |
Branding | Charleston's ESPN Radio |
Programming | |
Format | Sports |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
History | |
First air date | September 24, 1939 (as WGKV at 1500) |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies | 1500 kHz (1939–1941) |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 19534 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°21′28″N81°37′00″W / 38.35778°N 81.61667°W |
Translator(s) | 106.7 W294CL (Charleston) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | charlestonespn.com |
WSWW (1490 kHz, "Charleston's ESPN Radio") is an AM radio station airing a sports radio format in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio and is owned by WVRC Media. The station has a power of 1,000 watts. It is also heard on FM translator W294CL (106.7 FM) in and around Charleston.
WSWW is promoted as part of the "WCHS News Network", which also features co-owned news/talk WCHS (580 AM, 96.5 and 104.5 FM) and business talk WKAZ (680 AM and 95.3 FM). [1]
The Kanawha Valley Broadcasting Company established WGKV on September 24, 1939, [2] broadcasting with 100 watts on 1500 kHz from a transmitter at Coal Branch Heights. [3] The station moved to 1490 kHz on March 29, 1941, as a result of NARBA. [3] Not long after signing on, the station joined NBC, the network's first affiliate in southern West Virginia. [4] The station survived a 1941 fire in its studios and control room, all while announcer George Kent was able to keep the station on the air as firefighters fought the blaze. [5]
WGKV applied to upgrade to 250 watts in December 1941, but it would have to wait for World War II to end before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the increase on January 16, 1946. [3] During that time, however, more serious problems emerged that had the station in a fight for its legal life. In late 1943, Worth Kramer, who was about to be inducted into the Army, filed to relinquish control in Kanawha Valley, and the FCC ordered a hearing on alleged "hidden ownership". [6] The war would soon take a larger toll on WGKV when four station employees were called to serve at the same time on February 1, 1944, leaving the outlet without its manager, women's director, promotions manager, and replacement, who all joined the armed forces and the Red Cross. [7] Even when the war ended, the station's license renewal remained pending at the FCC; the hidden ownership allegations, concerning John A. Kennedy, had also put the license of WGKV's only competitor, WCHS, in doubt. A former secretary testified that Kennedy had secretly paid original station owner W. A. Carroll to build WGKV and asked that his involvement be concealed. [8]
In December 1947, the FCC proposed denying WGKV a renewal of its license. The station appealed, calling the action an unjust punishment, as WCHS had its license renewed at the same time. The station charged that new proposed owners, Eugene R. Custer and Richard M. Venable, had relied on the advice of Worth Kramer and his counsel, in a fashion similar to that charged against WCHS. [9] The commission ultimately approved the license renewal and related transfers of control, finding that Venable and Custer were "almost wholly ignorant of the field of radio broadcasting" and of FCC regulations, relying entirely on Kramer and counsel and later being cooperative with the hearing proceeding. [10]
WGKV launched an FM companion, WGKV-FM 98.5, on September 24, 1949, marking its 10th anniversary of broadcasting. [11] The FM station operated for more than five years and was deleted at the station's request on November 8, 1954. [12] Earlier that year, an entirely new ownership group, associated with WSAZ (930 AM) and WSAZ-TV channel 3 at Huntington, had acquired the station from Venable and associates for $75,000. [13]
In 1956, WSAZ sold WGKV for $90,000 to Jake and Walter Evans; the sale was necessary because WSAZ was buying WKNA (1240 AM) and WKNA-FM 97.5. [14] The station was relocated to the Professional Building after 16 years in the Empire Building, [3] and after a second sale to Joseph Brechner, the station changed its call letters to WHMS on February 1, 1958; [3] letterhead boasted that the calls stood for "West Virginia's Hit Music Station". [15] The new designation came with a revamped popular music format. [16] Robert V. Barron, a Charleston native who went on to be a TV and film director in Hollywood, worked at several local radio stations, including WGKV/WHMS. [17]
Edgar Clinton bought WHMS in 1961. The license carried the call letters WTGR from July to November of that year, [3] but the station continued to promote itself as WHMS. [15] The call letters were retired again on February 20, 1962, this time reverting to the former WGKV call sign. [3] The next year, it was approved to increase daytime power to 1,000 watts. [3]
In 1968, David Steere of Kalamazoo, Michigan, acquired WGKV for $250,000. [18] Steere took over on January 15, 1969, and on February 10, WGKV became WXIT. [3] The station billed itself as "The POPular Sound in Charleston", airing a Top 40 format. [19] It aggressively competed with WKAZ (950 AM), a 5,000-watt outlet, for the youth audience. [20]
Kanawha Broadcasting Corporation acquired WXIT in 1978. [3] The station was sold to Empire Broadcasting System, Inc., in 1987; separately, Empire bought WVCM (107.3 FM), licensed to nearby Miami. [21]
WXIT became WCZR in 1990, named for and utilizing the satellite Z Rock syndicated network. Two years later, it flipped to talk, [22] adding gospel and R&B music in 1994. [23] It was when they picked up the R&B format that they changed their tag to "Crazy 1490".
