WHRF was a radio station on

1520 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1520 kHz: 1520 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WWKB in Buffalo, New York, and KOKC in Oklahoma City share Class A status on 1520 AM. Argentina * LRI721 in Chascomús, B ...

in Bel Air, Maryland, operating between 1963 and 1994.

History

The Bel Air Broadcasting Company received the construction permit for a new radio station at 1520 kHz in Bel Air in February 1963. The station signed on air on June 11 of that year. Broadcasting with 250 watts during the day from a transmitter site along

US Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

southwest of the city limits, WVOB carried a format of pop music and news for listeners in

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

. On June 11, 1971—the station's eighth anniversary—a construction worker grading adjacent land clipped the guy wires supporting WVOB's tower, causing it to collapse. That same year, the station clashed with Harford County officials over the availability of tape recordings of county meetings. Three years later, WVOB was fined over its repeated failure to comply with requirements for political editorials. New WHRF call letters debuted on January 4, 1982, after James C. Swartz bought Bel Air Broadcasting; the station continued with its adult contemporary sound. It also filed in 1985 to relocate its transmitter site and operate at night with 1,000 watts; while this was approved in 1989, it was never implemented. The station was sold to the Harford County Broadcasting Company, controlled by James E. Fielder in 1988; a year later, Fielder sold the station for $320,000 to a consortium including a former federal assistant US secretary of labor. The new owners sought to increase WHRF's connection with the local community.
Continued
The station soon became embroiled in financial difficulties; the first sign of trouble was when the station was sued for unpaid rent in November 1990. Harford County Broadcasting alleged that the terms of its lease were breached when the building was foreclosed upon. Meanwhile, former owner Fielder was sued by the

Bank of Maryland A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

for unpaid loans he guaranteed when he owned WHRF; he settled for $16,000. The station had gone silent by this time, with the New Harford Group acquiring it later in 1991 and returning it to the air with a news/talk format. However, WHRF went dark again by late 1994, when New Harford filed to sell the station to CSN International, a satellite Christian broadcaster, for $75,000. The station's silence would result in the cancellation of its license in 1997.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WHRF
(covering 1961-1981 as WVOB) {{Daytime-only radio stations in Maryland Radio stations established in 1963 Radio stations disestablished in 1994 HRF Defunct radio stations in the United States 1963 establishments in Maryland 1994 disestablishments in Maryland HRF HRF