WDDH

WDDH (97.5 FM) is an American radio station, licensed to Saint Marys, Pennsylvania. The station operates at an equivalent radiated power of 50,000 watts. Its studios and offices are located in Ridgway Township, near the summit of Bootjack Mountain, about 3 miles south of downtown Ridgway and about 2 miles west of its city of license. Its transmitter site is located in Lamont, about 2.5 miles south of Kane, Pennsylvania. The station also uses a booster, WDDH-FM1 with 250 watts at 171 feet AGL along South Highland Street in DuBois, about 20 miles south of the Ridgway studios.

History: beginnings as WKYN-FM

The station first went on the air on April 22, 1986 as WKYN, and was founded by suburban Pittsburgh radio personality Bob Stevens, who had been looking to buy or build a radio station of his own in Western Pennsylvania. That opportunity presented itself in 1985, when he successfully applied for the license to operate at 97.5 FM, originally licensed to Ridgway.

For the first three years, the studios and transmitter were located at the transmitter site in a remote, wooded area of Jones Township near Rasselas, Pennsylvania, with business and sales offices in downtown St Marys. Signals were radiated by a 4-bay, ERI "Rototiller" antenna atop a newly erected 535 foot tower. On several occasions, air staff were stranded at the studio/transmitter facility due to heavy snow accumulation and ice storms. In 1989, Stevens purchased a defunct drive-in theater south of St Marys, and consolidated both the studios and offices there.

As the station grew, Stevens determined that the station would reach a significantly larger audience if the transmitter site was relocated to the west. Much of the original signal coverage area fell on a largely unpopulated area of north-central Pennsylvania known as "God's Country", and was spotty in several better-populated communities to the west. A new transmitter site south of Kane was found and construction was started. The STL path from the Fairview studios to the new transmitter site was not possible due to obstruction by Bootjack Mountain. Stevens renovated a vacant, former restaurant at the top of Bootjack Mountain to house the offices and studios, where they remain today at 14902 Bootjack Road. The old tower and transmitter plant in Jones Township were left standing, and purchased by a cellular phone service provider.

Programming

WKYN, billed as "97 KYN", signed on with an Adult CHR format. Stevens stuck with this formula for seven years, until the opportunity presented itself in 1993 to acquire WCCZ (now WPCL) in Spangler. WCCZ operated on the adjacent frequency of 97.3 and could be heard clearly in the more populous area of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Stevens purchased WCCZ and changed the call letters to WXVE, turning it into a translator to extend WKYN's signal into the Johnstown market. At the time of the acquisition, WKYN became WKVE (an allusion to Pittsburgh's legendary AOR station WDVE) and the station changed format from Adult CHR to AOR, as there was no album rock formatted station in Johnstown at that time.

In 1996, Stevens had the opportunity to buy a radio station closer to his hometown in Western Pennsylvania, purchasing WHJB (now WKHB) and WBCW (now WKFB) in Greensburg and Jeannette, respectively. WKYN was sold to Cam Communications, reverting to Adult CHR as "97.5 The Peak". Call letters were changed to WPKK. In 2001, Cam Communications sold WPKK to Laurel Media, Inc of Ridgway, a company owned by Dennis Heindl, who previously owned WLMI in Kane and held a construction permit for an FM station in Reynoldsville (now WDSN.) DDH are the initials of Dennis D. Heindl. A lifelong country music lover, Heindl converted the station format to Country.

In 1999, ownership was transferred from Laurel Media Inc. to Intrepid Broadcasting owned by Michael Stapleford.

In the Summer of 2008, ownership reverted to Laurel Media Inc. and Dennis D. Heindl. Heindl has kept the Country Format and has added ABC News and is host of the Award Winning Program "Talk Of The Town." Lou Dobbs has appeared as Heindl's guest on "Talk Of The Town." WDDH is known as "The Hound" and its logo is recognizable. The Hound carries Pittsburgh Pirate Baseball. Heindl is a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Hound covers 15 Counties in Northwest Pennsylvania and has a faithful listening audience, being rated #1 in Elk County by Arbitron in 2008. Despite not actually existing in the Olean, New York media market (which includes Bradford, Kane and Coudersport in Pennsylvania), it still registers in the Arbitron books there, higher than some of the local stations. The Hound carries local sports in its listening area including but not limited to Wrestling. High School Football is extremely well received in the listening area. Local news is a priority and although WDDH has a large listening area it is local to much of the listening area.

WDDH today

WDDH continues to serve more than a million listeners in North Western Pennsylvania and southwestern New York with a contemporary country format. Programming on the station includes Big D and Bubba in mornings, JJ Michaels middays, Jason Allan in the afternoon, Rick Porter on Saturday afternoons, a polka program with various hosts, the syndicated ''Rick Jackson's Country Classics'' and a public affairs program hosted by Heindl entitled "Talk of the Town," .

On January 1, 2023, WDDH shifted to a pure classic country format, eliminating most of its current hits from the station's playlist. WDDH had long included substantially more classic cuts than most mainstream country radio stations even before the format change.

Current programming

Monday - Friday
12:00 AM – 6:00 AM - The Alan Kabel Show
6:00 AM – 10:00 AM - Big D & Bubba
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM - JJ Michaels
3:00 PM – 8:00 PM - Jason Allan
8:00 PM – 12:00 AM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites

Saturday
12:00 AM – 6:00 AM - The Alan Kabel Show
6:00 AM – 7:00 AM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
7:00 AM – 10:00 AM - Rick Jackson's Country Classics
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
12:00 PM – 6:00 PM - Rick Porter
6:00 PM – 12:00 AM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites

Sunday
12:00 AM – 06:00 AM - The Alan Kabel Show
6:00 AM – 07:30 AM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
7:30 AM – 8:00 AM - Light On The Hill with Pastor Craig Smith
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM - Hallton Church Bible Study
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM - St. Leo's Church Service
9:45 AM – 10:00 AM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM - The Don Williams Polka Review
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM - Talk Of The Town
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
5:00 PM – 8:00 PM - Country Countdown With Lon Helton
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM - Today's Best Country & Yesterday's Favorites
9:00 PM – 12:00 AM - Rick Jackson's Country Classics

External links

{{coord, 41.618, N, 78.804, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title

DDH
Classic country radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1986
1986 establishments in Pennsylvania