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WLAD (800 AM) is a commercial
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 Danbury, Connecticut. It broadcasts a
talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...
format. WLAD is owned by Berkshire Broadcasting. The studios and offices are located on Mill Plain Road in Danbury and 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 Brushy Hill Road, also in Danbury. WLAD operates at 1,000
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 using a
non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (mathematics), axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle ...
; but because 800 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, WLAD must reduce power at night to 286 watts. In early 2017, WLAD began
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
ing on an FM
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, W231DJ at 94.1
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 ...
.


History

On June 17, 1947, the Berkshire Broadcasting Corporation received a construction permit to build a new radio station in Danbury. It was the second attempt by the company to secure a radio station; it had lost out on an application for 1490 kHz when the FCC assigned it to a group from Torrington. WLAD first
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 ...
the air on October 5, 1947. At first, the station broadcast with only 250
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 of power as a daytime-only station. One of the founding members of the company, John Previdi, later served as mayor of Danbury. It was approved to increase its power to 1,000 watts by day in 1965, but it took until the 1980s for it to get nighttime authorization. Its first day as a 24-hour AM station was August 25, 1986. In 1953, the station signed on an FM sister station, 98.3 WLAD-FM, which is today WDAQ. WLAD's studios and offices were located at the Hotel Green building (renamed Ives Manor in 1975) within the Main Street Historic District in downtown Danbury from 1962 until July 2012. After moving, WLAD upgraded their equipment from analog to digital. Harold "Hal" Brundage's local 15-minute ''Yankee Farmer'' show was aired daily in the late 1940s. In 1948, WLAD ran 10 weeks of ''Talent Scout Shows'', a series of contests that culminated in awards being given to the best performer. Virginia Cassidy hosted her daily local talk show ''The Virginia Wren Show'' from the 1950s through 1978. On the show, she interviewed many celebrities including actor
Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...
, pianist
Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...
and, in 1955, singer
Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United ...
. She also discussed books and local events on the show and had segments where she sang and played the piano. Cassidy hosted programs from the Danbury Fair every October. During the 1980s, she had a new Sunday show on which she interviewed writers of novels and plays, among other people. Victor Gilbert also hosted a celebrity interview show on WLAD, ''Sunday at Stonehenge'', as of 1959-1962 with interviewees including the actresses
Ruth Chatterton Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, ...
and
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
. Abraham "Abe" Najamy worked as a news presenter and sports game announcer at the station from the 1950s through the 1970s. These included
Danbury High School Danbury High School is a public high school in Danbury, Connecticut, with approximately 3000 students. It is part of the Danbury Public Schools district. Despite Danbury's population of 86,518 (as of 2020), there is only one public high school, ...
basketball games. He co-hosted many of the news and sports shows with Paul Baker, who was at the station from 1947 until 1977, but whose ''Saturday Sports Spotlight'' program became the longest-running sports show in the United States until it ended in 1987. Najamy also hosted the station's ''Personality Profiles'' interview show. The ''Polish Eagles Radio Show'', a weekly program of
Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...
and Polish instrumental music, including polka, aired on Sundays on WLAD during the 1950s well into the 1990s. It was hosted by Connecticut bandleader Victor Zembruski (1912–1976) until he had a debilitating stroke in 1968, then taken over by his wife Sofie Zembruski (1918-2010). ''The Lebanon Hour'', hosted by Kamil Saffi, began its four decades of weekly shows on WLAD in 1951 filled with entertainment and information tailored to the local residents of Lebanese descent. James Rasmussen presented 30-minute
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
and
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
music shows on Saturday afternoons as of 1962. For much of its history, WLAD broadcast a full service
middle of the road music Middle of the road (also known by its acronym MOR) is a commercial radio format and popular music genre. Music associated with this term is strongly melodic and uses techniques of vocal harmony and light orchestral arrangements. The format was even ...
format, playing compact discs, tape cartridges, and vinyl records. It continued to do so into the 1990s and was still seeing ratings success. But in the late 1990s, WLAD shifted to its current format of full-time talk radio on weekdays. Disc jockeys during WLAD's contemporary music era from the 1970s to the 1990s included Mike Piazza, Dan Stevens, Pete Summers, and Dave Rinelli. Some oldies music was added by 1989. Jay Fink joined WLAD in December 1988 and became the disc jockey for the ''Boomer Oldies Show'' featuring music of the 1950s through early 1970s. George Repko, who began working at WLAD in 1965, acquired the moniker "Big George" and as of 1995 served as the disc jockey of an oldies show on WLAD on Saturday mornings. The local call-in talk show ''Dialogue 80'' was hosted by Rhoda Daum from 1978-1988 and taken over by Summers in 1989. Summers left the station in December 2005 after 20 years on the job; Danbury's mayor at the time,
Mark Boughton Mark D. Boughton (born February 20, 1964) is an American politician who was the longest-serving mayor in Danbury, Connecticut's history. He served ten consecutive terms as mayor, from 2001 to 2020. He was the Republican endorsed candidate for g ...
, dubbed Summers "the voice of Danbury". The replacement for Summers' morning show, the radio veteran and comedian Larry Caringer, began his stint in January 2006 and ended it in 2008. Rinelli, who joined WLAD in 1986, started his long-time morning talk show on May 5, 2008. As of 1990-1991, Thom Foulks' nationally syndicated show ''Computing Success!'' was aired every Sunday on WLAD. Dr.
Dean Edell Dean Edell (born March 26, 1941) is an American physician and broadcaster who hosted the ''Dr. Dean Edell'' radio program, a syndicated radio talk show which aired live from 1979 until December 10, 2010. He was also nationally syndicated in telev ...
's nationally syndicated medical talk show was carried as of 2001. For five years in the 1990s, WLAD broadcast baseball games featuring the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
; it switched to
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
games in 1997, citing higher fan interest. They later switched back to Red Sox games. As of 2017,
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
games were broadcast instead. The station also broadcast
Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...
hockey games, New England Patriots football games, and
UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's foo ...
basketball games. Melvin "Mel" Goldstein preceded Gary Lessor as the station's weathercaster from the mid-1970s through January 13, 2012. However, Lessor also did some weather broadcasts on WLAD prior to 2012. From 1998 until February 26, 2021, WLAD aired
Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
's nationally syndicated talk show in the time slot from noon to 3 p.m., but due to Limbaugh's death, the station replaced it with the ''Markley, Van Camp and Robbins Show'' starting on March 1, 2021. The latter show had been aired from 6 to 8 p.m. since April 2020. WLAD began airing the nationally syndicated ''
Glenn Beck Radio Program ''The Glenn Beck Radio Program'' is an American conservative talk radio show, hosted by commentator Glenn Beck on over 400 radio stations across America, his company's own TheBlaze Radio Network, with a live television simulcast weekdays on TheB ...
'' in 2008 but dropped it in 2012 in favor of Brian Kilmeade's show.
Laura Schlessinger Laura Catherine Schlessinger (born January 16, 1947) is an American talk radio host and author. ''The Dr. Laura Program'', heard weekdays for three hours on Sirius XM Radio, consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal adv ...
's syndicated talk show aired on WLAD until 2010. WLAD has also carried
Lars Larson Lars Kristopher Larson (born March 6, 1959)"Lars Kristopher Larson". ''Who's Who in the West'', 26th ed. Accessed June 17, 2013 via LexisNexis. is an American conservative talk radio show host based in Portland, Oregon. Larson worked in televis ...
's syndicated talk show. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, programming on Saturdays and Sundays largely consisted of oldies music shows, including ''American Top 40'' hosted by
Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...
and many others, but the station dropped all of them by March 2022 in favor of talk shows about politics and news, a home improvement show, a legal advice show, and a gun talk show.