In 1995, the station dropped its talk programming and went full-time gospel/R&B, under a new LMA with Kingdom Broadcasting. [24] Kingdom was owned by local Black pastor Matthew J. Watts. [25]
In 1997, West Virginia Radio Corporation, which already owned four stations in Charleston, acquired WCZR and WKAZ-FM for $2.14 million. [26] The station flipped to sports and adopted the call letters WSWW, going by the name "3WS". [27]
WSAZ-TV is a television station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves the Charleston–Huntington market, the second-largest television market east of the Mississippi River; the station's coverage area includes 61 counties in central West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. WSAZ-TV is owned by Gray Television alongside Portsmouth, Ohio-licensed CW affiliate WQCW. Both stations share studios on 5th Avenue in Huntington, with an additional studio and newsroom on Columbia Avenue in Charleston. WSAZ-TV's transmitter is located on Barker Ridge near Milton, West Virginia.
WCHS-TV is a television station licensed to Charleston, West Virginia, United States, serving the Charleston–Huntington market as an affiliate of ABC and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Catchy Comedy affiliate WVAH-TV under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WVAH-TV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. Both stations share studios on Piedmont Road in Charleston, while WCHS-TV's transmitter is located atop Coal Mountain, south of Scott Depot, West Virginia.
WCHS is a news/talk/sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charleston, West Virginia, serving Southern West Virginia and Southwestern West Virginia. WCHS is owned and operated by WVRC Media.
WLOA is a commercial rhythmic contemporary radio station licensed to Farrell, Pennsylvania. Owned by Over/Under, LLC, the station serves both the Sharon, Pennsylvania, and Youngstown, Ohio markets. WLOA also simulcasts over Youngstown translator W272EI. The WLOA studios are located in the city of Meadville, while the transmitter for WLOA resides off of South State Line Road in Masury, Ohio; W272EI's transmitter is located off of Mabel Street in Youngstown's Lansingville neighborhood. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WLOA is available online.
WQBE-FM is one of three Charleston, West Virginia Country FM radio stations. WQBE is owned by Bristol Broadcasting Company of Bristol, Virginia, with a "twin" radio station WXBQ-FM in that area. WQBE also has another "twin" station WKYQ-FM in Paducah, Kentucky also owned by Bristol Broadcasting. WQBE broadcasts with an ERP of 50,000 watts. According to Bristol Broadcasting Company's website, WQBE's listening audience is strong in the 18 to 49, and 25 to 54 demographic ranges.
WRVZ is an FM radio station licensed to Miami, West Virginia. Owned by WVRC Media, it broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format serving the Charleston area.
WCLG-FM is an active rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Morgantown, West Virginia, serving North-Central West Virginia. WCLG-FM is owned by West Virginia Radio Corporation and operated under their AJG Corporation licensee.
WOLF is a sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York, serving the Syracuse metropolitan area. The station is 100% owned by Craig Fox, who also owns several other radio and low-power TV stations in the state of New York. The WOLF broadcast license is held by WOLF Radio, Inc. The station is also simulcast on FM translator W223CP at 92.5 FM and WOSW and W253BZ at 98.5 FM, Fulton, NY.
WOLB is an urban talk radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. The station is owned by Urban One and broadcasts from studios in Woodlawn and a transmitter in the Orangewood section of east Baltimore.
WCLG is a commercial radio station licensed to Morgantown, West Virginia, carrying a Christian contemporary format as a full-time WFGM-FM simulcast. Serving both Morgantown and Monongalia County, WCLG is owned by West Virginia Radio Corporation and operated under their AJG Corporation licensee.
WLOR is a radio station licensed to Huntsville, Alabama, United States, that serves the greater Tennessee Valley area. WLOR is part of the Black Crow Media Group and the broadcast license is held by BCA Radio, LLC, Debtor-in-Possession. Its studios are located off University Drive in Huntsville, and its transmitter is located north of the city.
WPMH is a Christian talk radio station licensed to Newport News, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. The station is owned and operated by Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation.
WPCE is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, and serving Hampton Roads. WPCE is owned and operated by Friendship Cathederal Family Worship Center, Inc. It airs a traditional urban gospel radio format, with some Christian talk and teaching shows. The radio studios are on Church Street in Norfolk, Virginia.
KFTK was a commercial radio station that was licensed to East St. Louis, Illinois at 1490 AM, and broadcast from 1972 to 2020. KFTK's transmitter was located in East St. Louis. From 2016 to 2020, KFTK and low-power translator K254CR were operated by both Emmis Communications and Entercom as a full-time simulcast of KFTK-FM (97.1).
WXIT is a radio station that broadcasts in a top 40/CHR format. Licensed to Blowing Rock, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, the station is currently owned by High Country Ventures, LLC.
WEBY is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Milton, Florida, United States, the station serves the Pensacola area. The station is currently owned by David Hoxeng, through licensee ADX Communications of Milton, LLC, and features programming from ESPN Radio.
WKAZ is a country music formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charleston, West Virginia, serving Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia. WKAZ is owned and operated by WVRC Media.
KNCR was a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Fortuna, California, United States, the station served the Eureka area. The station was last owned by Del Rosario Talpa, Inc.
WBBY-FM was a radio station in Westerville, Ohio, United States.
WSWG was a radio station that broadcast on 1540 kHz in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States. It operated from 1963 to 1984, having been denied a renewal of its license by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over a 1971 format change that included the firing of three Black disc jockeys, accompanied by other deficiencies in representations made by owner Charles Saunders to the FCC.