WSDZ (1260 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to Belleville, Illinois, and serving the

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. It is owned and operated by Relevant Radio, Inc. WSDZ carries a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

talk and teaching

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

supplied by the Relevant Radio network. WSDZ, along with 1120

KMOX KMOX (1120 AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it is a 50,000 watt Class A clear-channel station with a non-directional signal. The KMOX studios and offices are on Olive Street at Tucker Bouleva ...

, are responsible for activation of the St. Louis area

Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and bot ...

. By day, WSDZ is powered at 20,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s. But at night, to avoid interfering with other stations on

AM 1260 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1260 kHz: There are 55 stations in the United States which broadcast on 1260 AM; the Federal Communications Commission classifies 1260 AM as a regional frequency. Argentina * LT14 Gral ...

, it reduces power to 5,000 watts. It uses a directional antenna at all times. The studios are located on Weber Hill Road in St. Louis. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is off Schuleter Germaine Road in Belleville. Programming is also heard on 99-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

95.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

K236CS in St. Louis.

History

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

in July 1947 as WIBV "Belleville's Voice." It was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, broadcasting on 1060 kHz with 250 watts of power. WIBV was owned by Belleville Broadcasting Co. WIBV aired various types of music, and would broadcast high school sports into the

Metro-East Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties (and parts of three others) in the St. Louis Metropolitan Sta ...

area for many years, until the mid-1990s, when it became a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

station. The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

switched to WSDZ when it began broadcasting

Children's Radio Children's radio is a radio format aimed primarily at preteen children. Examples include the now defunct Radio Disney network of radio stations, Kids Place Live satellite radio channel and in the UK Fun Kids. Stations See also *List of childre ...

programming as a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of Radio Disney on May 22, 1998. At that point, the talk programming moved over to 550 KSD, which became KTRS in early 1997. On August 13, 2014, Radio Disney announced it would sell nearly all of its owned-and-operated stations including WSDZ. Radio Disney said it wanted to focus more on the network's programming, co-branded events, and digital outlets. Disney originally planned to take the stations

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

on September 26, 2014. However, Disney changed plans at the last minute, and all stations would remain on the air, continuing to broadcast Radio Disney programming until each were sold. Radio Disney planned to keep only one of its stations, its outlet at 1110 AM in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, now

KRDC The KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC) was an umbrella term for the desktop environment plus a range of included applications produced by KDE. From its 1.0 release in July 1998 until the release of version 4.4 in February 2010, the Software Com ...

. On September 15, the

Salem Media Group Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Irv ...

said it would acquire the last five Radio Disney owned-and-operated stations for sale (including WSDZ) for $2.225 million. WSDZ was acquired through Caron Broadcasting, Inc., for $275,000. The sale of WSDZ was completed on December 18, 2015. On December 11, 2015, Radio Disney programming went off the air and WSDZ went silent, pending its new format. On December 22, 2015, WSDZ signed back on the air with a new

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

format as "1260 AM The Answer". Most of the programming came from the co-owned

Salem Radio Network Salem Radio Network is a United States-based radio network that specializes in syndicated Christian political talk, music, and conservative secular news/talk programming. It is a division of the Salem Media Group. Network information Salem Ra ...

. On October 30, 2017, WSDZ changed from conservative talk (which moved to sister station 1380

KXFN KXFN (1380 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. It is owned by Relevant Radio, Relevant Radio, Inc. and airs an English language Christian radio, Catholic radio format, format. The station has a colorful hist ...

). It began playing

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...

music, branded as "Praise 95.1 & 1260". On November 14, 2019, the station was sold to Immaculate Heart Media, Inc., and became an affiliate of the co-owned

Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. It is the largest Catholic radio network by owned station base. R ...

network.Application Search Details – BAL-20190814AAU
fcc.gov. Retrieved November 23, 2019. The programming included

talk and teaching shows.

References

External links

* * * {{Relevant Radio SDZ Belleville, Illinois Relevant Radio stations Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Illinois Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company SDZ