Current programming

WLAD airs a local morning news and information show on weekdays, hosted by Dave Rinelli and Bart Busterna, with newscaster Jillian Mauro and weathercaster Gary Lessor. They are followed by nationally syndicated talk shows the rest of the day, including
Brian Kilmeade Brian Kilmeade (born May 7, 1964) is an American television and radio presenter and political commentator for Fox News. On weekdays he co-hosts the morning show, '' Fox & Friends'', and he hosts the Fox News Radio program ''The Brian Kilmeade S ...
, Markley, Van Camp & Robbins,
Todd Schnitt Todd Andrew Schnitt (born January 24, 1966) is an American conservative talk radio host. He currently hosts ''The Schnitt Show'', the afternoon drive time show whose flagship is Tampa radio station 1010 WHFS AM and is nationally syndicated by Co ...
,
Joe Pags Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host. Biography Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby C ...
,
Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...
,
Jim Bohannon James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' orig ...
, ''
Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...
'', and '' America in The Morning''. WLAD also broadcasts New York Giants football games. The entertainment show ''Hollywood 360'' hosted by
Carl Amari Carl Amari (born August 20, 1963) is an American film and television producer, actor, director and syndicated radio host, creator of ''When Radio Was''. Biography Amari was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Triton College and Columbia Colle ...
is aired on Sunday mornings. Sunday morning's informational programs include '' This Morning: America's First News'' and ''Motley Fool Money''.


Translator


References


External links

*
Radio Station Moves off Main Street
* * * {{News/Talk Radio Stations in Connecticut LAD News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1947 Fairfield County, Connecticut 1947 establishments in Connecticut